20 Tips and Tricks for Email Newsletters That Don't Suck
Hello readers and writerly friends!
If you’re a returning reader, welcome back and if you’re new to the blog, thanks for stopping by! In this blog post we’re discussing the importance of not only utilizing email newsletters to convert clicks to cash, but also how to use them effectively to build a list of loyal, dedicated, and engaged subscribers. These subscribers should be more than happy to sign up for your newsletter, but they also should want to stay on your emailing list, well beyond receiving their freebies (aka sign-up incentives, which we’ll discuss in detail further on in this post). Newsletter emails should not be just another piece of junk mail to add to the trash pile. If you want your email newsletters to stand out, it’s all about delivering real value to your readers. Think beyond promotions—share helpful tips, interesting stories, or behind-the-scenes updates that people actually want to read. Consistency builds trust, so stick to a regular schedule.
In this post, I’ll go over all the aspects of effective newsletter marketing—such as how to set up an emailing list, building autoresponders and confirmation emails, strategies for developing compelling email campaigns, analyzing and understanding subscriber data with analytics, designing beautiful, mobile-friendly emails that drive traffic back to your website and boosts conversion rates, brainstorming newsletter topic ideas, crafting engaging freebie content that hooks new subscribers, sending test emails before releasing newsletters, and more! I also provide examples of good and bad email newsletters and include a list of resources for you to use when planning and preparing your newsletter email marketing campaigns. I’ve also included a printable checklist for you to pin up on your vision board or add to your marketing notes! In the “Further Reading” at the end of this post, you can find links to all the resources, content creators, and examples mentioned in this post!
Please note: In 2022, this website was rebranded and some of the photos present in this post may be outdated. These images still serve as great examples but keep in mind that they may be updated later.
Why Do I Need An Email Newsletter?
On paper, an email newsletter is a marketing campaign through which many corporations and entrepreneurs alike contact consumers and convert clicks to cash (okay, enough alliteration, I get it.) But in practice, it’s more complex and incredibly valuable. In the digital age, email marketing can be worth more than striking oil.
An email newsletter is a valuable tool that every entrepreneur, writer, editor or freelancer should have in their toolbox. Newsletters allow you to advertise products and promotions to recipients in ways other advertisements can’t—you can give your readers special VIP access to content, discounts, and so much more. But there’s more to it than copying and pasting your most recent blog post into your email box. No—that’s how you get readers to unsubscribe, real quick. It takes some doing, but newsletter campaigns are an important and valuable way to connect with your audience. When I send out emails to my subscribers, they’re getting content they won’t find anywhere else. There are some things to know before you jump off in the deep end of launching your first email marketing campaign, so keep reading to learn more!
Things To Keep In Mind
I always say authors should treat email newsletters like love letters, only not quite so romantic. You want them to be beautiful and actionable and you don’t want them to end up in the trash. Follow these basic guidelines as well as the extra mile tips to ensure your specially crafted newsletter translates to sales.
Respect your subscribers’ privacy. There is nothing more annoying than getting emails you didn’t sign up for. Of course, coming by someone’s email isn’t always easy, which is why getting them to subscribe in the first place is the biggest hurdle here. But you should always be considerate of the fact that they agreed to subscribe to your email list on the promise that you will deliver relevant, useful content and use their email for nothing else.
Don’t spam subscribers. Okay, maybe I lied before—the only thing more annoying than receiving emails you didn’t sign up for is getting your email inbox blown up. The number one reason I unsubscribe from an email list is when I get tons of irrelevant, non-useful, annoying emails. Subscribers don’t need to be updated 24/7 and you should be too busy to be sending out multiple emails a week anyways. If you need anymore convincing, its illegal to spam someone’s inbox, so at the very least, out of self-preservation, heed this advice: don’t spam.
Be professional, even if you’re not one (yet). When it comes to email newsletters, you can get comfortable and friendly with subscribers, but be professional. You never want to send out unfinished, unbranded, unedited, or remotely incomplete emails. Additionally, typos, broken links, and content movement is inevitable. To avoid this, send out a test email. Test all the links, read your email carefully, and ensure it translates correctly to mobile. I always send my email campaigns out on my secondary, personal email account. This way, I can see exactly what my subscribers see.
Be consistent. Subscribers are kind of funny in that they want routine, normalcy, and consistency in the content they consume. That’s exactly why YouTubers have upload schedules and TV channels air certain shows at the same time every week. This is important because when you reach out to your audience consistently, you build trust and recognizability with your audience and drive traffic to your site on a regular basis.
Add value first, then call to action. This might be the single most important tip in this entire blog post, so if you take away anything at all, please, dear reader, let it be this. I always tell my clients that the single best way to separate yourself from the competition is to add value first, then call to action later. What do I mean by that? Don’t expect your audience to do anything for you if you can’t provide them with plenty of useful, knowledgeable, or actionable advice beforehand. You wouldn’t subscribe to a YouTube channel without first knowing that you either a) enjoy the personality/humor of the YouTuber for entertainment or b) have found their channel is loaded with helpful, actionable advice, tips, tricks that are relevant to you.
This is no different for your subscribers. The easiest way to achieve this is to think of your experience, knowledge, and findings as your product. As an online content creator, generosity first is always the way to go. By providing value to your subscribers, first, you’re essentially giving them a sample of the widely helpful content found all over your website and other social media platforms. Think of the value first approach as the sample lady at Costco. She’s the best, right? We love you, sample lady. Anyways, she is doing exactly what you should be doing and that’s providing you with value you first, so you’ll come back for more, later. Too bad you can’t come back for seconds of the samples. But if your content is truly helpful and relevant to the reader, they’ll be more than happy to subscribe—or as far as our analogy goes—pick up the full-size product.
So how do you do this? Consider using freebies—free, downloadable content that is filled with useful, actionable advice, field hacks, or exclusive content. Amy Landino entices readers (and listeners of her podcast) to sign up to newsletters by offering her list of seven tips for going after the life you want. Shayla Raquel does the same by offering her Pre-Publishing checklist via email for all new subscribers. Jorden Makelle, from Creative Revolt, offers instant access to her free marketing class for freelance writers upon subscription. As a copyeditor, I offer my Story Binder Printables Packet to my potential subscribers because most people that end up on my site are writers and content creators. See? if you offer useful, actionable, irresistible content you subscribers will gladly give you their email for access to it.
Don’t repost your blog post in your newsletter. You’ll see way more about this as you scroll down, trust me. But if you make peace with it now, then you can laugh at all the times I included it in this blog post. (Some people just don’t get it, what else could I do?)🤷
Okay, now that you know the basics, lets talk about some of the creative, more exciting aspects of email marketing.
What Kind Of Content Should I Include In My Emails?
As a book editor, and fantasy writer, it’s unsurprising that most of these topics will revolve around the publishing world, but they’re relevant to any content creator.
First and foremost, do not just dump your entire most recent blog post in your newsletter. Just don’t. You can include an excerpt or snippet of the blog post to get subscribers to your blog where they can read the full story. Copying and pasting the entire blog post into your email newsletter is a great way to not deliver on your promise to provide an incentive for readers to subscribe. If they can just read the whole blog post online, what reason would they have to subscribe to your newsletter if it’s just going to end up in their inbox, where potentially hundreds of other unread newsletters go to die. Save the blog post copy for the blog and offer unique, valuable content in your newsletters instead. I’ve included examples of what not to do when it comes to teasing blog post content in emails further on in this post.
Add anything that adds value to your emails and shows off your personality!
Advanced reader book copies (ARCs)
Behind-the-scenes as a writer/content creator
Best tips and tricks that go with your content’s topics/message
Book reviews or featured books (products related to your niche are great)
Case studies that demonstrate how your information or service has helped someone
Contests/giveaways
Checklists
Deleted scenes and alternate endings to your book (content creators that aren’t in publishing, you can send bloopers or reject photos from your camera roll that just didn’t quite make it to Instagram)
Events
Exclusive Email-only discounts
Free, downloadable resources
First book in your series (this is great when you have the series already completed)
First chapter in your book (be sure you have formatted as a PDF, mobi, and epub)
Helpful printables (character sheets, NaNoWriMo kits, budgets, planners, calendars, bucket lists)
Hobbies and other interests (inside looks such as photos, videos, and writing that revolves around your hobbies, that might not be as well known on your website or social media)
Inside looks and updates publishing process (budding authors are so eager for these sneak peeks!)
Inside scoop on the research process
Interviews
Launch team invitation
Lists (current favorites, sites, books, podcasts, tools, software)
Motivational or inspirational advice that applies to your field
Photos of people and places that inspired your book
Playlists for your books (Abbie Emmons and tons of other writers do this to get in the right headspace for writing, but readers love getting inside looks into the process—and content around your novel, published by you is canon!)
Printable poster (Natalie Brenner did this with preorders)
Printable Christmas Ornaments (The Chicago Graham School did this with their Chicago Manual of Style)
Round-up of most popular blog posts (fan favorites)
Sneak peeks (book cover, teasers, excerpts)
Upcoming events/book signings/readings/Facebook Live events
Videos
Video series (Amy Landino does this with her Secret Podcast on her Patreon)
Your story (how you first got into writing, what inspired your recent book)
My “Free Edit Giveaway” Email Newsletter
A screenshot of the greeting and body sections of my “Free Edit Giveaway” email newsletter from 2019. Photo by Payton Hayes.
A screenshot of the body section of my “Free Edit Giveaway” email newsletter from 2019. Photo by Payton Hayes.
A screenshot of the body and footer sections of my “Free Edit Giveaway” email newsletter from 2019. Photo by Payton Hayes.
Alright, now that you not only know the basics, but you’ve got a pretty good idea of the kind of value you can deliver straight to your subscribers’ inbox, but how do you actually set up a newsletter campaign? Do you just send emails manually? Yikes!
Of course, it’s not that labor intensive, but it will take some work beforehand. Once you’re all set up, you can mass send emails regularly, like a pro! You can even automate emails to send out your freebies, confirm subscriber sign-ups, and unsubscribe emails, and more! I’ve organized the following sections into two lists—the first explaining how to set up the email campaign and the second that shows you simple, easy-to-execute ways to go the extra mile and stand out from competition.
How To Set Up An Email Newsletter
Step One: Buy a domain name email address. It’s likely if you’re reading this that you already have a website and that’s how subscribers are signing up for your email list, but if that’s not the case, I want to know your secret! Also, you’re going to need a domain name and email address. Gmail and other email services don’t like it when email newsletters come from third-parties without a domain email address. These email platforms are much nicer to you when your third-party emails come from a domain email address. When using online marketing tactics, the path of least resistance is always your friend. In fact, back when I used wonderforestofficial@gmail.com Gmail would hide my email newsletters in spam folders. That is definitely not the goal here, so to make sure your special, handcrafted email newsletter doesn’t get thrown in the trash, use a domain email address. Purchase your domain email address from Google Domains and add the new address to the settings in your third-party email server.
Once that’s done, be sure to verify and authenticate your domain. Email authentication improves deliverability. It’s a sender identification tool that helps keep your emails out of subscribers’ spam folders. Think of it as shiny, metal name pin (as opposed to a sticker nametag). If there’s a second major takeaway from this blog post, it’s that you really, really need to verify your domain.
Step Two: Pick a campaign manager. If you use Squarespace, it might make more sense to use their built-in email campaign interface because it’s easier to work with but it can be quite limited with some elements. It currently does not support code injection, social icons, or file attachments. On the other hand, Squarespace email campaigns work seamlessly with your website.
Alternatively, you could use Mailchimp or another email campaign manager. These two are the most popular, but it’s totally up to you. Mailchimp is a little unconventional but it has a lot of capabilities.
Both of these options (and most others out there) offer free accounts with basic capabilities as well as different tiers for paid accounts with all sorts of additional features. Please note, automated emails are free with Mailchimp. Automated emails through Squarespace require you to purchase the $14/month plan. Free or trial accounts with both platforms do not allow you to hide their branding (the Squarespace or Mailchimp logos will be at the bottom of your emails).
A screenshot of Mailchimp’s logo in the footer of their free plan option. Photo by Payton Hayes.
A screenshot of Squarespace’s branding in the footer of plans starting at $14 and under. Photo by Payton Hayes.
I have used Mailchimp, but currently, I use the Squarespace email campaign manager, so most of the tips in this guide will be for these two services. I won’t go too in-depth with the features, but I’ll include links to the respective guides.
A screenshot of my social sharing image that pops up when my website URL is linked on other websites and social media platforms. Photo by Payton Hayes.
Step Three: Enable social sharing images (Squarespace) or social cards (Mailchimp). Social cards allow people to show off an image, headline, and short description when they share your newsletter on social media. I’ve included a photo of a Facebook social card for my website so you can get an idea. Not only does this ensure the link back to your newsletter look professional, but it adds to the overall consistency of your brand and makes your newsletter look uniform with the rest of your branding. You can find a guide for adding social sharing images in Squarespace or social cards in MailChimp in the “Further Reading” section at the end of this blog post.
Step Four: Add click-to-tweet features to your newsletters. Your true, passionate readers want to help you, so make it convenient for them. Like I said earlier, the path of least resistance is key. If you say something inspirational or encouraging in your newsletter, then write it again in a bigger font and hyperlink it with the click-to-tweet link. Additionally, anything that is particularly clever or funny is gold for click-to-tweet links because readers are more likely to retweet something they found striking. Be sure to add your Twitter handle, the line of text you want tweeted, and the link for your current email newsletter and bam—easy, autonomous marketing! And the subscriber is none the wiser.
Step Five: Set up autoresponders. An autoresponder sends an email series after the subscriber has been put on your email list. Autoresponders go out even when you’re sleeping! Note that this is different a campaign. Set up a series to tell the reader more about you and give them that value (freebie) they willingly signed up for. Chances are, if they signed up, they already read something of yours they enjoyed and would like to learn more about you. Set it up so that it sends a couple of emails out over the following week to keep you fresh in the reader’s mind and build on that relationship.
Step Six: Create a promotional pop-up or cover/landing page and an opt-in page. The promotional pop-up is a dialogue box that pops up when users enter your site. The cover page is a simple one-page website that is connected to your site and acts as a flashing arrow to your newsletter. Be careful with the pop-up though, because it there is too much going on or if it’s too hard to get past it, subscribers will give up and leave. Whichever you go with, on your website, create an opt-in page where the entire emphasis is on signing up for your emails. By making it a page instead of just a newsletter block, you can easily add the link to Instagram or use it in Facebook groups. I always suggest this because it is much prettier and simpler than a) an ugly MailChimp link or b) saying, “Just go to my website, and on the home page, on the right-hand side, scroll down halfway. . .”
No—just no. Keep it simple, beautiful, and mobile-friendly. Redirecting new subscribers to your personal Facebook group allows you to engage with them better and form stronger relationships. One of my clients has a Facebook page set up for her book, where readers are directed so they can connect and share their thoughts on the novel. She often engages with her subscribers there and thus builds stronger relationships with them, not only as a writer, but as a person.
Step Seven: Deliver on your promise. If your subscribers gave you their oh-so-valuable email address on the promise that you would give them some kind of freebie, then you better deliver. I unsubscribe so fast from email marketing that is just there to make a quick buck and doesn’t deliver. If you say you’re going to give me the first few chapters of your book, then link several versions of it. If you say you’re going to give me a free e-guide, the download link better be there.
Like I mentioned earlier, Squarespace currently doesn’t allow code injection or file attachments to their emails. I get around this by including links in the email, to a secret landing page where subscribers can download their freebies in various formats.
A screenshot of a section in my newsletter where readers could click a button that would take them to a landing page where they could download the freebie in various formats. Photo by Payton Hayes.
A screenshot of a section in my newsletter where readers could click a button that would take them to a landing page where they could download the freebie in various formats. Photo by Payton Hayes.
See? For my freebie, the Consistent Writer’s Checklist, I offered four formats to chose from. And in my automated email, I provided subscribers with a link to the landing page where they could download the packet various formats. I also clearly explained why my subscribers had to make so many clicks to reach the download, but hopefully Squarespace will support file attachments and code injection in emails in the future.
Make Your Newsletter Emails Stand Out
Use your name in the from field and the subscriber’s name in the email header. If you’re using your own publishing, website, or blog name, you might have more luck getting subscribers to open the email switching to your name (or for some authors, your pseudonym). I made that switch earlier in 2019, and it increased my open rate when subscribers saw emails coming from “Payton Hayes” rather than my company name, “Wonderforest.” This also made the transition from “Wonderforest” to “Payton Hayes Writing & Editing Services” much easier and more natural when I rebranded my business website and socials in 2022.
To address the subscriber by name in Squarespace, go into your email campaigns manager and begin a new email campaign. You can design it as you like, but for the purposes of this guide, I am going to assume you wrote “Hi,” at the top of the email. Follow “Hi” with an open curly bracket or “{“ to reveal a drop-down list of options. Squarespace has coded this so that your newsletter automatically pulls names from your mailing list and inserts them straight into your email.
Additionally, you can add a substitute name to call your subscribers if you already have a running list with subs that somehow didn’t add their name in the name field of your newsletter form. This way, it still has a personal touch. My default name value is “Writerly Friend” and this is particularly helpful for the subscribers that joined my mailing list before I set my newsletter sign-ups to require a first and last name from new subscribers.
To set the From Field as your name, open the email campaign > go to the “Email” tab> “Sender Profile” >and create a sender profile if you don’t already have one. Make sure your name is in the “Sender Name” field. When creating a new Squarespace campaign, simply type an open curly bracket or a “{“ (without the quotes) and a drop-down menu will appear. If you’re using Mailchimp, when you’re creating a new campaign, select the “Personalize the “To” field” option to personalize the email by adding subscribers’ names to the header.
A screenshot showing how to personalize recipients’ names in emails when using Squarespace Email Campaigns. Photo by Payton Hayes.
A screenshot showing how to personalize recipients’ names in emails when using Mailchimp. Photo by Payton Hayes.
If you use Squarespace campaigns, I highly suggest you add a secondary email to your newsletter list so you can clearly see what it looks like as a subscriber, since any email you send to your main email (that either sends owns the domain OR sends the newsletter out) will always say, “[Test Email]” in the subject line and and may not format the subscriber names correctly.
![Email campaigns sent to your website’s main email, domain owner, or the email you sent the campaign with will always say “[Test Email]” in the subject line.](https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5c92d965a9ab955029034689/1579268121304-DSWQA2UNLY85C7UM3P6M/test.png)
Email campaigns sent to your website’s main email, domain owner, or the email you sent the campaign with will always say “[Test Email]” in the subject line.
As you can see, subscriber the subscriber name (or in this case, my name) was not automatically ported into the name field. Instead, it defaulted to my back-up name, “writerly friend”.
What it looks like on your end:
A screenshot of my email greeting default value, “Writerly Friend” for subscribers that joined before my newsletter sign-up required full names. Photo by Payton Hayes.
What it looks like to your subscribers:
A screenshot of my personalized email greeting, that addresses subscribers by their first and last names. Photo by Payton Hayes.
Spend time on your headline. This is where my experience in journalistic writing is so handy, because as a journalist, the fastest way to grab or lose a reader’s attention is in the headline. However, you should keep in mind that certain words or phrases in email headlines automatically trigger emails and send them straight to spam—like “free,” “call now,” or “bonus”. Most modern email services are designed to help eliminate spam emails and there are so many things to be mindful of to ensure your newsletter doesn’t end up in the wrong folder.
If you’re following the rules in this blog post, you’re sure to land it in the inbox, every time. For more reading on designing inbox-safe, compelling headlines, CopyBlogger has a fantastic guide. Another way to stand out (especially to millennials and younger readers) in your headlines, is using emojis or emoticons! I prefer the surprised face, the crying-laughing emoji, and the explosion emoji because they’re interesting, funny, and relatable. 😲 💥 😂 For the headline guide from Copyblogger check out the “Further Reading” section at the end of this blog post.
Add a short bio and photo. Just because someone subscribed once, (and likely just to get access to the freebies, let’s be real) doesn’t mean they always remember who they subscribed to. It’s nice to remind them who you are. This also helps subscribers build trust with your brand because not only are they getting to know a little bit about you along with the content, they are putting a face with the name and the brand. See how I introduced myself, directed them to my other sites, and told them what to expect from my newsletter and other social media? Do this to make your emails more personal and to help your readers put and keep a name with the face.
A screenshot of the end of my newsletter with my email signature image. Photo by Payton Hayes.
Speaking of which, you can also include a small profile picture or your signature to your email. I do not recommend using your real legal signature. Instead, use your author, artist, influencer, or business signature. Alternatively, you can create a custom email signature in Canva, like I did. In real life, I sign my documents with a little star, so I tried to keep that personality with the heart sticker I added to my email signature. For an email signature, I recommend using a typeface that looks like handwriting because it feels more personalized and adds a little extra flair. The typefaces below the “Artist Script” (left) and “Something Script” (right) are great examples of typefaces that resemble handwriting. These two typefaces are both available with a Canva Pro membership.
If you already have a signature design you’d like to use with your own handwriting, you can either sketch it out with a drawing tablet, or go old-fashioned by writing it out on a piece of paper and photo-copying it. I personally prefer creating logos and signatures with Canva because they’re vector-based images that can be edited without compromising the quality of the image. I am neither affiliated with Canva, no do I receive any kind of payment for promoting their platform. I have created over two-hundred flyers, graphics, and images with Canva and I use it for almost every project. You can find links to Canva and a helpful article about vector images in the “Further Reading Section” at the end of this post.
A screenshot of the signature I made using the “Artist Script” typeface which is available with a Canva Pro membership. Photo by Payton Hayes.
A screenshot of the signature I made using the “Something Script” typeface which is available with a Canva Pro membership. Photo by Payton Hayes.
Keep design elements consistent and cohesive. As you can see (from this post and all other posts on my blog), I use my email signature image as a sign-off at the end of every blog post. This keeps it consistent across my posts and emails so that my content is uniform, familiar, and personalized. Much like using a logo, this signature image helps my readers remember me and my website. It’s a seemingly small detail with a massive impact. Keeping design elements and branding the same across your social media and other online platforms creates reliability and builds trust amongst your subscribers. So whether you decide to include a signature, logo, or both (I use both), keep it consistent with your other branding elements and carry it across all platforms and profiles.
Be a person first and a sale, second. Just because all the big creators are pushing book sales 24/7 doesn’t mean you have to. Thankfully, there are still some big authors who don’t do this. You’ll do a much better job of selling your products/services if you establish a relationship with your readers—not hound them to click the buy button. I’ll say it again for those in the back, action first, value later. Hey, maybe I should make that into a click-to-tweet for this blog post!
Don’t give people a reason to unsubscribe. In fact, make it nearly impossible for them to want to do this. If your headline tells them they’re going to get a free download, then make sure the free, downloadable content is there. Additionally, if you're emailing them constantly, it's going to get old quick. Same goes for using click bait—you’ll probably have some angry subscribers. Send every email with intention and think before doing it. Ask yourself, "Would this make me unsubscribe?"
Segment your email newsletter list. Emails are not one-size-fits-all. Certain emails will be better suited for your loyal subscribers and others might be better for the new subscribers. Set up one set of emails for the true fans and another set for the newbies. Additionally, segmented lists are useful in getting rid of subscribers who never read your emails.
Add your socials. Include links to your other social media accounts (with the proper branding), follow and share buttons to your newsletter. Don’t arrange them too close together because you’ll have too many call-to-actions in one spot. I like to keep my follow buttons at the top beneath me logo, and my share buttons at the end of the email. Like I mentioned earlier, Squarespace doesn’t offer this feature yet, so I just use good, old-fashioned links. I only link to the sites I have linked on my website (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Goodreads) in my emails, but you can add as many as you like! Just don’t let it get cluttered.
Pro tip: For adding links to a Squarespace email, use line breaks, or “|” between links to keep everything separate and orderly.
A screenshot of the social links at the bottom of my website. Photo by Payton Hayes.
A screenshot of the social links at the bottom of my emails. Photo by Payton Hayes.
See? Not only keeping consistency via the social links I include, but also with my witty coffee comments!
Keep a close eye on un-subscribers and spam complaints. Don’t get too hung up on anyone that unsubscribes from your email list. It’s not a big deal, because you don’t want them on your list anyway if they aren’t reading the emails. Trust me, you don’t—numbers don’t matter if they don’t care. But if you get several unsubscribes after one certain email, then you might want to pay attention. Did you do anything that might’ve caused so many people to opt out?
As far as abuse complaints are concerned, that shouldn’t be happening unless you’ve opted them in without their permission, purchased lists, or hidden your opt-out link. These are all important parts of being a respectful newsletter email-er. Your opt-out link should be easy to find—either at the top or bottom of the email, in a normal, nondescript font. As far as willfully opting people into your newsletter list goes, Just. Don’t. Do. It. Seriously. It’s as bad as buying followers on Instagram—it complicates data and fills your subscriber list with a poor representation of your audience.
Unsubscribe people who do not read your emails. One of Shayla Raquel’s most effective campaigns was when she sent an email out asking a segmented list if they still wanted to write a book. “This would prompt them to either unsubscribe or respond to me. Once they responded, I asked them how I could help, which meant they were engaging again.” she said. Like I said previously, do not keep people on your list if they never read your emails. It skews your analytics. Either re-engage them or unsubscribe them—it’s as simple as that. Check out Shayla’s blog in the “Related Topics section at the end of this post!
Track your analytics. So why were the previous two sections so worried about skewing the data? That brings me to my final tip for sending effective email newsletters and that’s to keep track of reports to better understand your demographic. Mailchimp and Squarespace both have excellent information on your demographics, which you can then use to adjust your newsletter according. You’ll notice that you have subscribers across the globe, opening your newsletter at different times in different time zones! You can also see exactly what your subscribers are clicking on the most, which will help you narrow the focus of your content. Getting niche is important in the content creation industry because it helps you avoid falling into believing in oversaturation. (I have an entire other blog post on that here. Don’t even get me started.) You’ll begin to have confidence that you’re producing quality content and your subscribers are enjoying what you have to share with them. You can also use this information for other marketing strategies like Facebook ads, which are proven to be effective because of Facebook’s brilliant ability to accurately display relevant advertisements to potential subscribers.
Bonus Information
A screenshot of an email newsletter with almost five pages of blog post text copied into the body of the email. Photo by Payton Hayes.
1. How long should an email newsletter be? What’s the difference between a newsletter and a blog post? Can’t I just repost my blog post in the body of the newsletter? Should I keep the word count to a certain minimum? The truth is there are no hard and fast rules to writing email newsletters and that’s because they are often specific to the creator and the type of content being shared. I would recommend no more than a page and half, depending your topic and message. Use the KISS method—keep it simple, sugar.
Of course, the more relevant value you can add, the better, but don’t overload subscribers. Leave the long-form content to the blog. Look at the photo on the right. As you can see, this email is so long I had to zoom out more than 200% to see the whole email on one screen. That’s just too much. If you really must share that much content, include an email-exclusive download link to a PDF. Don’t forget the freebies!
However, do not, and I repeat: DO NOT REPOST YOUR BLOG POST into your newsletter. Why would I willingly give you my email for something I can find on your blog? The answer is no, I wouldn’t. If there’s somehow a third major takeaway from this post, it’s this: don’t repost content. Instead, you want to deliver irresistible, exclusive, and valuable content to your subscribers’ inboxes. It is okay to notify subscribers of a new blog post this way, but copying and pasting content is just awful. Don’t.👏 Do. 👏 It.👏
2. How often should I send out newsletter emails? Like I said in the section waaaay earlier about spamming, don’t send newsletters out too often. It’s annoying to go from a satisfying Inbox (0) to having a non-empty inbox in a matter of hours, every day. I can already think of a few companies that ruin this satisfaction for me. Now, naturally, I would be thrilled to receive an email from someone I happily subscribed to for valuable content, but the truth is I don’t want emails all the time and neither do your subscribers. If that isn’t enough of a reason—you shouldn’t need or want to create that many newsletter campaigns and that much exclusive content.
3. How can I make my emails sound more human and less like marketing copy? Let me tell you, this is not the time to whip out your clever marketing copy, not even a little. I’ve already touched on this topic in the section of tips for how to set yourself apart from competition, but here’s the main idea: Only you can be yourself, and only you have that uniqueness and advantage. Just carry that notion into your email newsletters. Talk to your subscribers the same way you would to a friend over coffee. Treat your subscribers like the VIPs they are and let them in.
Be your adorable, quirky, nerdy self and gush about the things you love and are passionate about (in my case, that is in fact, coffee and the Chicago Manual of Style) Kevin Kelly talks about having 1,000 true fans—that to be successful, you don’t need millions of followers, you just need 1,000 true fans. Your subscribers are your true fans, number one cheerleaders, and VIP’s so build true, meaningful connections with them.
Newsletter Q&A!
I asked some of my editor and writer friends for questions for this blog post and they came through! Below are some of the most asked questions and my answers to provide you with a little more guidance to email newsletter marketing. Check out the “Further Reading” section at the end of this post if you’d like to stop by any of the Facebook groups mentioned in this section of the post.
“I've struggled with doing a newsletter mainly from a time perspective and what I should talk about in it. So, I would love to see some suggestions on this :D” —Stephen Howard from the Developmental Editor Connectiongroup on Facebook
Above is an actual email I received in my inbox, just the other day. Seriously? There’s like five pages worth of blog post text pasted into this newsletter. You bet I unsubscribed after I got this email. I’d stayed on this creator’s mailing list for entirely way too long and after receiving several similar emails, I realized it was time to take my name off their list. You don’t have time for reading novels in your inbox, and neither do your subscribers. Your newsletter should serve as another lead magnet to pull traffic to your site. Include a snippet of your blog post to grab readers’ attention and provide a “Read More” link to the full post, should they want more. It would be better for the reader to spend more time engaging with content on your website than reading in solitude from their email inbox.
I’ve sort of addressed this in the beginning of the post, but I’ll expand on it. In addition to all the freebies, you should have some text in the newsletter and that will depend on your field, specialization, and personal interests. As an editor and writer with background experience in both art, computer science, and marketing, I have a wide range of topics to explore in both long and short form content. I suggest you explore your field and see what the competition is doing. See how you can do the same but in your own way and with more value.
Additionally, there is not a best frequency to send out emails. I suppose it depends on the type of content and how much you have to share, but I prefer at least once a month, and if I am doing a series or something special on my website, I will send out additional emails as needed. I know some people who send out bi-weekly emails and it’s really just up to you. See what volume of emails works best for your schedule, what makes sense for your content, and what response you get from subscribers so you can adjust accordingly.
I feel like I'd instantly run out of things to say! Also, how to get people interested in signing up for the newsletter if you don't have something to offer in exchange like a downloadable? (Or should you just make sure you've developed some resource you can use to encourage subscribers?) —Laura Elizabeth from the Developmental Editor Connection group on Facebook
I answered this above, but there are millions of topics out there, so I’d suggest exploring the competition in your field and seeing what you can do differently. And yes, you should create something first so you can give your potential subscribers a reason to subscribe. I prefer to set it up so that the item in question arrives by email once they’ve confirmed subscription. I know from personal experience that if you deliver before they confirm their email, then your confirmation email just ends up in the trash.
Why email marketing? Why do I grow my subscriber list? How do I figure out what to write about? What’s the best time of day to send emails? How often should I send emails to customers? —Geoffrey Andaria Shivayanga from the Writers Helping Writers group on Facebook
Email marketing is an incredibly valuable and highly coveted asset in the digital age. Like I said, emails are worth more than oil, and while it’s hard to believe, it’s true and you can absolutely strike gold with your email marketing. An email is one of the most sacred spaces in the online world. It takes a lot of work to not only get into someone’s email inbox, but also to stay there and to get them to actually read your emails. It’s a personal way to connect with your audience and it’s one way you can be pretty certain your message will be read rather than scrolled past and forgotten like social media posts.
You should be nurturing and growing your subscriber list because it will ensure people are reading your content, following you and your work and ultimately supporting your business, buying your products, or booking your services. There is no best time to send emails, and like I said, you’ll notice your subscribers come from everywhere, which means multiple time zones. Pick a good time to send emails that’s practical and sustainable for you and send them out as often as it makes sense to do so for your goals and audience.
Examples Of Email Newsletter That Don’t Suck
Below is a few different examples of email newsletters I’m subscribed to that, in my opinion, don’t suck. These emails come from writers, editors, publishing industry professionals, content creators, and more! Links to the individual creators will be included in the “Further Reading” section at the end of this post.
Amy Landino’s Boss Notes Email Newsletters
A screenshot of Amy Landino’s Boss Notes email newsletter subject line. Photo by Payton Hayes.
A screenshot of Amy Landino’s Boss Notes email newsletter body 1. Photo by Payton Hayes.
A screenshot of Amy Landino’s Boss Notes email newsletter body 2. Photo by Payton Hayes.
A screenshot of Amy Landino’s Boss Notes email newsletter body 3. Photo by Payton Hayes.
Shayla Raquel’s Editorial Email Newsletters
A screenshot of Shayla Raquel’s editorial email newsletter subject line. Photo by Payton Hayes.
A screenshot of Shayla Raquel’s editorial email newsletter body 1. Photo by Payton Hayes.
A screenshot of Shayla Raquel’s editorial email newsletter body 2. Photo by Payton Hayes.
William Bernhardt’s Red Sneaker Writers Newsletter
A screenshot of William Bernhardt’s Red Sneaker Writers email newsletter issue 51, header and body 1. Photo by Payton Hayes.
A screenshot of William Bernhardt’s Red Sneaker Writers email newsletter issue 51, body 2. Photo by Payton Hayes.
A screenshot of William Bernhardt’s Red Sneaker Writers email newsletter issue 51, body 3. Photo by Payton Hayes.
A screenshot of William Bernhardt’s Red Sneaker Writers email newsletter issue 51, body 4 and footer. Photo by Payton Hayes.
Email Newsletter Recap
At least cover the basics
Respect subscriber’s privacy. 🗸
Don’t spam subscribers. 🗸
Exercise professionalism with a personalized touch. 🗸
Be consistent. 🗸
Add value first, then call to action. 🗸
Don’t repost blog posts in the newsletter. 🗸
Go the extra mile:
Has a domain of their own. 🗸
Has a campaign manager. (Not manually sending out emails) 🗸
Enabled social sharing images. 🗸
Add click-to-tweet features to your newsletters. 🗸
Has set up autoresponders. 🗸
Created an opt-in page or cover/landing page. 🗸
Always deliver on promises. 🗸
Personalize and customize emails. 🗸
Use graphics, gifs, and emojis to grab attention. 🗸
Spend time on the headline. 🗸
Add a short bio, photo and/or signature. 🗸
Be a person first and a sale, second. 🗸
Don’t give people a reason to unsubscribe. 🗸
Segment your email newsletter list. 🗸
Add your socials. 🗸
Keep a close eye on un-subscribers and spam complaints. 🗸
Unsubscribe people who do not read your emails. 🗸
Don’t send an email more than two pages long. 🗸
And when in doubt, use the KISS method—keep it simple, sugar. 💋
All of the creators that I mentioned above consistently meet not only the basics, but the extra mile as well, in every single one of their newsletter emails. While it definitely takes some research and preparation up front, email marketing can be effective, profitable, and sustainable, but it doesn’t have to suck.
And that’s it for my 20 tips for newsletter marketing that don’t suck! Thank you to everyone who sent in questions for the Q&A section! If you made it this far into the post, I appreciate you for sticking around and reading it all! Have you heard of any of these tips before? Are there any other excellent tips that I might have missed? Will you use email marketing now that you’ve read this blog post? What aspects of email marketing do you love/hate as the sender or recipient? Which email marketing best practices are most effective in getting you to subscribe to a mailing list and actually read the sender’s emails? What email marketing faux-paus trigger you to unsubscribe the fastest? Let me know your thoughts in the comments at the end of this post!
Check out any of the resources or other creators I mentioned in this post in the “Further Reading” section below!
Bibliography
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of my social sharing image that pops up when my website URL is linked on other websites and social media platforms.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of a section in my newsletter where readers could click a button that would take them to a landing page where they could download the freebie in various formats.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of the greeting and body sections of my ‘Free Edit Giveaway’ email newsletter from 2019.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of the body section of my ‘Free Edit Giveaway’ email newsletter from 2019.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of the body and footer sections of my ‘Free Edit Giveaway’ email newsletter from 2019.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of a landing page on my website where subscribers could download the freebie in various formats.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot showing how to personalize recipients’ names in emails when using Squarespace Email Campaigns.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot showing how to personalize recipients names in emails when using Mailchimp.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of my email greeting default value, ‘Writerly Friend’ for subscribers that joined before my newsletter sign-up required full names.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of my personalized email greeting, that addresses subscribers by their first and last names.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of the end of my newsletter with my email signature image.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of an email newsletter with almost five pages of blog post text copied into the body of the email.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes Payton. “A screenshot of Mailchimp’s logo in the footer of their free plan option.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes Payton. “A screenshot of Squarespace’s branding in the footer of plans starting at $14 and under.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of the social links at the bottom of my emails.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of the social links at the bottom of my website.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of Amy Landino’s Boss Notes email newsletter subject line.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of Amy Landino’s Boss Notes email newsletter body 1.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of Amy Landino’s Boss Notes email newsletter body 2.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of Amy Landino’s Boss Notes email newsletter body 3.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of Shayla Raquel’s editorial email newsletter subject line.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of Shayla Raquel’s editorial email newsletter body 1.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of Shayla Raquel’s editorial email newsletter body 2.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of William Bernhardt’s Red Sneaker Writers email newsletter issue 51, header and body 1.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of William Bernhardt’s Red Sneaker Writers email newsletter issue 51, body 2.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of William Bernhardt’s Red Sneaker Writers email newsletter issue 51, body 3.” December 15, 2019.
Hayes, Payton. “A screenshot of William Bernhardt’s Red Sneaker Writers email newsletter issue 51, body 4 and footer.” December 15, 2019.
Further Reading
Click here to check out Shayla Raquel’s editorial blog and website.
Click here to check out Amy Landino’s lifestyle and coaching website.
Click here to check out Abbie Emmons’s author and writing advice website.
Click here to check out Natalie Brenner’s lifestyle blog and website.
Click here to connect with the Writers Helping Writers group on Facebook.
Click here to connect with the Developmental Editor Connection group on Facebook.
Click here to read Kevin Kelly’s essay, “1,000 True Fans” from The Technium, March 4, 2008.
Click here to compare Mailchimp’s pricing and plan features.
Click here to visit Mailchimp’s guide to setting up Automation.
Click here to visit Mailchimp’s guide “All the Merge Tags Cheat Sheet.”
Click here to compare Squarespace’s pricing and plan features.
Click here to visit Squarespace’s guide to setting up Autoresponders.
Click here to visit Squarespace’s guide to social sharing images.
Click here to visit Squarespace’s email marketing templates.
Click here to visit Squarespace’s guide to newsletter blocks.
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Written by Payton Hayes | Last Updated: March 19, 2025