As a small business owner, your email list is pure gold — but only if you use it well. Newsletters are a powerful tool to stay connected with your audience, build loyalty, and drive sales. Yet too many newsletters end up unopened, deleted, or unsubscribed. This all impacts on your statistics.
Ideally, you should be tracking your open and click-through rates. If you’re using a professional e-marketing platform (e.g. AWeber, MailChimp, Mailerlite, GetResponse, etc.) these stats will usually be available on their website. What are you measuring your newsletter’s success by?
If you want your subscribers to look forward to hearing from you, not ignore you, follow these seven proven tips:
1. Write for your reader, not yourself
It’s tempting to focus your newsletter on your business updates — but what your readers care about most is how you can help them. Always ask: What’s in it for them? Share valuable insights, practical tips, or exclusive offers that make their life better or easier. Make your newsletter feel like a gift, not a sales pitch.
✅ Quick tip 1: Use the word you more than we or I, to keep the focus on your reader and help them to connect with your message.
2. Lead with value
Very few readers want to be sold at! If your newsletter always leads with a value based article, they’re more likely to stay engaged. An article that helps them in some way, tells them how to do something, explains something or gives them useful guides or checklists are usually a great start to a newsletter.
✅ Quick tip 2: If you write a blog post regularly, you could use a good post as your lead article – although limit yourself to 100-150 words, then add a ‘read more’ button to take them to your blog link.
3. Develop a unique style
One of the things that makes a newsletter stand out is when the message is written in an individual style. When it sounds like the writer is talking directly to you, the reader, it’s much more likely that they will open the next one, as they feel as though they actually know you.
It doesn’t matter how big your organisation is, a personal approach will always win over a more polite and distant style.
✅ Quick tip 3: Write as though you’re telling a friend about the subject. Try dictating to a voice to text app to help to create this conversational style. You can always edit the result to tidy it up.
4. Create a consistent (but flexible) schedule
Consistency builds trust. Whether you send your newsletter weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, stick to a rhythm your audience can expect. But don’t be rigid — stay flexible enough to send special editions when something truly newsworthy happens.
✅ Quick tip 4: Pick a frequency you can maintain realistically, even during your busiest seasons.
5. Make your subject line impossible to ignore
Your subject line is your first (and sometimes only) shot at getting opened. Boring or generic lines will bury you in the inbox. Great subject lines create curiosity, promise value, or spark emotion.
✅ Quick tip 5: Test out subject lines that tease a benefit – How to Save 10 Hours This Month, or ask a compelling question – Are You Making This Common Mistake?.
6. Keep it easy on the eyes
No one wants to read a giant wall of text. Break your newsletter into short sections with clear headers, bullet points, and white space. Use bold text and formatting to highlight the most important points. Think like a newspaper; headings and subheadings allow the reader to decide which articles are of most interest to them.
Remember that readers are attracted by images, so ensure that relevant images are used to make your newsletter look more attractive. However, every image should help you to get your message across – they’re not just decoration!
✅ Quick tip 6: After writing your draft, do the 5-second scan test — can you get the main ideas just by skimming?
7. Always include a clear call to action (CTA)
Every newsletter should have a purpose. Whether it’s clicking a link, replying to a question, downloading a guide, or shopping a sale, make sure you tell your readers exactly what you want them to do next, they’re not clairvoyant! A strong CTA keeps engagement high and helps you measure your newsletter’s effectiveness.
✅ Quick tip 7: Use one primary CTA per email to avoid overwhelming your readers with choices. Tell them what to do – and make it easy to do it (e.g. a big fat button to click!)
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The bottom line:
A successful newsletter isn’t just about broadcasting your message — it’s about building a relationship. Focus on delivering value, writing like a real person, and making it easy (and enjoyable) to engage. Do that consistently, and your subscribers will actually look forward to hearing from you — and that’s where the magic happens.
