You know you should have a newsletter, and every marketing guru says so.
But when you sit down to figure out how to write a newsletter, your brain either goes completely blank or spirals into chaos.
You have seventeen different ideas, none of them feel right, so you write and rewrite for hours (and maybe even beg ChatGPT for help, but it just ends up making everything worse)…
Seven hours later you hit send on something that gets you a 3% open rate and zero clicks. Cool cool cool.
As a copywriter, most newsletters I see are, quite frankly, boring, too salesy, or trying way too hard. So, how on earth do you write a newsletter that people want to read and even wait for in their inbox?!
Here’s everything you need to know.
What Is a Newsletter?
A newsletter is regular emails you send to people who opted in to hear from you.
Usually, they sign up when they download your freebie or subscribe through your website. You can send it weekly, bi-weekly, or on whatever schedule that works for you and your business.
This may sound simple, but for small business owners, your newsletter is one of the most powerful tools you have. Why? Because:
- You own your email list, unlike social media algorithms that change every 0.3 minutes
- Your newsletter is a direct line to people who already like you and want to hear from you
- It has the highest ROI of any marketing channel
- You can use it to build trust over time without being pushy or salesy
If you want to hear a stat that’ll make your eyeballs pop, the average ROI for marketing emails in the US is between 3600% and 3800%!
That means that for every dollar you spend, you could get $36 to $38 back. Not too shabby, huh?!
At the same time, your newsletter is NOT a sales pitch disguised as content, or a boring laundry list of things you did this week that have zero relevance to your audience.
What makes newsletters tricky for so many business owners is that they need to weave together personal storytelling and selling your services, but in a way that doesn’t feel irrelevant or sales-y.
Your email newsletter needs to be:
- Personal, but not self-indulgent
- High-converting, but not read as a constant sales pitch
So, how do you write a good newsletter that does that? Here’s my step-by-step!
How to Write a Newsletter That’s Juicy, Fun, and Addictive
1. Write Like You Talk
If you wouldn’t say it out loud, don’t write it in your newsletter! Ditch the stiff, formal language that makes you sound like a robot wrote your copy.
For example:
- Stiff: “I am reaching out to provide you with some therapeutic strategies that may prove beneficial for managing stress and anxiety in your daily life.”
- Conversational: “Here’s what I’ve been telling my therapy clients this week when they can’t sleep because their brain won’t shut up.”
As you can probably tell, the conversational version is MUCH better than the stiff one.
This is why I always recommend reading your newsletter out loud before you send it. If it sounds weird or awkward, rewrite it!
👉 Learn more about how to become a great salesperson without the fancy talk in my guide for WikiHow.
2. Pick One Main Thing Per Email
Every newsletter should focus on one story, one tip, or one offer. I beg you, do NOT try to cram every single thought that goes through your brain into the same email with four different calls to action.
When you give people too many options, they freeze up and do nothing. Multiple CTAs create decision paralysis, so they close the email without clicking anything. That’s how buyer psychology works.
To write a successful newsletter, pick ONE thing you want them to know or do, and then build the whole email around that.
I know that you have a ton more great things to say, but they’ll have to wait for the next email, sorry!
3. Spice Up Your Subject Line
Your subject line is the only thing standing between your newsletter and the trash folder.
You could write the most brilliant, helpful, entertaining email in the world, but if your subject line is boring, nobody will ever see it, and that’s just the harsh reality of email marketing. SORRY.
Write a subject line that’s specific, interesting, and a little unexpected so people want to open it!
Here are examples of subject lines that I’ve sent to my own email list recently:
- A TV crew from LA blew up my small town
- Huge elephant in the room
- Nah bro, I’m good
- Scammed in Florence
- The ick is LOUD
Notice how each one makes you curious? They hint at a story without giving everything away. You want to know what happened in Florence, or why there’s a TV crew involved, or what “the ick” is about.
That said, your subject lines should match your brand voice and personality. If you’re a therapist writing about anxiety, you probably won’t use “the ick is LOUD,” but you could absolutely write something like “That tight chest feeling.”
Even serious topics have plenty of room for personality and specificity!
4. Make It About Them, Not You
The tricky thing about personal storytelling in newsletters is that yes, you should absolutely share stories about yourself. But those stories need to land somewhere that matters to your reader.
If you tell a story about your chaotic morning getting the kids ready for school, it can’t just end with “anyway, that was my Tuesday!” It needs to connect to something they’re dealing with, like setting boundaries with urgency or what you learned about letting go of perfection.
The STORY is about you, but the LESSON is for them.
It’s super fun to write about your weekend trip or the book you’re reading, but none of that matters unless you can answer the “so what?” question. Why does this matter to the person reading? How does it connect to what they’re struggling with or working toward?
If you can’t answer these questions, cut or reframe your content to make it entertaining and personal, but more about “you” than “I”!
Learn more about storytelling copywriting and how to use it.
5. Break Up Your Copy
Nobody (I repeat, nobody) wants to read a wall of text in their inbox.
When someone opens your email and sees one giant paragraph staring back at them, they close it. Even if the content is great, you’re losing them over formatting.
Break up your copy with subheads, bullet points, bold text, and short paragraphs. You want to make it scannable! Your reader should be able to skim the email and know what it’s about and what you want them to do after reading it.
6. Give Before You Ask
Too many newsletters I get in my inbox are just sales pitches with a thin layer of content on top. Trust me, people can smell that from a mile away.
If every single email is short on substance and quickly ends with “buy this” or “book a call,” it gets repetitive and icky fast!
More often than not, your emails should provide value without asking for anything in return. You can do that by:
- Sharing an entertaining story that has a relevant lesson for your audience
- Sending practical tips they can use right away
- Answering a question they’ve been asking
- Sharing a behind-the-scenes look at how you do something
In other words, give them a reason to keep opening your emails that has nothing to do with whether they’re ready to buy! Build trust first, pitch second. And when you finally do make an offer, people are WAY more likely to say yes because they’ve seen what you’re capable of and they trust you!
Learn more about how to write copy that sells in a way that doesn’t feel like (icky) selling.
7. End With a Clear Next Step
Every newsletter should end with ONE clear action you want people to take. Even if you’re mentioning multiple things in the content, there should be ONE main next step!
You should also make it as easy as possible for them to actually take that step.
Whether you’re asking them to click this link, book a call here, or download this, it should be obvious and simple. AKA, once they click, the process on the other side shouldn’t feel confusing or eat up a bunch of their time.
👉 Looking for more newsletter tips? Check out this How to Write a Good Newsletter guide I wrote for WikiHow!
FAQs
How Often Should I Send a Newsletter?
Weekly is a solid goal if you can keep up with it! You can also send your newsletters multiple times a week if your content is entertaining and valuable. But ultimately, it just depends on what you can stay consistent with while still providing a lot of value. Bi-weekly or even monthly can work great for some small business owners.
There’s no right or wrong answer! Just pick something you can stick to without burning out or phoning it in.
What Should I Write About in My Newsletter?
There are SO many options! Stories, tips, behind-the-scenes stuff, lessons you’ve learned, things you’re trying, relevant industry news. Basically anything that connects back to what your audience cares about. When in doubt, you can think through the questions that your audience often asks you and build your newsletter content around that.
What Is the Best Email Marketing Platform?
Honestly, most platforms can work! I use Flodesk because their templates are really pretty and there are just enough tech features for what I need to do with my email list in terms of segmentation and strategy. But there are many other options that you can try, such as Klaviyo, Mailchimp, and ConvertKit.
Don’t Want to Figure Out How to Write a Newsletter? Let Me Write It for You!
Writing newsletters consistently is hard, and writing GOOD newsletters is even harder. TBH, it’s something that requires professional skill, and I bet you didn’t start your business to spend hours agonizing over subject lines and CTAs.
Well, as a copywriter, I actually did start my business to do that and write newsletters (and other types of copy). And not to toot my own horn, but I’m pretty dang good at it! Just take a look at my portfolio.
So, if you’d rather have a pro handle your email marketing content for you, learn more about my copywriting services, or let’s chat!
