The internal newsletter: our top tips to avoid common mistakes

We’re increasingly hearing about AI, and the power of future technology, and it tends to make things like newsletters feel slightly old and not as exciting. But the truth of the matter is that the power of a newsletter is often overlooked in 2023, and in a world where we’re always trying to find bigger and fancier ways to communicate with people – maybe the answer is right in front of us – we should never forget to go back to basics! 

We had a think about the humble newsletter and decided that yes, it still has a place in our communications plans. We write digital newsletters for a good number of our clients still, and they work. So why shouldn’t we focus on bettering them, not replacing them?

Did you know the average open rate for corporate emails is 70%? Or that only 35% of employees will read more than half of what’s in those emails? They’re not great statistics, are they? Given the effort that can go into creating a newsletter it might make you wonder whether it’s something you should do at all. But a good newsletter will actually help reduce employee email fatigue because people will get fewer company-wide announcements. And if you do it well, far from being ignored, your newsletter will become the one company email employees set aside time to read. Here at Cosy Meerkat, we regularly see newsletters that aren’t quite hitting the mark. So, what are these common mistakes and how can you make sure your newsletter is opened by an audience that actively wants to read it?  

Mistake 1: Lack of clear purpose. Not knowing what you’re trying to achieve or what your audience wants to hear.

Mistake 2: A haphazard publishing schedule. Thinking once is good enough or just whenever you have lots to say. 

Mistake 3: Making it too long and dense. Your newsletter is not War and Peace and it shouldn’t be so full of padding people have to hunt for the nuggets (they won’t, believe us).

Mistake 4: Having a clunky, messy or just plain boring layout. It’s important to make it visually appealing.

Mistake 5: Ignoring employee contributions and ideas or, worse, putting in content aimed at your customers. 

If any of those sound familiar, it might be time to re-think what you’re doing. Here are our tips on how to make your newsletter super effective and engaging:

1. Understand your audience and (re)define your purpose. If you’ve already got a newsletter you can start by getting feedback on how it’s landing and what could be improved. If you’re starting afresh, use surveys or focus groups to ask people what information would be useful and interesting and how they like to consume content. Understanding what your audience truly wants will help you define not just the purpose of your newsletter but the actions you need to take in order to achieve your aims. Then you can refresh and refine your focus.

2. Work out the optimum time to send your newsletter and stick to a regular schedule. Ideally, you’re looking to send your newsletter at a time your audience is most likely to be engaged and receptive to updates and for it to become part of their routine. That means no sending it early in the morning, late at night or weekends. Work out what the optimum time in your organisation might be, decide on the frequency – and stick to your schedule.

3. Make it visually appealing. Create a distinctive and consistent look for your newsletter using colour schemes, font and images and try to avoid too much text. Charts or photos are great for breaking things up and make it easy for those who are skimming to orient themselves. Try to avoid stock photos though – a genuine behind-the-scenes office photo is not just more authentic but more engaging too. If there’s a longer piece of content you think employees should read, include a brief summary and a visual along with a link to the longer piece. And remember, it doesn’t all have to be text and photos – infographics and videos work well too. Just make sure it works for the topic. 

4. Personalise so readers get newsletters where everything feels relevant. Segment your audience on criteria such as department, location, role, seniority or function and use surveys or feedback tools to make sure you understand their preferences and challenges. You can also offer readers a choice to opt in to the types of articles they feel are most relevant to them. From there you can develop a content calendar to plan and organise what you’re going to put out. Some content – company news, for example – might be relevant to everyone, but best practice examples or project updates might only be relevant for individual departments. A lot of software tools will allow you to personalise almost every aspect of your newsletter, but don’t go too crazy – ask yourself what information needs to be personalised and how valuable it will be to the individual that it is personalised. 

5. Make sure your newsletter is accessible and mobile friendly. You can expect up to 20% of people to read your newsletter on their phone and, depending on the nature of your business, it could be far higher than that. Make sure your newsletter template looks good and works well on any device.  

6. Encourage contributions from staff as well as two-way conversation. No more using the newsletter as a one-way broadcast. Feedback will help make your newsletters relevant to your audience. Ask for input on topics and, if you have one, use the newsletter to drive traffic to your internal social media channel so that it creates conversation there.  

7. Include interactive elements. Find ways to encourage people to not just read but engage. It could be a poll or a random giveaway, for example – something to stop them scrolling and get them interacting.  

8. Create an employee spotlight section. Not only does this enable readers to learn more about what other people in your organisation do, thereby potentially increasing collaboration, it’s also a great way of letting individual staff know their work is valued. It doesn’t just have to be individuals either – give teams the opportunity to guest edit on topics that mean something to them. It’ll give readers variety and help raise the profile of different voices and departments within the organisation.  

Ultimately, an informative, interesting and relevant newsletter will always get read, and it will continue to have a place. It’s stood the test of time (albeit paper versions now moving online), and really can be an effective way to make sure your staff know what’s going on in your organisation, increasing transparency, trust and engagement at work.