Category: writing a newsletter

newsletter advice, newsletter tips, newsletter writing, newsletters, writing a newsletter, writing advice

How to Write an Article for a Business Newsletter (2024)

by

Michelle Troutman

Knowing how to write an article for a business newsletter well can boost engagement, response rates, and brand awareness. Adding your brand voice and personality to the content will help your business e-newsletter stand out.

This article assumes:

  1. That you want to write a short e-newsletter article.
  2. That you know your target market.

Let’s walk through five steps, from potential topics (if you need one) to the writing process from start to finish. See the video below for key highlights.

Writing a newsletter can be time-consuming. If you don’t know how to make a newsletter article, consider my email marketing packages or get a free audit.

Table of Contents

How Do You Write an Article for a Company Newsletter?

How to Write an Article for a Business Newsletter: Quick Takeaways:

  1. Explore Your “Why” to Get to Your What: If you lack ideas, research any existing customer data or what’s trending, brainstorm, or try AI. To refine the topic, follow the different buyer’s journey stages: Awareness, Consideration, and Decision-Making.
  2. Finding the Format: Choose the right format for your article, such as an editor’s note, news item, or blog teaser. Keep the format simple and focused to save time and ease writing.
  3. Keeping It Interesting and Useful to Hook Readers: To help readers identify with you, tell a story based on one of your experiences. Tie it to a useful business lesson or insight, then elaborate.
  4. Getting Organized: Consider your article’s structure. When you write, follow common sense guidelines. If you use AI content, add your brand voice, style, and tone. How to write a newsletter article about an event: remember the 6 “W’s” and the “H.” For internal articles aspects like your audience, purpose, tone, and style.
  5. How to Write a Company Newsletter Article for Adoring Fans: Edit and proofread and check for scannability and accessibility.

For more highlights, catch the condensed version of this article.

1. Exploring Your “Why” to Get to Your “What”

Businesses usually send newsletters to get more leads. If you know why you’re sending the newsletter and have already decided on a theme for it, fit your article into that overall topic.

Otherwise, to find a topic for a one-article newsletter, brainstorm ideas, use article templates to form one, or consider telling a story. Or jump ahead and get organized to start writing.

To brainstorm topics, consider what will appeal to your readers. Look at any existing customer data, such as:

  • Sales records
  • Reviews
  • Website analytics
  • Social media metrics

What’s currently trending in your niche? Also, ponder what people tend to ask, complain, or rave about. If you’re still not sure what to feature, keyword research, questions on social media, and customer surveys can yield insights.

GatherContent suggests more ways to find audience-relevant content ideas.

Artificial intelligence software might save brainstorming time. Because of its current limitations, if you use it, check the results. Will the content connect with customers? It might have nothing to do with your target market or your goals. If you decide to use AI, the following advice can screen unsuitable topics.

Is a Newsletter an Article?

It can be.

Fenwick suggests an e-newsletter should average 300 or fewer words total, which can save time and maintain engagement. Constant Contact has found that 20 lines of text — or about 200 words — results in the highest click-through rate for many industries.

Many e-newsletters you get are probably longer. (Constant Contact concludes an e-newsletter should be “as long as it needs to be.”) One newsletter article that forms the entire email may also be at or near 300 words. Another option, for longer articles, is to post a summary with a link back to the full piece.

A diagram of the buyer's journey illustrated as a road from "Awareness" to "Purchase." This information can be helpful in learning how to write a short article for a newsletter.
A diagram of the buyer’s journey shown as a path from “Awareness” to “Purchase.” Courtesy of Vecteezy.

To enhance lead generation and narrow your topics, as HubSpot recommends, link your article goals to the different buyer’s journey stages: Awareness, Consideration, and Decision-Making.

  • Awareness: Introduce your business, staff, mission, and offerings. Highlight new products or events to familiarize customers with your brand.
  • Consideration: Customers are thinking about buying and comparing options. Provide information that helps them decide, like a “how-to” article showcasing a product or service.
  • Decision-Making: Customers are ready to buy. Show them the benefits of choosing your business to influence their decision and encourage them to contact you.

This method of content marketing subtly sells to customers through informing them about products and services.

Get a Free Easy 5-Step Business E-Newsletter Template

2. Finding the Format: Another Way to Generate an Engaging Topic

Knowing your goal and the buyer’s journey stage leads to your subject matter. Narrowing down the subject refines the article template. The format may also frame the topic.

What’s a Business Newsletter Article Example?

Common newsletter article examples include:

An issue of the Howard Center e-newsletter featuring one article -- an example of how to write an article for a business newsletter.

The format of these articles is also simple, making them easier to write with little planning, saving you time and energy.

Examples of company newsletter articles include the Howard Center e-newsletter (pictured), which features one nearly 500-word article.

It’s among several good healthcare newsletters. Learn more in What Are The Best Health and Wellness Newsletters?

How to write a newsletter article sample from a law firm: The Law Office of Antoinette Bone: Estate Echos. This e-newsletter features one 400-word article aimed at fellow advisors or consultants.

Often, e-newsletters feature one main article, then snippets of text with links to more information.

Explore: writing a newsletter article template.

“Consider leveraging content curation. Not every piece of content needs to be created from scratch. Sharing relevant industry news, case studies, or insights from thought leaders can add value to your newsletter without the heavy lifting of original content creation. Tools like Feedly or Pocket can help you gather and organize relevant articles and information.”

Gabrielle Yap, Senior Editor, Carnivore Style

Curata reports that leading marketers use a mix of 65 percent created content and 25 percent curated content. Curation saves time (and money) and helps you keep producing engaging content consistently.

3. Keeping It Interesting and Useful to Hook Readers: Consider Storytelling

Remember that your piece should be useful, or in marketing terms, offer value. To help readers identify with you, tell a story. Michael Katz, who teaches professionals how to understand marketing, details his storytelling method effectively.

To find good stories, list interesting things you saw or experienced recently, such as a colorful rainbow or a fun trip. Tie one to a useful business lesson or insight connected to your expertise. Then describe the experience, elaborating on the lesson. Joey Havens of the accounting firm HORNE does this well.

“It can be helpful to use AI. One of the most effective ways to get people to engage with your e-newsletters is to personalize the content and ways you address the individual recipients. But this is very time consuming and difficult to do all on your own. AI can be used to create segmented lists and personalize messages in a fraction of the time.”

Dr. Jerry Friedman, Doctor of Dental Surgery, North Jersey Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery

Corporate Visions research shows that emails personalized to certain industries had 24 percent higher click-throughs and 50 percent more scheduled meetings. According to MailModo, AI can help you segment lists and personalize emails.

If you need inspiration, AI offers a head start. Directing it to tell a story for a newsletter in your industry will produce content to tailor to your business. You can even ask it to mimic other writers’ styles.

Edit the output because other people might tell the same story. And depending on your instructions, if the story doesn’t apply to your business, it will spin some fiction.

4. Getting Organized: Focusing on the Structure and Writing the Article Effectively

Many business newsletters feature around 300 to 500 words of content. Newsletter articles tend to be brief and pull text from other sources, like articles or landing pages.

Business customers can be too busy to spend ten minutes reading your newsletter. Consider the length wisely while you keep your audience and what you might know about them in mind.

AI software may shortcut outlining, especially if you seek inspiration. For example, ChatGPT 3.5 created the outline below for this article.

If you’re weighing whether AI could help you, compare ChatGPT’s outline to the structure of this post, which I wrote without AI. If I had given it a more specific prompt, ChatGPT might have taken a more creative approach.

ChatGPT’s outline for a piece about writing a newsletter article. Some parts of it are similar in structure to this article, but I didn’t use its outline to create it.

AI-generated content tends to state the obvious and sometimes lacks depth or interesting takes on a subject. Your unique perspective, tone, and style create distinctive writing. Double-check any facts or sources AI-created copy references and edit as necessary.

When you structure your piece, if it’s a “listicle,” number each step to simplify the format and scannability. Otherwise, as Chamaileon suggests, consider the basic AIDA (Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action) format.

As you write, heed the guidelines from the AMA Handbook of Business Writing.

How to Write a Short Article for a Business Newsletter

How to Write a Good Newsletter Article From Start to Finish: Key Takeaways

  • The beginning: How will you build attention?
  • The middle: How will you keep it?
  • The end: How will you inspire people to act?

The beginning: your opening sentence or paragraph — how will you build attention? Get to the point powerfully. State an interesting fact, quote someone, or take us into the middle of a scene.

  1. Example #1: Information articles: This Sundvick Legacy Center newsletter features a short editor’s note. It starts with the fact that October is National Estate Planning Month and leads into a paragraph about why it’s a good time to consider estate planning.
  2. Example #2: Storytelling: Set the stage. In this newsletter, Joey Havens begins with a description of a “blue and white object laying just in front of me” in a hotel lobby.

The middle: how will you build on the interest and desire you’ve generated at the start? Add what readers should know next to encourage them to read on. Use transitions to tie ideas or paragraphs together smoothly.

  1. Example #1: Informational articles: The Sundvick Legacy Center note leads into a statistic. They then build on that statement: “That means creating a comprehensive plan tailored for you and your family…”
  2. Example #2: Storytelling: Joey signals he has reached the middle of the piece by transitioning into what he mistook the object for and what it was.

The end: how will you inspire people to act? Summarize any key points. If your goal is to gain feedback, ask a question.

Use a call-to-action (CTA) to entice readers to contact you or to visit a blog or a landing page. Each year, email service provider MailModo publishes its State of Email report, which surveys more than 150 email experts. Their 2023 report states that CTAs with action verbs or featured offers were most effective for them. If you’re not promoting anything, close with a simple “farewell.”

  1. Example #1: Informational articles: The Sundvick newsletter note urges readers to take action before another year passes. They then encourage readers to schedule a consultation.
  2. Example #2: Storytelling: Joey ends his story by emphasizing that if we can’t see problems clearly, they can look bigger than they are. It’s better to wait to consider them with a fresh perspective.

Whether you start in the middle, write the end first or the beginning last, just write. You also don’t have to create your headline first; some writers save it for last. Whatever you do, don’t judge your writing. Listening to your inner critic can stifle your writing; you could start to read what you’ve written and begin editing, which is a “no-no.”

Why? Because often it’s better to let your words rest or to “sleep on them” and return with a clearer view later. It’s like buying a cut-glass vase and seeing when you brought it home that it’s chipped. The flaws may become clearer later when you’ve rested your mind and can examine your work thoroughly.

"5 Ways to Write a Good Newsletter Article" infographic that shows how to write an article for a newsletter.

What’s a Business Newsletter Article Example by AI?

This is part of 5 Ways to Write With Style, an article I asked Google’s Gemini to write. I didn’t use its content in the article.

Its style differs from mine. I’m less enthusiastic, for starters. 🙂

5 Ways to Write with Style and Captivate Your Audience (Like a Boss!)

Ever feel like your business writing falls flat? You’re not alone. Many business owners struggle to craft content that’s both informative and engaging. But fear not, fellow entrepreneur!

Here are 5 powerful ways to inject style into your writing and turn those website visitors into loyal customers:

The piece is informative, however, the advice is found in similar articles. I aimed to find aspects of writing business owners might not always consider.

“You can’t go wrong by providing value to your readers. If you know your readers well and you have expertise that can help them solve some of their common problems, email newsletters are a great place to share that expertise. But make sure to provide content that is truly unique and informative. You want to make sure you’re offering value and not adding to the clutter.”

Kathy Bryan, EVP/Head of marketing, Electives

Though AI can write an article draft, it could produce a bland one that is a mismatch for you or your business. If you use AI content, as MarTech and SEMRush suggest, check facts or sources and edit it to suit your brand voice, style, and tone.

How to Write a Newsletter Article About an Event Template

When you describe an event, keep in mind :

  1. The six W’s:
    • who
    • what
    • when
    • where
    • why
    • wrap-up
  2. The H (“how”).

How Do You Write a Newsletter Article About an Event?

An issue of "The Dispatch" featuring a write up about TwitchCon Paris -- how to write a newsletter article about an event sample.

When you summarize an event, use a similar structure. Add quotes from the hosts, organizers, or attendees, along with the agenda and what you learned. Here’s a sample.

Reframe it as a “how-to,” highlight key takeaways, or try a first-person perspective.

Adding photos with captions helps readers visualize the event.

Encourage readers to attend future events and offer incentives like exclusive content or “early bird” discounts. Provide more information related to the event topic, like research or speakers’ websites.

How Do I Write an Internal Newsletter Article?

The steps for how to write an internal newsletter article are similar to those outlined above, yet focus more on your co-workers as the audience. Many of the topics to cover are like those in a newsletter for clients: news and announcements, upcoming events, co-worker/employee profiles, etc.

How to Write a Newsletter Article for Work: Points to Consider

FeatureInternal NewsletterCustomer-Facing Newsletter
Target AudienceEmployeesPotential Customers
PurposeInform, Engage, MotivateGenerate Leads, Promote Services
Tone and StyleInformal, ConversationalProfessional, Informative, Engaging
ContentCompany News, Achievements, EventsIndustry Trends, Case Studies, Resources
Call-to-ActionParticipate, Complete, Provide FeedbackLearn More, Download, Schedule Consultation
How to write a company newsletter article: what to consider.

More Resources:

5. Preparing Your Newsletter Article for Adoring Fans

When you plan or edit your piece, consider these points:

  1. Scannability and Accessibility: Slice concepts into smaller parts for easier skimming with bullet points or numbers. Add images to break up text and make it more visually appealing. Ensure your content flows logically. Also, consider accessibility for people with disabilities: use short words, sentences, and paragraphs without jargon.
  2. Editing and Proofreading: polish your newsletter so it looks professional. Some ways to do that include printing it and reading it aloud and having others check it.

Harvard University Graduate School of Education offers more Email Newsletter Best Practices to help you create and prepare your messages for sending.

Now that you know how to write an article for a business newsletter, if your words are flowing, it will almost write itself. And when your masterpiece is ready, add it to your latest newsletter and share it on social media and elsewhere.

To stop stressing and start impressing everyone with your messages, get my free Easy 5-Step Business E-Newsletter Template.

  • First published: April 3, 2023
  • Last updated: June 11, 2024

business communication, business writing, newsletter advice, newsletter tips, newsletter writing, newsletters, writing a newsletter

5 Skills a Business Newsletter Writer Must Have

Pen sitting atop an open notebook in front of a laptop next to a mug on a table ready for a newsletter writer.

1. Great writing – Clear, simple, and concise writing maintains interest better than long, rambling sentences and big words. Beyond those basics, a newsletter writer should excel at “writing tight.” Newsletters are often 500 or fewer words. Most e-newsletter content is condensed, such as news, featured blog posts, or upcoming events. A good newsletter writer should have the skills to say more with less.

2. Sticky subject lines and catchy CTAs – Great newsletter writing also involves creating strong headlines and “calls-to-action” (CTAs). The best ones feature a benefit, some urgency, and are clear, concise, and enticing. They do much of the “heavy lifting,” influencing people to keep reading or do something, such as clicking on a link. They help you and your audience get somewhere. Like CTAs, headlines that build curiosity, with “power” words or adjectives, can get results.

CTA Example: Get $5 Off Now
Headline Example: Enjoy Some Brews, Do Good, and Have Fun This Saturday

3.  Industry knowledge – Some industries have their own advertising guidelines; sometimes marketers must follow them as required by law. A newsletter writer who understands and abides by these rules can make your marketing life easier.

4. Formatting for scannability – From placing photos to adding links and bullet points in the right places, attractive visual elements make a message a “must see.” Some people are more talented at these aspects than others.

5. Attention to detail – An e-newsletter often involves more elements than other forms of e-content. An ability to see the “big picture” — how all the different parts work together to form a whole — is essential. Beyond editing and proofreading, some easy-to-overlook details include checking links, names, and figures. An eye for color and design can also add to the overall impact of an e-newsletter, and these elements should be consistent, too.

Find out if your newsletter features these aspects and connects with respect for readers to help you gain the right leads.

GET A FREE E-NEWS AUDIT

Which other skills should an e-newsletter writer have? Feel free to comment further below.

Quotes

“There is no formula for the perfect email — authentic and honest messaging works.” ~ Anonymous

“If social media is the cocktail party, then email marketing is the ‘meet up for coffee’ — the original 1-to-1 channel.” ~ Erik Harbison

newsletter advice, newsletter tips, newsletters, writing a newsletter

5 Steps to Writing an Engaging Business Newsletter

1. Determine the content – Ask yourself why you want to write an engaging business newsletter. What are your marketing goals? The answer can help you decide on the content to add. You can also address every stage of your buyer’s journey and personalize the content to build a relationship with readers.

According to a study of B2B e-newsletters by research and marketing firm Fenwick, four newsletter formats are common:

  • The Summarizer: about 69 percent of the emails repackaged pieces the firms had already published
  • The Hard Sell: 18 percent of the messages focused on product/service benefits
  • The Homepage: eight percent of the newsletters curated content from across the web and provided analysis/context
  • The Forwarder: five percent of the emails the firm generated when it published a new piece of content without any context

2. Your first issue –

  • Make an introduction: explain why you’re sending it, when people can expect to receive it, etc.
  • Consider where your readers are at: “send the right email to the right person at the right time” (HubSpot); address the “awareness” stage of the buyer’s journey to show how you can help them. Some questions to ask yourself:
  1. When will this contact see value from this email?
  2. Will they be able to do something with it right now?
  3. Is this information relevant to their needs or goals?

3. Getting Started – A woman using a laptop.

  • Outline using AIDA, which stands for “attention, interest, desire, and action.”
  • Put the most important information at or near the top.
  • Start with a compelling subject or headline.
  • Stick to one topic.
  • Use simple words, short sentences, and action verbs.
  • Keep each e-newsletter article to 300 words or fewer.

4. Saying “Goodbye” – Campaign Monitor recommends you show some personality at the end of your newsletter. Your final message should match the tone of the rest of your content. Overall, they suggest you:

  • Know your audience
  • Keep it pleasant
  • Show gratitude when it’s appropriate
  • Keep it short and sweet

5. Looking Professional – Edit and proofread before you click “send.” Follow these tips to catch errors:

  • Check all links.
  • Go over the design elements, such as font sizes and colors, to make sure they’re consistent.
  • Check the readability level. Some grammar experts recommend that your content read at an eighth or ninth-grade level.
  • Make sure everything makes sense and is correct, including any names, dates, and times. Figures should add up.

Need help writing an engaging newsletter? Not happy with what you have?

GET A FREE E-NEWS AUDIT

 

What are your tips for writing an effective e-newsletter? Feel free to comment further below.

Quotes

“Always. Add. Value. The subscriber is paying for the newsletter with their email address and attention. So think of it like a product with value. The actual elements vary with the audience.” ~ Ann Janzer

“The vast majority of newsletters get struck by the email marketer’s kiss-of-death: “Mark as read.” ~ Margo Aaron, HubSpot, “How to Write Email Newsletters That People Actually Want to Read”

Comments? Suggestions? Need help with your communications? Contact me.

business communication, business writing, newsletter advice, newsletter marketing, newsletter tips, newsletter writing, newsletters, Uncategorized, writing a newsletter

5 Elements of an Effective Newsletter for Business

1. A descriptive headline – Among the most crucial elements of an effective newsletter for business, the subject line should refer clearly to the content while it entices people to open.

Example: Is your Rx running low? (DFD Russell Medical Centers)

It should also provoke curiosity. Use power words, numbers, news, or scarcity (“This Friday Only”) to grab attention. Subject Line, Sharethrough, Advanced Marketing Institute’s Headline Analyzer, and other analyzers can help you choose click-worthy headlines.

2. A simple structure and design – Follow AIDA, which stands for attention, interest, desire, and action. Generally speaking, put the most important information at or near the top, where people tend to look first.

Research and marketing firm Fenwick studied several B2B newsletters. Those they ranked the highest contained an average of 241 words, used few images, had one column, and featured the same colors and branding as the companies’ websites.

3. Interesting content – Ask yourself why you’re sending your newsletter to determine what to include. Do you want to get more leads?

After you’ve started, the challenge is to keep people reading. HubSpot suggests you do that through “building relevance.” If you know why you’re sending people your newsletter, ask yourself, “What value are they going to get from it?”

4. Personalized copy – Michael Katz, an expert on professional services and solopreneur newsletters, recommends you blend stories about your life experiences with your business knowledge to connect with readers and build trust.

A more personal touch may make you stand out as someone people can relate to rather than a faceless brand name. It can also keep your content interesting.

5. Ease of reading – Check the readability level. Some grammar experts advise that your content read at an eighth or ninth-grade level or below. To check the level, use The Hemingway App.

An overlooked part of newsletter design is compliance with accessibility standards such as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and the European Union Accessibility Directive. The ADA requires certain businesses to accommodate people with disabilities. Web content for them should be accessible for navigation by voice, screen readers, or other assistive devices.

The ADA guidelines apply to businesses that run 20 or more weeks yearly with at least 15 full-time employees or those that provide public accommodation, such as inns and restaurants. These are the ADA legal requirements for an email.

Learn more about crafting engaging and effective business e-newsletters.

What do you think are the most effective elements of a newsletter? Feel free to comment below.

Need help with your e-newsletter? Check out The Ultimate Guide to Writing a Newsletter, my business newsletter writing packages, or request a free e-news audit.

Quotes

“When setting the goal for your email, you want to consider how to send the right email to the right person at the right time.” ~ HubSpot

“Regardless of which type of email you are sending, your reader needs to know what you’re trying to convey. Aim for a clean, straightforward design to display the value you are sending.” ~ HubSpot

business communication, business writing, newsletter writing, writing a newsletter

How to Write a Business Newsletter: Examples, Format, and Strategy (2024)

by

Michelle Troutman

Every message you send should promote your product, service, or mission successfully. But figuring out how to write a business newsletter can be frustrating. Where do you begin: with the design, the content, or both? Will people even find it engaging?

As a blank screen stares back at you, you may feel overwhelmed. Keep calm and read on to learn all about business newsletter writing from start to finish.

Table of Contents

What Makes a Business Newsletter Effective?

A business newsletter informs potential customers about products or services. The benefits of sending an e-newsletter include cost-effective marketing, targeted messaging, and direct communication.

Learn more in What Are the Elements of an Effective Business Newsletter?

What Should Be Included in a Business Newsletter?

A successful newsletter starts with a well-defined content and design plan. Identify your target audience, determine your newsletter goals, and set a consistent publishing schedule.

  1. Michael Katz of Blue Penguin Development suggests you answer the question, “What is this about?” in one clear sentence. And aim to give your readers information that will appeal to them. Ideally, it will help them do better jobs or live better lives.
  2. If you publish blogs, social media posts, or press releases regularly, add your newsletter to your content marketing mix. Use it to recycle or reinvent existing content. Consider how your messages fit into your content calendar.
  3. If you’re in business, your priority may be to get more leads, which can eventually turn into sales. You can address every stage of your buyer’s journey, from their awareness of your business to consideration, decision-making, and loyalty.

So feature content that informs potential customers about you and your products or services and how you can help them.

Content Ideas to Help You Build a Relationship With Your Readers

  • News or upcoming events: your own or from sources you credit
  • One or more of your recent blog posts (links with or without summaries)
  • Discounts, special offers, or giveaways (a free guide, a prize drawing, etc.)
  • Your thoughts on a topic tied to your product or service
  • Readers’ comments, including questions and answers
Writing a Business Newsletter in 5 Steps infographic.

And it doesn’t have to be all business. Katz also recommends you blend stories about your life experiences with your expertise to connect with readers and build trust.

A more personal touch may make you stand out as someone people can relate to rather than a faceless brand name. It can also keep your content interesting. Their responses to your content could reveal how popular it is or how well it converts.

When writing a company newsletter, consider:

  1. The purpose of the content and if it fits the theme of your message; if not, find a suitable topic. To refine your subject, link your article goals to the different buyer’s journey stages (more on that later).
  2. The writing style: will it be informational or tell a story? Will you go for laughs?
  3. The outline or structure.

Artificial intelligence can help, but check any facts for accuracy and tailor any content it generates to your unique brand voice, language, and tone.

Learn how to write an article for a business newsletter.

How to Write a Business Newsletter: Tailoring Your Content to Different Audiences

Consider segmenting your audience by their needs and interests. This lets you craft content that connects deeply with each group. By offering a variety of content formats, you can cater to different learning styles and preferences. Here’s how.

1. Know Your Audience: Segment your target market based on factors like industry, company size, or legal or financial needs to address their challenges or goals. Potential segments for a professional services firm:

  • Startups: They might need help with forming a legal entity, fundraising strategies, and navigating early-stage regulations.
  • Established Businesses: This segment could benefit from content on contract negotiation, intellectual property protection, or tax-saving strategies.
  • High-Net-Worth Readers: This group might be interested in estate planning strategies, wealth management tips, and asset protection.

2. Craft Content in Their Language: Once you know your segments, change your language accordingly. Examples:

  • Startups: Add terms familiar to them like “seed funding” or “minimum viable product (MVP).” Simplify complex legal and financial concepts clearly.
  • Established Businesses: Use industry-specific jargon relevant to their field (e.g., “marketing and advertising law” for an ad agency). Provide in-depth analysis of legal or financial issues that affect their operations.
  • High-Net-Worth Readers: Explain wealth management and estate planning in formal language like insights on complex investment options and tax benefits.

3. Variety Adds Spice: Don’t bore your audience with the same format. Mix it up with different content to show your expertise:

  • Startups: Show infographics on business formation, offer Q&A sessions with legal or financial experts, or checklists for essential tasks.
  • Established Businesses: Share case studies featuring successful client outcomes, publish webinars on industry trends and legal updates, and go in-depth with exclusive white papers.
  • High-Net-Worth Readers: Feature interviews with wealth management specialists, discuss tax law changes that affect their portfolios, or grant access to gated content on estate planning strategies.

4. Track and Analyze: Track your email analytics to see how different segments respond to the content. Use this data to refine your strategy and give each audience useful information.

“I’ve picked up a few email marketing pointers along the way as a real estate investor. I’ve found that personalization is key — I always tailor my newsletters to the specific interests and needs of my audience.

Plus, consistency is crucial. I make sure to send out regular updates to keep my subscribers engaged. And don’t forget about valuable content — I strive to provide useful information that adds value to my readers’ lives.”

Harpreet Saini, CEO, We Buy Houses

5 Business E-Newsletter Must-Haves

Crafting compelling business emails requires a strategic approach. Five best practices to consider:

  1. Plan for Scannability: People skim emails. Structure your content with clear headings, bullet points, and concise language to enhance readability. Many email marketing platforms offer mobile-friendly templates (learn more further below).
  2. Embrace Consistency: Set a regular newsletter format. This streamlines creation and enhances familiarity. Consider sections like a welcome message, featured articles, a blog post, and a call to action.
  3. Fuel Your Content Engine: Keep a three to 12-month content calendar. Explore content curation tools to collect industry news. Don’t be afraid to repurpose existing content from blog posts or white papers: reframe, summarize, and link back to your sources.
  4. Content that Converts: Newsletters educate and nurture leads. Craft catchy headlines, interesting body copy, and clear calls to action. Share your unique experiences and insights to connect with your audience.
  5. Stay Compliant: Ensure your email complies with laws like CAN-SPAM. This includes having clear unsubscribe options and avoiding deceptive subject lines. For international audiences, stay aware of CASL (Canada) and GDPR (Europe) compliance standards.

Follow these practices to send informative, engaging, and legally sound messages.

The Best Business Newsletter Structure

Research and marketing firm Fenwick studied 100 email newsletters by B2B (business-to-business) companies in different industries. They found four common newsletter formats:

  • The Summarizer: about 69 percent of the emails repackaged pieces the firms had already published
  • The Hard Sell: 18 percent of the messages focused on product/service benefits
  • The Homepage: eight percent of the newsletters curated content from across the web and provided analysis/context
  • The Forwarder: five percent of the emails the firm generated when it published a new piece of content without any context

Need more ideas? See the business newsletter writing examples below.

What Are Some Business Newsletter Examples?

If you run a professional services firm (lawyers, insurance, real estate agents, etc.), see these business newsletter examples. I also have some thoughts on healthcare emails.

Among 501(3)(c) charitable nonprofits, I like the National Hemophilia Foundation’s HEMAWARExpress. It features a tasteful design with images and brief descriptions that link to the full articles. The headlines are short. Other copy, such as the sponsored content, is formatted into two columns to stand out from their own articles.

Every image is eye-catching, designed to help tell the story. The newsletter could, however, be shorter. With fewer content blocks, readers would scroll less and save time.

HEMAWAREExpress newsletter snapshot -- one of the best business newsletter examples.

Editing tip: Make sure your headlines follow a consistent case style. In the example above, one of the headlines among the sponsored content is lowercase, but the rest of the words in the headlines are capitalized — consistency is key for easy reading.

I’ve created e-newsletters for economic development nonprofits. One of my local chambers of commerce, the Bangor Region Chamber, excels at keeping their content and design short and sweet, without bold colors, large fonts, or other distractions.

These best business newsletter examples can guide you in choosing the content, design, and style of your newsletter. As shown, depending on your audience and subject matter, your copy should keep a friendly and informational tone throughout.

How Do I Create a Newsletter for My Business?

Next to your copy, the design also determines the basic business newsletter structure. Follow AIDA: attention, interest, desire, and action.

  1. Attention – Start with a compelling subject or headline — the first thing readers will see. Use power words, numbers, emojis, news, or scarcity (“This Friday Only”). Subject Line, Sharethrough, Advanced Marketing Institute’s Headline Analyzer, and other analyzers can help you choose click-worthy titles. If your email marketing platform allows for it, include some preview text. It can offer more details to influence opens through helping readers see the value of your email. Inside, much of the age-old writing advice for articles applies, such as writing an appealing opener. Generally, that involves stating an intriguing fact, adding an interesting quote, or asking a question. Personalize the copy to users’ interests or behavior. Images should also draw readers in.
  2. Interest – After you’ve started, the challenge is to keep people reading. HubSpot suggests you do that through “building relevance.” If you know why you’re sending people your newsletters, ask yourself, “What value are they going to get from it?”
  3. Desire – Build on the initial steps: show readers the value of your product or service.
  4. Action – This is the goal of your email. It involves a clear, persuasive, and eye-catching “call-to-action” (CTA), such as a sentence or a button that links to more information. Action verbs help. Focus on the benefits of the content — what readers will get from it — to earn clicks.

To write a great CTA, HubSpot recommends you ask yourself:

  • What do I want the reader to do?
  • Why should they do it?
  • How will they know to do it?

Beyond CTAs in link form, buttons are easy to see and click on, especially on mobile devices. Ensure the buttons are large enough for users to comfortably tap with their fingers. Add white space around them.

Also, write clear and concise button text that conveys the action you want readers to take. Some copywriters suggest you use the word “me” or “my” instead of “you” or “your” in your CTAs to enhance their appeal. Add a benefit — show what readers will get.

Examples:

  • Book Your Tour and Save
  • Schedule My Free Consultation

The footer can include links to any social media pages and information that complies with CAN-SPAM (U.S.), CASL (Canada), and GDPR (Europe). Per the CAN-SPAM Act, commercial emails must have your physical address and links for readers to unsubscribe or to email preferences. HubSpot sees these options as a way to build and maintain trust.

Explore how to write a law firm newsletter, including law firm newsletter topics, law firm newsletter templates, and legal newsletter examples for clients.

Keeping It Simple to Maintain Interest

Whatever you decide to include in your emails, the Content Marketing Institute recommends they be “simple and focused.” Stick to one topic. If you must add more information, mention it briefly after the body of the email. Too many details can stop the flow and decrease interest. The text should be conversational and helpful, written in a tone appropriate for your brand and your target market or buyer’s “persona.”

Some experts recommend the average newsletter be 300 words or fewer — or about six to seven lines of text per message — with simple words, short sentences, and action verbs.

Research backs this up. The Nielsen Norman Group (NNG) analyzed 117 newsletters with infrared emitters and webcams to capture people’s expressions. They also used eye-tracking heat maps that showed where users looked.

  • Their research reveals that people tend to skip introductory text. A little over one-third (35 percent), skimmed or glanced at the material.
  • Another of their usability studies of ten emails showed “users have highly emotional reactions to newsletters.” Because they arrive regularly in their inboxes, they tend to see them as an ongoing relationship, with more of a bond between them and the company than a website or a blog.
  • And the format must be simple. Only 23 percent read them thoroughly. Users skimmed, scanned, or didn’t open the rest.
  • A heat map, like those the NNG used that connects to your email platform, can note where people look. Tracking readers’ activity, including open rates, can help you determine future content.

Later, we’ll cover how to create a newsletter template to house your content.

Get The Easy 5-Step Business Newsletter Template

What Should I Write in My First Newsletter?

Your first newsletter can set the standard for later emails. It may serve as an introduction, apart from a “welcome” message or script you send new subscribers automatically. It can also state the purpose of your newsletter and cover content you feel is most relevant to readers. And you may mention when they can expect to receive it.

HubSpot follows a holistic approach to writing a company newsletter. They suggest you “consider how to send the right email to the right person at the right time.” They recommend you ask yourself:

  • When will this contact see value from this email?
  • Will they be able to do something with it right now?
  • Is this information relevant to their needs or goals?

Each potential customer is at a different stage in the buying process; some may be in an “awareness” stage and need more educational content compared to someone who is still deciding and needs more information, such as a consultation.

How Do You Write a Business Newsletter Template?

Popular email marketing platforms like MailChimp and Constant Contact offer templates you can customize with your own colors, text, stock photos, and branding.

You can also choose premade templates based on the audience and subject matter. They typically feature a header and a footer, with one column throughout or a mix of one- and two-column content blocks. There’s usually only one of each column style per email.

Fenwick suggests you keep the design simple (like your writing). The B2B newsletters they studied “buried whatever point they hoped to make in walls of tiny text, crammed non-essential images into two-column formats (not a death sentence, but difficult to pull off).” They also “produced an experience that felt nothing like their website.”

The newsletters Fenwick ranked the highest were:

  • An average of 241 words long
  • Used fewer images
  • Had one column
  • Featured the same colors and branding as the company websites

“We used automation tools like Mailchimp and Constant Contact to design our newsletters. They helped segment our audience and personalize content for higher conversion rates.”

Fahad Khan, Digital Marketing Manager, Ubuy Nigeria

What Does A Well-Designed Email Look Like?

Fenwick gave the average newsletter a score of 1.83 out of three — just below average; newsletters in their top ten percent achieved a 2.6. They granted only 20 percent of the companies high marks.

The top email newsletters were simple, visually appealing, and kept readers’ attention throughout. “The lowest-scoring email newsletters were cluttered, poorly formatted, and featured several different nested headers, many columns, and a disorienting amount of text.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, great writing and great design are connected. Companies that have good copy also have good design instincts and vice versa.”

Planning Your Newsletter for Business by Design

MarketingProfs suggests you type or hand-draw a basic design before you begin. If you’re working with a designer or programmer, you can give it to them and they can go from there. They also suggest you ensure the look and feel are clear and consistent with your brand and its voice.

HubSpot recommends you keep the type of device your readers will use to see your messages in mind. Smartphones are among the smallest screens.

Plain text emails work best for newsletters that focus on content. This business newsletter writing format is also helpful if you’re linking back to a blog post or a website. Newsletters in HTML may be more eye-catching than text.

Plain text emails work best for newsletters that focus on content. This format is also helpful if you’re linking back to a blog post or a website.
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To quote HubSpot, “Regardless of which type of email you are sending, your reader needs to know what you’re trying to convey. Aim for a clean, straightforward design to display the value you are sending.”

Design Elements That Drive Engagement

Think about the different elements of your email. The top, or header, should be a focal point — put details you want people to see first here, such as your logo.

Headers, links, bold text, and white space throughout emphasize certain parts of your newsletter, making it scannable.

White space is a crucial design element. It gives your content room to breathe, breaking up text and images to enhance readability. Effective newsletter design uses it strategically. Margins, gutters, and spacing between lines add to an appealing and easy-to-read format.

In most email marketing platforms, the standard width is 600 pixels, but you may change the settings to suit different screen sizes.

Learn how to create a professional email newsletter.

How to Create an Engaging Design Template

HubSpot uses the following steps when creating a template to show the reader value, explain the action they should take, and create a conversation that feels natural:

  1. Set a goal.
  2. Outline your email design; write and design the content to involve the reader in your conversation (and convert).
  3. Focus on creating a consistent experience.
  4. Bring everything together and create a call to action to guide the reader to their next steps.

Essentially, everything should support the goal of your message and be consistent throughout. And format the writing and the design elements for easy scanning and reading across all devices That’s another part of building a relationship with your readers.

ADA Guidelines for People With Disabilities

An overlooked part of newsletter design is compliance with accessibility standards like the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) and the European Union Accessibility Directive. The ADA requires certain businesses to accommodate people with disabilities. Web content for them should be accessible for navigation by voice, screen readers, or other assistive technologies.

The ADA guidelines apply to businesses that run 20 or more weeks yearly with at least 15 full-time employees or those that provide public accommodation, such as inns and restaurants.

Often, people believe websites must be ADA compliant — they can be subject to fines if they aren’t — but newsletters and emails aren’t often discussed. The ADA guidelines aren’t specific, so much of them are based on Web Content Accessibility Guidelines. The ADA legal requirements for an email include:

  • Maintain a logical reading order
  • Use heading elements in code — if you rely on templates and don’t know HTML, this won’t apply
  • Include enough contrast between text and background colors (WebAIM contrast checker tool)
  • Provide “alt text” for images
  • Feature meaningful link text
  • Keep your code concise (not applicable if you rely on templates)
  • Use a descriptive subject line

Also, check how your emails look in light and dark modes and if necessary, change your design elements to improve accessibility. The dark mode setting in email clients shows the text, icons, and other user-interface elements in light colors against a dark background.

Adjusting Your Newsletter Design Further for Readability

The design elements can also include providing enough space around your text and not using colors that are too similar. Some people might find italics hard to read.

Links, ideally, include three or more words. Linking to an entire sentence (if it’s short) can be easier to read. Campaign Monitor recommends avoiding “click here” and “read more,” in favor of the more precise, like “Read our recommendations for better links.”

The content should make sense and work well with other devices, such as screen readers.

A descriptive subject line should refer clearly to the newsletter content.

Example: “Picked for you: Light Wash Jeans” (Levi’s®).

Whether or not your business must meet government accessibility laws, it’s practical to make your content easy to read for everyone.

Mobile-Friendly Elements of Design That Enhance Appeal

Today, many people read emails on smartphones or tablet PCs. Responsive design ensures your newsletter’s layout automatically adjusts to fit their screens.

For faster load times, use fewer images and keep them fairly small. To ensure smooth viewing on mobile devices, resize your images to dimensions appropriate for your content. MailChimp, for example, prompts users to size graphics 800 pixels wide and 600 pixels high.

Free tools like Irfanview or Promo’s Free Image Resizer can resize graphics. Also, consider image formats designed for web use like JPEG or PNG, which balance quality and file size effectively.

Though they can look good on desktop screens, too many columns can confuse readers and be harder to navigate on mobile devices. Consider a single-column layout; on smartphones and tablets, the text and images stack neatly on top of each other.

When you’re ready to test your design, check how it looks on all devices through your email platform or send yourself a copy.

“Establishing a template with minor customizable parts can drastically cut down on design time. For instance, at Businessmap, we have an evergreen template featuring our brand colors and fonts, but we switch up images and texts per edition to keep it fresh.”

Pavel Naydenov, Head of Marketing, Businessmap


Email Design Best Practices - Email Uplers - writing a newsletter
Source: Email Design Best Practices – Email Uplers

How Do You Sign Off a Newsletter?

Depending on the content, each “block” or section can have its own call-to-action (CTA). These usually appear at the end of the block. Campaign Monitor recommends you add some personality to the end of your newsletter or CTA. Your final message should match the tone of the rest of your content.

They suggest you:

  • Know your audience
  • Keep it pleasant, short, and sweet
  • Show gratitude when it’s appropriate

Less is sometimes more.

How Often Should You Send a Newsletter?

The short answer: it’s up to you. 🙂

If your emails will feature the latest news or promotions, it may be better to send them daily or weekly. For evergreen content, every two weeks or once a month can work well. At the least, it shouldn’t be less than four times a year or quarterly.

Ann Handley of MarketingProfs offers the following rules of thumb:

  1. Quality matters more than frequency (with some exceptions). It takes her about eight hours to write and publish her newsletters, hence she issues them every two weeks. She also believes there’s no “right answer” to the question of how often you should publish. To her, weekly or every two weeks is a minimum. She sees monthly as too infrequent.
  2. “Write only when you have something to say” doesn’t work. (The Content Marketing Institute has promoted that philosophy.)

For professional services firms or solopreneurs, Michael Katz advises that every two weeks is fine; he publishes his on that schedule and finds that “it keeps me very visible and top of mind.” And he says that nearly all of his clients publish theirs monthly.

For many people, more often is too much work. He reasons that with social media and other tools, you can get more mileage out of your newsletter through posting on other platforms. Like other forms of content, newsletters yield benefits over time.

Research can help you decide the best schedule. Fenwick — remember them? — suggests that “For a newsletter to remain enjoyable, one email per week is probably fine.” Their analysis found that companies sent an average of six emails monthly. The ones they ranked in their top ten percent averaged 11 per month. They advise that sending an email every other day is a lot and suggest sticking to the average.

How Do I Make a Newsletter for Free?

Few email marketing platforms are truly free; many of them offer limited trials and then charge a monthly fee based on the number of subscribers and/or how often you send.

MailChimp is among the most well-known free providers for lists of 500 or fewer subscribers. It offers a decent variety of templates for non-designers or programmers, but if you know HTML, there’s an option for that.

You can also preview your newsletters, send tests, and check links. And you can send every new subscriber a “thank you” or “welcome” email. Plus, the platform provides solid metrics, letting you track clicks and opens, including the best dates and times for sending. A/B tests are available for paid accounts.

Other services offer similar options based on the number of contacts and emails you send. With Mailjet, the free limit is 6,000 subscribers and 200 emails daily. The plan includes:

  • Unlimited contacts
  • APIs
  • SMTP relay
  • Advanced statistics
  • Webhooks
  • Advanced email editor

ConvertKit (aka Kit), popular with content marketers, provides their free plan to users with up to 1,000 subscribers. It includes:

  • Unlimited landing pages and forms
  • Sending email broadcasts
  • Selling digital products and subscriptions
  • Email support

Other extras are available through their paid plans.

Sender: Their free plan includes:

  • Access to all features, including automation
  • Up to 2,500 subscribers
  • Up to 15,000 emails per month

Sender offers several features suitable for everyone from bloggers to businesses of all sizes and types.

Among the notable options are automation in the form of product data added to emails from a link and the ability to collect user data after a purchase. Like other platforms, Sender provides:

  • Templates
  • Segmentation
  • Personalization
  • API
  • Social sharing
  • Automated welcome messages
  • Email sequences

But compared to other ESPs, their free plan is more generous with subscriber and email send limits.

Though it might seem small compared to more prominent email service providers, Sender boasts more than 300,000 users, including well-known brands such as Deloitte, Disney, and the World Wildlife Fund. It’s also fairly versatile, supporting integration with apps like Cloudflare, WooCommerce, Zapier, WordPress, and Shopify.

“Automation is a game-changer. Leverage email marketing software to automate certain aspects like sending the newsletters, tracking performance, and adjusting strategies based on analytics.” 

Gianluca Ferruggia, General Manager, DesignRush

Other Types of Platforms

Sending a newsletter directly from a social media platform or a blog can be easier than using an email newsletter provider. Essentially, your blog serves as the newsletter, as you email everyone an update whenever you post.

Creating the newsletter on the platform is more “plug-and-play,” and doesn’t require coding or much design, saving set-up time.

Some popular free options:

Depending on the platform, you might not own all of your data there, namely your subscriber list. As Ann Handley of MarketingProfs has said of LinkedIn, access to that data can be a problem if the company folds. Major changes could also happen under new owners, like when Elon Musk bought Twitter.

These platforms could also change their content policies and limit what they deem acceptable for posting.

If you meet the access criteria and have over 150 followers on LinkedIn, you can make newsletters through a personal profile or a company page. Google and other search engines may index them, and with LinkedIn’s high domain authority, they could outrank your website or blog content.

Sending an existing newsletter through the platform can cross-promote your content to a wider audience. Once you publish, unless you’ve opted out, everyone in your network will be notified.

beehiiv and Substack: Social vs. Blog Hosting

beehiiv and Substack look similar. Substack is more of a social platform, letting people react to posts and offering audio/video features, including podcast hosting. It’s geared more toward those interested in monetizing their content.

Both sites let you email blogs to an established list for free. If you decide to charge for subscriptions, however, Substack will get a 10% cut and their payment processor, Stripe, will take 2.9% plus $0.30 (USD) per subscriber transaction.

Compared to Substack, beehiiv is more SEO-friendly and is more of a web-hosting blog service. It bills itself as the solution for writers who want more flexibility and options, like access to surveys and advanced analytics (mainly for paid users). It’s free for lists of fewer than 2,500 subscribers with unlimited sends.

With its application programming interface (API), it’s similar to a provider like MailChimp.

How Do You Write a Professional Newsletter?

After you’ve finished writing a company newsletter, check for errors. A thorough read-through to catch mistakes before you hit “send” will make your newsletter look polished. Email yourself and anyone else on your team a test message (or three). Use this list to spot mistakes:

  1. Check all links.
  2. Nowadays, many email marketing platforms convert your e-newsletter content for viewing on mobile devices. Explore the design element, like font sizes and colors and links to images, to ensure they’re consistent across all devices. Is everything easy to read and scan? Keep your sentences three to four lines long (or less) to enhance scannability.
  3. Check the readability level. Some grammar experts recommend your content read at an eighth or ninth-grade level or below. To check the level, use The Hemingway App.
  4. Edit and proofread.
  5. Ensure everything makes sense and is correct, including any names, dates, and times. Figures should add up.

If you follow all the steps I outlined above and avoid mistakes, you’ll be well on your way to mastering how to write a business newsletter.

The best of luck to you in your efforts!

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  • First published: September 7, 2021
  • Last updated: June 11, 2024