Guidelines For Internal Newsletters

Say NO to Boring Emails – Effective Ways to Write Newsletters ✨ If your newsletters aren't capturing attention, they’re probably ending up in the trash. [UNSUBSCRIBE] 🙂 When I first started sending out newsletters, I quickly learned that getting people to open and actually read them was no easy task. But over time, I discovered some strategies that really work & they’re: ✅ 1. Start with a Hook that Grabs Attention I’ve found that using curiosity, urgency, or a strong benefit always draws readers in. Example: I used to send out “Monthly Updates,” but now I go for something like "5 Secrets to Boost Your Productivity This Month." A small change, but makes a big difference. ✅ 2. Know Your Audience When I began focusing on what my clients and customers really cared about—whether it was solving a pain point or helping them reach a goal—my engagement skyrocketed. Example: If your audience is mostly small business owners, focus on providing tips that help them grow their customer base or manage their time better. For instance, I once shared strategies on how to negotiate like a PRO, and it resonated so well that I got multiple replies from readers thanking me for the practical advice. ✅ 3. Keep It Concise, But Valuable No fluff, just value. Focus on delivering brief, impactful content with actionable insights. Example: Instead of the usual “Consistency is key,” I recommend something specific like "Posting three times a week builds momentum. Use a content calendar to stay organized." ✅ 4. Use Visuals to Break Up Text It makes the content more relatable and keeps readers engaged. I always include visuals—whether it’s a snapshot of me working on a project or enjoying a coffee break or useful resources. ✅ 5. Add a Personal Touch Sharing personal stories or insights has made my newsletters feel more like a conversation rather than a broadcast. Example: I often talk about my early struggles and the strategies that eventually worked for me withproven solutions. ✅ 6. Include a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA) Every email is an opportunity to guide my readers to the next step. Whether it’s clicking a link, replying to the email, or signing up for a masterclass, Example: I might say, “Reply to this email with your biggest challenge, and I’ll share a solution.” This not only encourages interaction but also shows that I’m here to help. Top creators have viral newsletters because they understand their audience, deliver valuable and actionable content, and create genuine connections. What’s your top tip for writing engaging newsletters as a creator or reader? __________________________ PS: Want to maximize your business, learn effective strategies to freelance, and grow your network? Join my newsletter with 45,000+ subscribers here: https://lnkd.in/g2WpkBjH

We had a beautiful customer newsletter... and no one cared. Up until the end of 2023, we had a highly designed version of the newsletter. It looked great, but it took a ton of time to pull together. Every send required custom images, specific copy lengths, and with no real guardrails on content, we tried to include ✨everything.✨ And it did… fine. But not fine enough to warrant the time it required and no clear strategy, so we stopped doing it. This year, I relaunched our customer newsletter — and doubled our engagement score and click-through rates. Here's the 4 steps I took to do it: 1️��� I redefined the purpose. The newsletter needed to be a valuable touchpoint for account managers — something that kept customers informed and encouraged them to explore more of the Lattice ecosystem through features, events, and content. Not salesy. 2️⃣ I scrapped the overly designed template and went plain-text. The emails now come directly from Account Owners (because who’s Kerry Wheeler anyways?). 3️⃣ We segmented our customers into three key groups and tailor content to each one based on what’s most relevant to them. 4️⃣ I implemented strong content guardrails. Every send now includes just two of the most relevant product updates, events, and resources — and it must be actionable today (no “coming soon” teasers). The results? Open rates held steady at ~50%, but engagement took off. Click-through rates more than doubled, and we’ve heard great feedback from both customers and AMs on how the newsletter has kept them informed and engaged.

I grew to 10k+ newsletter subscribers in 1 year. Here are the 6 biggest pieces of advice I'd give to ANYBODY growing their newsletter: 1. Focus on organic growth This is the single most important thing to do. I wasted so much time to "hack" the growth. There's no "hack". Pick a niche problem, find a target audience, identify the value your content can provide, and ship it consistently. Growth will happen organically if your content truly adds value to readers. 2. Pick a growth channel Unlike social media, newsletter has no default distribution, so you need to find the best channel to promote your newsletter. For me, LinkedIn is my growth channel to promote my newsletter. Just pick ONE channel to start. Focus is everything. 3. Content-Market Fit is EVERYTHING You achieve CMF once you've hit 5,000+ subscribers organically with good engagement (>45% open rate). For me, I hit my CMF in Oct 2024 when I hit 5,089 subs with pure organic growth. If you couldn't hit that after 1 year, maybe it's time to change your niche or audience or both. 4. Be relentlessly consistent Writing newsletter is easy. But writing newsletter consistently week after week, month after month — that's tough, very tough. Most people will give up after a few months. If you can keep showing up, keep shipping, your time will come (I guarantee that). 5. Use pre-CTA and post-CTA This is a game changer. Before your newsletter is published, post on LinkedIn as a teaser to your issue with a CTA link. After the newsletter is published, post again on LinkedIn to direct more traffic to your article (remember to gate the article + collect emails for access). I got 3,000+ new susbcribers after using this approach. It works. 6. Use Meta ads to scale Only run ads after you've hit CMF (point 3). Go to Facebook Ad Library, identify the best-performing ads that other newsletters (in your space) are running, refer to their ads creative + modify the copy based on your niche. Run and keep optimising your ads to reduce the CPA to $1 - $2. Start with Step 1-5, use Step 6 cautiously. If Step 6 works, you're unstoppable. Have any questions about growing newsletter? AMA anything in comments 👇🏻

In the dynamic world of digital marketing, an effective email campaign is more than just a message—it's a carefully crafted experience that captivates, resonates, and drives action. Let's dissect the key elements that contribute to the success of an email marketing masterpiece. 🌐📧 1. Subject Lines that Spark Curiosity: 🔍📌 The gateway to your email. Craft subject lines that intrigue, inspire, or pose questions. The goal? To entice recipients to open the email and explore what lies within. 2. Compelling Content: Tell a Story, Solve a Problem: 📖🎯 The heart of your campaign. Your content should be a blend of storytelling and problem-solving. Connect emotionally, provide value, and address the needs or pain points of your audience. 3. Personalization for a Tailored Touch: 🤝🎨 Beyond just using a recipient's name. Leverage data to personalize content, recommendations, or offers based on user behavior and preferences. A personalized touch enhances engagement. 4. Visual Appeal with Eye-Catching Design: 🎨👁️ A picture is worth a thousand words. Incorporate visually appealing graphics, images, and layouts. Design should complement your brand and guide the reader through the content seamlessly. 5. Clear and Compelling Call-to-Action (CTA): 🚀🔗 The purposeful nudges. Your CTA should be crystal clear, compelling, and aligned with the campaign's goal. Make it easy for recipients to take the desired action, whether it's making a purchase, signing up, or downloading. 6. Mobile Optimization for On-the-Go Engagement: 📱💨 In a mobile-centric world, ensure your emails are optimized for various devices. Responsive design is key to delivering a seamless experience, no matter where your audience opens their emails. 7. A/B Testing for Continuous Refinement: 🔄📊 Don't guess; test. A/B testing allows you to experiment with different elements—subject lines, content, visuals—and refine your approach based on real-time performance data. Share your insights and let's continue to elevate our email marketing game together! 💬💌 #EmailMarketing #DigitalCampaigns #EngagementStrategy

"People don't want another newsletter." Correction: People don't want another boring newsletter. I used to be anti newsletter until I saw the power and results. People have literally built their business on newsletter marketing. You know, people like James Clear and Jay Clouse. But they've done it strategically. Their newsletters aren't just updates, they make readers feel something. All marketing, including newsletters, need to do one of the following: - Make your followers feel something - Entertain your readers - Create FOMO - Offer something irresistible Financial content does have guardrails, but compliance doesn't mean boring. Here are a few ways to bring energy to your newsletter and still be friends with the SEC: 💡 Use stories, not just stats 💡 Infuse personality 💡 Add a pop culture reference 💡 Go nostalgic 💡 Use a "question I got this week" 💡 Add humor with "What NOT to do" 💡 Include a short book or podcast recommendation 💡 Share behind-the-scenes of what you do outside of work And most importantly: treat newsletters like a conversation, not a report. Good rule of thumb is if your newsletter doesn't feel like something a friend would text you, it's just spam. If there are any newsletters you are still subscribed to and look forward to receiving, pay attention to why and use that format. What's that one newsletter you look forward to reading? And why?

Just because we can send it, doesn’t always mean we should. As internal communicators, we often sit at the intersection of everything. Every update. Every initiative. Everyone wants their message out. But here’s the thing—when everything is treated as important, nothing truly stands out. Early in my career, I tried to say yes to every ask. The intention was good—but the impact wasn’t. The result? Noise. Confusion. Distraction from what truly mattered: driving toward the business goals. Here’s a simple framework that’s helped me align with stakeholders and bring more intention to what we send out: ◾ Urgent + Important + Critical to business or people: Send it. Now. ◾ Important, not urgent + Relevant to business goals: Share it—but let’s be smart about timing and format. ◾ Urgent, but not important: Pause. Does this need wide visibility, or would a smaller audience be better? ◾ Not urgent + Not important: Maybe this doesn’t need to be sent at all. But we can define the audience and explore other channels if needed. I also use two quick filters: ◾ Will this help employees take action or make a better decision? ◾ Does this support a key business goal or priority? Using a framework like this in internal comms does more than streamline messaging—it protects attention, ensures relevance and creates clarity. 👀 I’m curious: How do you filter the signal from the noise in your org? Let me know in the comments.

5 low-lift ways The Washington Post increased newsletter click-through rates, as shared by Kelly Poe at The Audiencers' Workshop in New York last year: > Work with writers to use curiosity gaps. A lot of audience engagement professionals are familiar with using curiosity gaps – the idea that you give away enough information to compel people to keep reading, but withholding enough that people will click – but the same concept applies in newsletters that are designed to drive people to your website. > Draw from archives. This strategy is valuable for legacy news organizations, especially with recognizable brands or writers and evergreen content. > Give habit-forming products a place in the newsletter, even if it’s not super relevant. For instance quizzes, such as WP’s “On the Record” quiz that they promote in most newsletters, even though it has little to do with most of their content. “We produce it in the newsroom, so it is part of our journalism. In some of our newsletters that are designed to be more of an inbox experience, we’ve actually noticed sustained higher click-through rates since we’ve introduced the quiz." > Solicit 1-click feedback (and monitor it). “When we built our new feedback system, we didn’t expect it to also raise click-through rates. Initially, we had a small text-only feedback request at the bottom of newsletters but wanted something easier for users. We created a two-click feedback form using Google Forms, allowing us to preload responses. The form featured a smiley face to indicate liking the new design and space for additional feedback. Running this form daily in one newsletter, we received as much feedback in one month as we had in the previous six. This design significantly lowered the mental barrier for taking our survey.” > Always be testing. At The Washington Post, they’re almost always running some A/B test in the background. Kelly recommends ensuring you have a clear hypothesis, that you set a time period, that you measure results, see where else you can implement learnings and remember that the same strategy might not work the same in every newsletter.

How we (HubSpot) boosted newsletter leads by 89% this year. We just hit a pretty big milestone: an 89% jump in newsletter leads and an 8% bump in open rates. How'd we do it? We stopped aiming for sheer volume and focused in these three moves: 1️⃣ Tailored Offers, Not Generic Freebies We now tailor offers to each audience segment—like a curated business ideas database for early-stage founders or over 100 productivity prompts for AI power-users. As we learn more about our subscribers, each segment will get exactly what they're looking for, rather than whatever's in our archive. 2️⃣ Quality Subscriber Acquisition We filtered out bots and cut low-quality sources, which boosted open rates by 8%. But it's more than housecleaning; it's about building an engaged subscriber base. By leaning into organic social and teaming up with newsletters that share our editorial DNA, we attract subscribers who genuinely look forward to each send—even if it means limiting scale. 3️⃣ Partner with Creators Instead of blindly buying clicks with large publishers, we partner with independent creators who treat their newsletters like a community. Working together on offers and editorial has upped conversions and cut our cost per lead compared to traditional channels. We're not just hitting targets—we're building an engaged audience that comes back every week. What other plays are you seeing work these days? #b2bmedia #contentmarketing #newsletters

If I had to build my 60,000+ subscriber newsletter again from scratch today Here’s the 6 things I’d do ⬇️ Story time: starting my newsletter I went against a lot of best practices and yet I grew to 60,000 subscribers and over $180k in sponsor revenue in year 2. Sharing my tips below… ➡️ 1. The 50 Subject Line test Most newsletters fail because they pick a topic they *should* talk about and not something they are passionate about talking about. If you can’t write the newsletter for a year, you won’t see significant money. Sit down and write 50 subject lines about all the things you’d want to write about. Then categorize them and figure out who would benefit from those. ➡️ 2. Th 10 person survey I’d next find 10 people who fit that description and ask if you could send the first few newsletters to them for feedback. This gets you into the rhythm of producing while ensuring your format resonates. ➡️ 3. The 6 month test Once you’ve received feedback, I’d commit to a 6 month test of one format. Most newsletters fail because they simply can’t stay consistent. Sponsors and subscribers are looking for stability. Build the muscle of showing up. ➡️ 4. The 90/10 sales rule Most of you are starting a newsletter as a sales vehicle to your products…. And that’s OK but I’m starting to see newsletters that don’t add any value. They just sell. Focus on 90% value. 10% sales. This increases your referrals because no one refers commercials but they do refer documentaries. ➡️ 5. Network effects There are two network effects I’d focus on right from the beginning: - who do I know that reaches my audience on social? - who do I know that reaches my audience via email? Find 5 people in both cohorts who is just a few steps ahead of you and ask for a shoutout in exchange for a dedicated promotion of their product when you hit 10,000 subscribers. Here’s a sample script to steal: Hey ______! I love your content about X helping Y achieve Z. 6 months ago I started a newsletter helping those same people solve the following pain points: - pain point - pain point - pain point I’m now confident in the format, value and feedback I’ve received and looking to partner with a few people to help cross promote each other’s content. I know I’m a few steps behind you so I’d do a promo now and then again when I hit 10k as part of my 10k celebration! Here’s the copy for the promotion so you can see what (newsletter) is all about: Insert Promo copy Let me know what you think! Appreciate you, Name ➡️ 6. Inject yourself Many newsletters miss the opportunity to build emotional connection with their audience. Ways to build connection: - images - life updates - stories Those are the 6 things I’d do if I was starting my newsletter again today from scratch before I ever touched paid marketing. Let me know what you think!

How I grew my email list 9x in 10 months using LinkedIn (80% of my growth came from these 5 tactics): I started writing daily on LinkedIn back in July 2024. But I didn't really try to leverage LinkedIn to grow my email list until later that year (around Aug/September). And since then, I've added 8,000+ new subscribers to my newsletter. Here are the 5 tactics I used to turn LinkedIn followers into email subscribers: Tactic 1: CTAs in Posts 2 approaches here: • Option 1: Include links directly in your posts (higher conversion, lower reach) • Option 2: Put links in the comments (preserves reach, still drives signups) My recommendation: If you’re getting 1,000+ views per post, start including occasional direct links. Otherwise, use the comment strategy. Tactic 2: Featured Section Most people waste this feature. How I use it: Instead of featuring my newsletter, I promote 1 lead magnet. Because lead magnets typically have higher perceived value and convert better. The key here: If your goal is to grow your list, stick to ONE offer. Multiple options create decision paralysis (and hurt conversion rates). Tactic 3: Custom Profile Button This is criminally underused. Instead of a generic “Connect” button, I have a custom “Visit my newsletter” button that appears on every post I make. It's passive, works 24/7, and can be your #1 or #2 driver of subscribers. Setup tip: You may need LinkedIn Premium, and there are different button options Tactic 4: Welcome DMs When someone connects with me, I just don't accept the request. I also send them a welcome message. There are 2 ways to do this: • Lower ask: Share 2-3 of your best posts to build goodwill without asking for anything in exchange • Higher conversion: Share a targeted lead magnet Pro tip: Ask a qualifying question first, then send a personalized resource based on their response. Tactic 5: Viral Giveaways & 2-Step Method These 2 tactics are very similar (which is why I combined them), but here's the nuance: Traditional giveaway: Create a valuable asset, post about it, ask people to comment to receive it. When they comment, their followers see your post = exponential reach. 2-Step method: Create a post that's valuable in and of itself but offer an additional resource for anyone who comments. The big difference is that the giveaway post just prompts people to comment without giving any value upfront. Both approaches consistently get me 70-90% opt-in rates on my landing pages, though. I've had 2-step posts that generated more subs than some giveaways The beautiful thing? You don’t need to immediately try all 5 tactics to see results. Pick 1-2 and start executing them consistently. I promise you'll start to see the difference. Hope this helps! PS - I created a more in-depth text & video breakdown of these 5 tactics. Want to check it out? Comment "grow" and I'll send it over. (This was actually a module from a recent cohort-based course I ran!)