13 Awesome Newsletter Ideas to Freshen Up Your Email Marketing Strategy

Show subscribers the backstage of your company

With the help of customer communication management software and socials, you present the shiny cover of your brand — product news and blog articles. Show them the other side. 

Here we’ve collected the best example of how different brands do it in newsletters.

• Present how your team works on a product

There is an excellent example from the Lush brand of handmade cosmetics. Behind-the-scenes content is the core of their marketing strategy. To get the audience’s trust and loyalty, they let subscribers see the manufacturing of Lush body washes, soaps, and bath bombs.

Image source.

We like their idea of a video tour. You can quickly adapt this idea to your brand specific. For example, make a video or a photo tour of your office or one of your company events, like an office party. 

• Tell your brand story

Use the power of storytelling to introduce your brand’s story to email subscribers. Highlight the brand values, founders, or key roadmap points just like the TOMS shoe store did in this email: 

Image source.

This is part of its email newsletter presenting the arrival of new shoes. The short piece of content is announced in the subject line and placed at the beginning of the newsletter to engage people to open and read it.

Please pay attention to the short size of the text part and its combination with visuals highlighting the company’s people first. 

• Share your staff picks

People prefer to buy from people, not brands. The Lush brand we mentioned above regularly uses this knowledge in their emails. In this newsletter example, you can see the Lush product expert Erica: 

Image source.

Our team loves how Lush email marketers presented Erica’s expertise: her emotional photo combined quotes on her fav products.

In addition to a brand expert idea, you can spotlight an employee of the month or show several team members: their photos, short bios, fav Starbucks drink, movie, etc. Just keep this part short. 

• Pet pictures

Photos of animals are super popular on socials. Dogs, cats, birds, etc., are excellent content to skyrocket your email newsletter engagement. Here is an example of how Carhartt, a workwear company, does it:

Image source.

Can you ignore these cute eyes? Yep, it is impossible.

Newsletter from one of your C-suite

• Company news from the CEO, CMO, etc

It is another way to make subscribers feel valued as family members. Most brands use the Head of Support, Chief Marketing Officer, and CEO personas to deliver subscribers info about the important company or product updates.  

For instance, look at how Doug Parker, American Airlines CEO, talks about the company’s improvements during the coronavirus situation. 

Image source.

Sure thing, you can send the text email, but where is proof that it was a CEO who wrote it? So, the best thing we like about this email is a personalized video from the CEO. 

• C-suite recommendations 

It is not about your company content but something exciting you have seen during the week: a podcast, a book, a tool, or a movie. Subscribers love reading what helped C-levels to succeed in careers or businesses.

• C-levels’ expert view on market trends

Ideally, it should be dissented from the majority’s opinion and include a detailed explanation or proof confirming your point of view.

Aspirational email campaigns

A purchase, product, or website visit is not the final goal of all emails. Sometimes, subscribers need a dose of inspiration to engage with your brand. 

• Inspirational email newsletters

That means no loud CTA, no buttons, and no links in the email body, just like in the Glossier’s cosmetics brand email campaign: 

Image source.

It is only the first item in the long list of background ideas from this email. The only CTA subscribers saw in this email was “Touch and hold an image to save.” No attempts to sell something. The main goal here is to create a mood and a feeling that encapsulates Glossier’s brand identity.  

You can do the same. For example, eCommerce brands can share outfit ideas from Pinterest to inspire subscribers to shop.

Humor in newsletters

This part is about copywriting — how you present information in your emails. Below, we’ve listed the top three ideas to follow.

• Play with words

If it fits your brand’s tone of voice, try to use funny associations with your product, as Poo~Pourri did. This toilet spays manufacturer uses all possible jokes you can imagine about a bathroom. You can find exciting wordplay in almost every email they send. 

For instance, look at this email promoting their Memorial Day collection:

Image source.

Poo~Pourri marketers are masters of combining their products with references to different situations. For example, coronavirus: “Freedom to go anywhere once you can.”

Here is one more poopular wordplay from this brand:

Image source.

If you’re ready to try, brainstorm all the associations around your product or niche. Then, it will be easier for you to play with words. 

• Add pop culture or meme references

Pop culture references are an excellent idea to boost engagement if you target a younger audience. But, yes, it requires relevant knowledge. So, start with looking through #funny, #funnymemes, etc. hashtag posts on socials and choose relevant to your niche.

The Function of Beauty cosmetics store is a magnificent example of how brands use pop culture in email marketing. Take, for instance, these emails: 

Images source.

We love the way they used tweet screenshots to promote their products. You don’t even need a designer to follow this idea.

It can be hard to decide what type of humor to use. Focus on your buyer persona to write more engaging copy:

1. How do they communicate with each other? 
2. What makes them laugh?
3. What resources do they use to find fun content?

Ask subscribers 

Usually, email newsletters are about one-way communication: you tell subscribers something interesting, and they silently read. 

Time to turn it into a dialog. Let them speak! 

• Ask subscribers about their birthdays 

With the birthdays’ data, you can engage subscribers with a personalized discount and segment a lead base to send them more targeted newsletters later. As a result, enjoy increased revenue and customer loyalty. 

At least that’s why Revolve e-store reached out this question to their subscribers:  

Image source.

We like that Revolve marketers reasoned their request with special bonuses in the same email. 

• Collect their feedback on your product/content/idea

Segmentation isn’t the only benefit of a conversation with subscribers. It is a great opportunity to get insights into improving your product, service, or content. 

People love sharing their thoughts. So let them do it. Ask them for feedback. 

Here are some examples of how brands do it in emails:

GFDA service provided subscribers with a special email address to share their thoughts on the brand guide: 

Image source.

Yes, the word choice is specific. But what we like here is short copy and a clear CTA. 

Automate the process if you haven’t enough time to check the inbox regularly. Thus, Clear travel service invited subscribers to visit a dedicated landing page with survey:

Image source.

This service is about traveling. So, a few days after a flight, the service sends users this triggered email. Subscribers follow one of the links and pass the survey in a separate browser tab. All the answers go to the relevant lead cards of Clear CRM.

Another way to get subscribers’ feedback is to let them vote without leaving the inbox, as Amazon and Massdrop stores did:

Image source.

Image source.

We like these triggered emails for the AMP technology. Users can share their feedback on a product right in the email by clicking a relevant button.

To sum up

Modern users get a great number of emails daily and most of them prefer to block unwanted emails unless you can offer subscribers something new, fresh, and unique. Luckily, there are tons of different newsletter ideas you can test. But fundamental design rules are lying at the core of your campaign success. Make sure your following newsletter includes: 

• High-quality logo and images, 
• Clear and catchy text,
• Actionable CTA,
• Easy-to-read text size,
• Consistent headlines size, letter spacing, text formatting,
• Links to your website in product headlines, images, and buttons,
• Social media icons,
• An unsubscribe opportunity. 

Combine these tips with the craziest of your newsletter ideas, and enjoy increasing conversions!