The Do’s and Don’ts of Writing an Email Newsletter

Any email marketing plan that wants to work needs to have a daily, high-quality email newsletter. However, not every email is the same.

The truth is that your audience probably already gets dozens or even hundreds of emails every day. It’s no surprise that most of these newsletters are quickly saved or thrown away.

How can you make your email different?

There isn’t a single way to make a great newsletter every time, but if you follow a few simple rules, you’ll get pretty close!

The “Don’ts”

Let’s get right to it. People often make mistakes with their newsletters that you should avoid if you don’t want it to end up in email hell.

Subject lines for everything

It might be clear, but we can’t stress how important it is to have a great subject line.

If your inbox has a lot of emails, you will delete the ones that aren’t important right away. You only have a split second to get people’s attention.

There’s a very small chance that someone will read your email if the subject line says “Weekly Newsletter.” A vague subject line doesn’t tell the reader anything or make them want to open it.

This also doesn’t mean that your subject line has to be long. Think of something short, fun, and catchy.

• Do A/B tests to see what gets the most opens.
• You could even use an emoji!

Depending on the email service you use, you could use AI subject line tools like Phrasee.

ALSO READ: What is Email Marketing? [An Expert Guide for Beginners]

Content That Is Badly Written

We’ve all had those “oh no” moments…

You shouldn’t send material that is badly written and full of mistakes. This makes people lose trust in your brand.

Make sure your emails have clear, interesting, and correct grammar.

• Have a friend or coworker review your work.
• Use editing software like Grammarly to check it.

Too many links and calls to action (CTAs)

Your email needs links and CTAs — people expect them.

Get rid of unnecessary CTAs so your reader doesn’t get confused. Stick to the important ones.

Rule of thumb: have one key link you want people to click — but put it in your email at least twice (button, text link, image link).

The do’s are aimed at a certain group of people

A common mistake is trying to make your brand appeal to EVERYONE.

Stick to niche topics related to your brand that readers connect with.

If your business serves more than one group (like students and parents), write different newsletters for each segment.

You can use tools like rasa.io to send AI-curated newsletters that adapt based on user clicks.
Cutting down to a group of one saves hours and increases opens and clicks.

Make a template

There are many newsletter templates online.

All you need is a simple, clean design.
Tip: Choose your template before writing your text — it helps you see how much space and content types you’ll need.

Ask your readers to get other people to subscribe

Let your customers help you grow your list.

Many ESPs let you add an opt-in button so forwarded emails can bring new subscribers.

Add social media branding buttons (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn) to make sharing easier.

• Clicking prompts users to sign in and post.
• Your subject line + permanent URL will be added automatically.