Here’s the tricky part about newsletters: you need lots of content with zero fluff. I can tell when an email was just sent for the sake of sending an email – and so can your readers. Good news – I have compiled a list of my top 14 email newsletter ideas that will keep your emails fresh, interesting, and valuable to your readers. Take a look:
1. Share the News
It’s called a newsletter for a reason! You can share local news, national news, or industry-specific news. Sometimes, sharing your opinion or thoughts on the news of the day can make your email more impressionable.
2. Preview Interesting Interviews
Interviews are a great way to transmit information in a fun way. Everywhere you look nowadays, you see big, boring blocks of text which probably have great information in them, but the problem is that they’re boring. Want to captivate readers? Try an interview format that utilizes the infamous Q&A to switch things up a little.
Also, people are interested in other people. They want to know what their community is saying, thinking, doing. By the way – you don’t have to interview some high-profile celebrity for people to be interested. In fact, many people prefer to hear out someone relatable to them. It can be an industry expert, other inspiring people, or just the average Joe with something to say. So choose an interesting person to interview and spice up your newsletter!
3. Run a Poll
One of the more creative email newsletter ideas: pick a relevant topic and run a poll. The great thing about polls is that they are the epitome of interactive – it’s all about your reader. What better way to get someone engaged than to make it all about them? Also, people want to be heard! In fact, this is a principle that virtually never fails. I learned at a young age that if you want your date to like you, you should ask them questions to get them talking about themselves! Asking someone’s opinion in a poll makes them feel like what they have to say is important and valued. That’s an excellent way to get them engaged with your email (no pun intended).
4. Preview What You’ve Published And Share
Not every one of the email newsletter ideas you send has to be something new or creative. You don’t always have to reinvent the wheel. Instead, try sharing content that you’ve already created. All you have to do in the subject line and the email is give your reader a small preview. Get them interested. Make them curious enough to click through! Then, let your blog post, video, PDF, etc do the rest.
5. Start A Conversation
Like I mentioned earlier, people love to be heard, talk about themselves, or provide their own opinions and feedback. That’s just human nature! Therefore, you can try to seize on this by starting a conversation. Try asking for your reader’s opinion about something. Or have them share an experience. Similarly, let them speak what’s on their mind about a specific situation. You’d be surprised how many responses you’ll get!
6. Send A Case Study
Sharing a case study could potentially be a great way to get some sales or at least get your readers closer to that point- CHA-CHING! However, don’t make it too salesy! Instead, focus on the facts and data of the case study. Don’t forget to always make it about your reader and why they should care.
7. Give Some Quick’N’Easy Tips
Next, throw in some words of wisdom. Maybe the most basic of the email newsletter ideas, but very effective, is to give some tips. In this digital age, people are BOMBARDED with information from every direction. We are used to finding what we’re looking for in minutes if not seconds, which causes our attention span to be shorter than a 3-day weekend. So, instead of writing an in-depth essay that covers all bases and leaves nothing out, you could try to give your reader a quick bullet-point list with useful tips! If your readers will spend 30 seconds and gain lots of value, they’ll be very grateful.
8. Provide Actionable Steps
Most people know what’s best for them and are willing to take action to get themselves there. Though, sometimes it seems like it’s too complicated, too much work, or will take too long to see any results. For that reason, if you provide concrete, actionable steps that your readers can take to help them achieve THEIR desires, you can definitely win some brownie points! For example, there’s a huge difference between saying “3 steps you can take to grow your business” and saying “3 things you can get done TONIGHT to grow your business.”
9. Fun Facts
Moving on, everyone is interested in facts! Primarily, facts describe reality, and we’re all subject to that. It’s just a matter of putting the facts that will be interesting/impactful to your specific readers in your newsletter.
10. Let People Know if You are Hiring
Actually, this is a great way to get people engaged! Now, tell them about your job openings. Ask them if they know someone good to fill the position. This will get your reader thinking about their network of friends and family and will get them to interact with your email. I realize this sounds like it’s one of those unconventional newsletter ideas. However, people are always trying to look around for opportunities for their friends and families.
11. How-To’s
Remember, you always need to add value to your readers in every email. It can be comedic value, inspirational value, or educational value. How-to guides are an amazing, fun & targeted way to give your readers educational value.
12. Share A Joke
This is a great way to give your reader some comedic value, and a great way to stand out from the thousand other emails in the inbox.
13. Share Your Opinion
It can be an opinion on a topic relevant to your readers’ interests, something that is unrelated but still interesting, or even something a little bit controversial. This is a grey area, but there are many marketers who thrive on controversy because controversial content can get just insane amounts of engagement.
14. Share A Promotion Or Deal
Ok, we’ve gone through 13 email newsletter ideas! We’ve saved this one for last because you don’t want to include a lot of promotions in your newsletter. However, a few strategically-placed promotion emails can result in great profits. While you definitely want to avoid making your newsletter overly salsey, you can always throw in a special offer or promotion in between. Especially, if it is specific to an upcoming holiday or event. Indeed, it’s good if you are able to show the reader that this is a limited-time offer and they need to take action NOW.
Be Creative With Your Email Newsletter Ideas
Finally, just remember to be creative and always have something good to say if you’re going to send an email. It’s better to not send an email than send one that will lose your engagement and enthusiasm. Besides, every boring email you send means your emails are less likely to get opened in the future. But most importantly, have fun with it! If you’re having fun with your email newsletter ideas – your reader will too.
Now that you have your newsletter content down, make sure your email design sets you up for success! Also, here are some other types of email marketing campaigns you can try.
