How To Start a Newsletter: Your Guide To Attracting Subscribers

Do you have business updates, new products, a story to tell to your audience, or more? Whether you’re a brand or a Creator, you may want to consider sharing exciting information and updates through a newsletter. This is a great way to reach both existing and potential customers, keeping them up-to-date with the happenings of your company. If you’re wondering how to start a newsletter, you’ve come to the right spot.

Starting a newsletter is more straightforward than you may think—and while it will take some time, dedication, and effort to get started, stick with it, because it’ll be worth it in the end. Identifying your strategy, getting your contacts set up, and tapping into your creativity are all key ingredients to newsletter success.

Ready to learn more? Keep reading below for our tips and tricks to publish your very own newsletter. You’ll be digitally connecting with your customers in no time.

What Is a Newsletter?

First, let’s cover the basics. What is a newsletter? A newsletter is a communication announcing news, updates, and other important information. They can be both personal and business-related. For brands and businesses, they offer an easy way to make announcements to many people at once. Essentially, you’re creating an email campaign that can easily be with past, present, and future customers.

A newsletter can be delivered both electronically and in print. For this how-to-start a newsletter guide, we’ll focus on the digital versions you can create, typically delivered by email. You may wonder how a newsletter differs from a standard email. The main goal of a newsletter is to drive engagement, making a digital connection with the reader. Hopefully, they’ll click through to your website or social media channels to make a purchase or find out more information.

It may surprise you to learn that a newsletter can be considered digital Creator content. This is a great genre to consider if you’re thinking about learning how to become a digital Creator! Importantly, a newsletter is a channel you own and operate yourself, making it a smart investment for future-proofing your content against changing social media algorithms.

The Benefits of Having Your Own Newsletter

You might wonder if it’s worth your time and effort to learn how to start a newsletter. We get it. Is it really an essential tool you need to add to your digital repertoire? We’re here to tell you that the answer is yes. Indeed, many brands and Creators consider a newsletter a key aspect of their marketing strategies. Why? 

Firstly, newsletters are a quick way to reach your entire audience at once and keep them up-to-date with your brand. Sharing regular announcements will help to further your relationship with them and build their loyalty to your products and services. 

Furthermore, newsletters can also help to highlight content on your other channels. Consider including your Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok handles in your newsletter with a direct link to your profiles. This gives readers an easy way to connect with you on their favorite digital site. 

It may also surprise you that you can make money for your brand or business from a newsletter. That’s a pretty substantial benefit if you ask us. Not only can newsletters drive sales back to your website, but you can also earn money from ad placements. Don’t worry, we’ll dive into that further down below.

How To Start A Newsletter: The First 3 Steps for Success

Below, we cover everything you need to know about learning how to start a newsletter. From identifying your main strategy to unleashing your creativity, there’s plenty to take into consideration. 

Remember that these steps are meant to help you get started and are not a one-size-fits-all solution. It’s important to take what you learn and put your own personal spin on it. This way, you’ll be delivering a truly unique newsletter experience to your audience.

1. Identify Your Audience and Topic

The first step in learning how to start a newsletter is to decide why you’re starting this newsletter. Is it to promote your blog posts? Provide product recommendations? Share long-form opinion pieces? Figuring out your “why” will be your North Star—it’ll help you figure out who your audience is, and what it should look like. If you already have a clear niche, consider the role your newsletter might play in your content.

Once you know your “why,” you’ll want to get even more specific. What type of newsletter do you want to send and what’s your main objective? Try to answer these questions:

• What topics will your newsletter cover? 
• Who’s your audience?
• Why will your audience be interested in these topics?

Once you can answer these questions, you can start brainstorming different newsletter ideas. For example, if you’re selling a product and hoping to drive sales back to your website, consider a roundup of best-sellers. Are you focusing on a guide to city living? Think about sending out weekly reviews of restaurants and city happenings.

Finally, think about what you want your newsletter to look like. If it’s product focused, consider what visuals will make buying products most compelling. And ensure that you have the necessary features—like shopping buttons or affiliate links—to drive product sales. If you’re writing a travel journal, think about how to present the writing and imagery in a way that tells the best story. You can use platforms like Pinterest to gather and save newsletter inspiration.

2. Develop a Strategy

If you want to grow your subscriber list and get more readers, website traffic, and/or product sales, you’ll need to build a smart strategy. A successful newsletter requires consistency; getting your audience accustomed to hearing from you in a regular cadence will help them create a habit of reading. So you’ll need to decide how often you want to send it out: daily, weekly, monthly? 

Next, when thinking about your strategy, you should consider what performance metrics are most important to you. These are the analytics that’ll help measure the success of your newsletter and show you areas in which you can improve. For example, open rate refers to how many people in your audience open your email. You can also track your click-through rates, conversion rates, and bounce-back rates. Optimize your email performance for these metrics; for example, if open rate is important, make sure your subject lines are compelling and would encourage your readers to open them.     

When deciding on your strategy, you should also map out upcoming product launches, special events, or anything else important to your business. This way, you’ll know what to focus on in the months ahead.

3. Get Creative

Finally, it’s time to get creative and design your first newsletter! Depending on your level of experience, this step may seem intimidating. The good news? Many of the platforms we mentioned above offer newsletter templates or email builders that are very user-friendly. Select the one that best fits your needs and it’ll walk you through the steps to customize it. There are a few key things you’ll want to make sure you include. 

First, make sure the subject of your newsletter is catchy yet relevant. This is the first thing your audience will see and can often be the deciding factor of whether or not they open the email. Additionally, always include your company name and logo in the body of your newsletter, preferably at the top. You want to create brand awareness with your readers and have them easily recognize your business. Need a couple more tips on how to start a newsletter and make it shine bright? Read on below as we highlight the best free tools for building beautiful newsletters.

How To Start a Newsletter for Free

Of course, not everyone has the funds to support a fancy, in-depth newsletter. Sound familiar? If so, don’t worry. Did you know you can start a newsletter without making a huge monetary investment? It’s true. Are you wondering how to start a newsletter for free? Let us clue you in. 

How To Start a Newsletter for Free: Find Your Platform

A crucial step in learning how to start a newsletter is to find your platform. By this, we mean an online host site that you’ll use to create, organize, and send your newsletters. Many third-party websites and apps offer this exact service.

First, many top hosting platforms, including Mailchimp, offer a free subscription plan. You can create content, upload contacts, and send newsletters—all at no cost. Remember that, with the free plans, you will not have access to as many features as the paid plans. The no-cost options may also limit the amount of contacts you can upload. 

Need a few recommendations to get you started? Check out a variety of top newsletter platforms (also known as an Email Service Provider, or ESP) below! 

• Flodesk: Combining function, flow, and community, Flodesk helps you create aesthetically pleasing newsletters that are sure to grab your reader’s attention.
• Mailchimp: With a variety of plan options, Mailhimp delivers top-rated newsletter resources for your brand or business.
• Constant Contact: Focusing on ease of use, Constant Content helps you level up your newsletter layout and offers key distribution analytics.
• Klaviyo: This ESP is popular amongst Creators, and includes powerful but easy-to-use tools for automating your email marketing campaigns. 

Be sure to research and understand the pros and cons of any host website you’re considering. You’ll want to ensure the platform offers the services you need, from newsletter templates to reader analytics and even a sending scheduler. While one service may not check every box, it’s essential to find the service that best suits your requirements. This way, your newsletter will bring you the most success possible.

How To Start a Newsletter for Free: Use These Resources for Creative Content

Next, look for free tools that can help with your newsletter design! We’ve listed a few below that’ll help you to create eye-catching and informative content.

• Pexels: Access a wide variety of free stock photos and videos to use in your newsletter and social media channels. If photography is your content of choice, you can even submit your own to share with other users.
• Canva: No experience is needed with Canva, which offers thousands of free templates to become your own digital designer. 
• Chat GPT: Need some help composing your thoughts? Try out ChatGPT, an efficient and free AI service that can help you create your written newsletter content. Simply ask a few on-topic questions to get started! 

How To Promote Your Newsletter and Grow Your Audience

Another key step in understanding how to start a newsletter? Growing a robust email subscriber list. After all, you want your content to reach as many people as possible.

If you’re not sure where to start, here are a few ways to grow your subscriber base:

• Sign-Up Windows: One great way to collect subscriber emails is through a digital sign-up form on your website. Make sure your email sign-up forms are compelling: they should clearly signal what the newsletter is about, and give your audience good reasons for signing up. For example, you could tell your audience that they’ll find out the hottest new restaurant in their city every week when they sign up for your newsletter!
• Create an Offer: If you want to make those sign-up blocks even more compelling, you can offer a freebie or some sort of perk (like a free e-course) when someone signs up. Perks like this are always a great way to gain new subscribers.  
• Segmentation: Many top newsletter software programs offer an option to categorize your contacts into groups, which Marketers refer to as “segmenting” your audience, or “segmentation.” You can use this feature to send out targeted emails to niche segments, which can help grow your engagement by sending the most relevant content to specific audiences. 
• Offer Exclusive Content: Offer features or exclusives in your newsletter that are not accessible anywhere else. This will create a buzz around your exclusive content and prompt your followers to sign up. 

Finally, be sure to promote your newsletter on social media! You can even include a link to the sign-up page directly in your link-in-bio tool!

Top Tips To Make Your Newsletter Stand Out

Brands and Creators alike are vying for views, likes, and comments. How can you make your newsletter content stand out among the rest? We’re here with a few insider tips.

• Use Pictures: Add plenty of imagery to your newsletter. Ensure your images are high-quality and relate to the topic of your newsletter. Interesting subjects, vibrant colors, and creative backgrounds will all grab your readers’ eye and keep their attention.
• Make It Personal: Many websites allow you to personalize the “to” field, using a person’s first and last name instead of just their email address. Keeping your content lighthearted and conversational will also help to engage your reader on a more personal level. 
• Keep It Concise: Direct and to the point is always the best way to go. You don’t want to lose your readers’ interest because your information is too long or wordy. This goes for both the subject of your newsletter and the body.
• Catchy and Clickable: Speaking of subject lines, you want to have a hook that speaks to your audience. Keep it lighthearted, short, and creative but make sure it relates to the content of your newsletter. You want your audience to be enticed to click on and open your email!
• Timing Is Everything: Identifying the best hour to hit send can increase your readership and engagement. Many hosting platforms we mentioned above allow you to schedule your emails to be sent at a specific time.
• Call To Action: Add engaging language and buttons that encourage newsletter subscribers to take action from your email. Whether it’s clicking to read an article or buying a product you’re recommending, an interactive element makes your newsletter feel more valuable and action-oriented. 

Be sure you incorporate the above tips while you’re experimenting with how to start a newsletter!

How To Start a Newsletter and Make Money From It

Finally, let’s discuss how to start a newsletter and make money from it. That’s right, you can use your newsletter to earn income for your brand or business. One obvious way to do this is through sharing products that you offer for sale on your website. Include a link in your newsletter so that the reader can easily click through and purchase the item. To entice them, consider offering your newsletter subscribers a discount or promo code. This will make them more likely to click purchase. Everyone loves a good deal! 

Additionally, you can make money by including advertisements in your newsletter. This is when you sell ad space within your newsletter to other companies. While this can be an easy way to generate income, it’s important to find the right fit. Make sure that the ad and products featured complement your overall content and are directed at your same target audience. Otherwise, this could discourage your readers and lead them to unsubscribe. You always want to keep your audience happy, engaged, and coming back for more.