Create a newsletter that gets the most engagement
Newsletters are one of the most powerful ways to stay connected with your clients and keep your brand top of mind. But the real magic happens when the content is strategic, intentional, and written with your audience in mind. Too often, business owners start strong, then ghost their list. Remember, if someone has given you an email address, they are asking to hear from you!
What makes a newsletter work for your business? Let’s break it down.
Develop a newsletter strategy
The framework: newsletter content that works
Planning out your newsletter
Case Study: Parker River Tutoring has a 60% open rate
1. Develop a newsletter strategy
As with any strategy, a little thought and planning can go a long way to success! Remember, your email list opted in to receiving communications from you. Now it’s time to deliver!
The basics:
Know your audience. Who are they? What do they want from you? What do you want from them (sales, sign-ups, referrals)?
Know yourself! What’s your brand messaging? What’s your voice? What products, services, and/or information do you want to share?
Know your schedule. This should be based on when you can consistently send out newsletters AND when your recipients want to hear from you. (i.e., just because you can type a masterpiece every week, doesn’t necessarily mean your crew wants to hear from that often!)
Know what to say. Do the research! What do your customers care about? What information are they missing?
According to HubSpot, these are the three things every email newsletter should include:
✅ Real value – Share tips, insights, or resources
📅 Consistency – Stick to a regular schedule
📚 Educational content – Teach, inform, or inspire
In other words, keep it simple, clear, useful, authentic, and consistent. Great newsletters don’t just contain information. It’s about giving the reader what they are asking for, in a way they understand it, on a regular basis.
2. The Framework: newsletter content that works
Here’s the simple framework used for one of my clients that you can adapt for your own business:
1. Start with a human touch – Open with something seasonal, personal, or behind-the-scenes. This builds trust and connection over time.
2. Offer something valuable – Share a useful tip, insight, or quick how-to that positions your business as the go-to resource.
3. Highlight a product, service, or promotion – Remind readers what you offer without being salesy. Nothing will make a reader hit that “unsubscribe” button faster than a hard pitch!
4. Keep the look clean and clickable – Use formatting that’s easy to scan, include a relevant link or two, and close with a friendly sign-off.
Tip: If you're feeling stuck or unsure where to start, go for the simple approach. A short email with a helpful tip and a friendly tone can go a long way in keeping your audience engaged and keeping your business top of mind. A great newsletter feels personal, delivers value, gently promotes your services, and is easy to read at a glance—think relatable content, useful tips, and clear, clickable design.
3. Planning out your newsletter
The secret? It’s all about creating a plan and sticking to it.
- Choose a consistent send date. Then work backwards to figure out how much time you’ll need to write it. Now, and this is important, set a repeating calendar reminder and block off time to start typing!
- Write in batches or hire a writer (like me) to help you stay on track.
- Track engagement so you can tweak what’s working.
Pro tip: Repurpose or upscale your content from social, blog posts, and emails. Check out my recent blog post Creating Multiple Pieces of Content From One Inspiration for more ideas.
4. Case Study: Parker River Tutoring’s monthly newsletter reaches a 60% open rate
Parker River Tutoring is a local tutoring company that works with middle and high school students across multiple subjects. Like many small business owners, Meagan knew she should be sending a newsletter, but struggled to find the time and clarity to get it done.
We worked together to build a simple monthly email strategy that focused on three things:
1. Connection – humanizing the brand through team intros and seasonal updates
2. Value – offering timely tips and educational resources
3. Visibility – keeping services front and center in a helpful, non salesy way
We went old school with the framework, using color-coded, 3 x 5 cards to map out the newsletter. Each one represented a main topic and allowed us to write notes about what might be included. Cards were adjusted and shifted around until we had a solid plan.
Newsletter strategy session in action!
Each newsletter follows a flexible structure and is sent out at the same time each month.
The result? Higher open rates (60%), more replies, and new inquiries from both current and prospective clients.
Newsletters don’t have to be long, complicated, or perfect. But they do need to be in your voice and on brand, show up consistently, and provide value.
If you’re ready to create a newsletter strategy that works for your business, let’s chat! Words are my gig! I can help craft newsletters that sound like you, build real relationships, and keep your audience coming back for more.
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