Newsletter Copywriting: 10 Best Practices for Your Email Marketing 

I see you over there trying to grow your email list! Good work! But if you find yourself doing everything else EXCEPT writing your newsletter, you may have a few’ how-to’ barriers holding you back from making the most of your email marketing.

I’ve pulled together 10 best practices you can implement straight away to uplevel your email copy so you can market your biz regularly and sustainably through your email marketing. Let’s go!

What is an email newsletter?

Can you remember the joy of sending snail mail? I can. Sadly, those days are long gone. Sob.

I was 15 when I got my first email address (fast-forward to today, and my 10 yo is asking for an email account to keep in touch with his school bestie, who is moving to Dubai!).

Email newsletters are emails you send regularly to a list of people who subscribe to hear from you. You can send emails to nurture your relationship with your email subscribers, and they can also get to know more about you and your business.

The ultimate goal of a successful newsletter is to tell your audience about your product or service and get them to book them/buy them!

Why bother sending a monthly newsletter?

In 2024, nearly 361 billion emails get sent each day, and 60% of consumers prefer to be contacted by brands through email—great news for you and your business!

Email marketing can be the backbone of an effective marketing ecosystem because it helps coaches have a more ‘up-close-and-personal’ connection to their audience.  It’s a prime way to get your content and brand directly in front of your ideal clients. 

Each email is an opportunity to sell your offers to your peeps (remember, if they gave you their email address, they are interested in your work, so make sure you craft conversion copy in your sales emails).

People expect you to ask them to invest. Of course, we’re all about doing that in the most creative, ethical, and genuine ways… read on.

10 Best Practices for Newsletter Writing 

Let’s talk 10 ways to get your brand’s email copywriting landing just right for your readers’ needs, (and feels!) so they click on your name without hesitation whenever your name pops up in their inbox!

1. Use a template for your newsletter copy

Use a pretty but simple template for your newsletter—and mostly stick to the same one when you send it. I’ve used several different templates on Flodesk that I like, but it’s helpful to:

• Use your brand colour.

• Keep your fonts a larger size (I go for 20).

• Use your brand logo/signature and fonts that match your website copy for consistency.

• Use a white background so your email is easy to read.

Newsletter templates that are too flashy and full of images can end up in the promotions email folder, so keep it simple and keep your audience in mind—consider what sort of images they will connect with. 

Also, don’t have a huge image at the top of your email because when people read your newsletter on their phones, they’ll have to scroll a fair bit to get past that huge image and get to the good stuff!

2. Nail your Subject Line

The first thing your subscribers read when they open their inbox is the email subject line, a single line of text right after the sender’s name (that’s you!). 

PSA:  The primary function of email subject lines is to convince your audience to click ‘open’ and read your email!

The subject line has to pique people’s interest, promise value, and make them curious enough to open the email—but without being dishonest or by using clickbaity false promises. I go into this in way more depth in my blog post How to Write Good Email Subject Lines. 

Let your personality shine through your subject lines, and after a while, those little one-liner gems will become a breath of fresh air in their inboxes your subscribers look forward to every week.

3. My marketing mentor’s golden rule: make your email newsletter all about your audience

I see this mistake all the time: Having too much of a broad audience. My copywriter drilled this mantra into me: ‘Write to everyone, and you write to no one.’ 

As a marketer, you have to know EXACTLY who you are writing to. Who is your ideal client avatar? Do a deep dive into these questions:

• Are they an entrepreneur?
• Are they a parent?
• How old are they?
• What are their problems or pain points?
• What do they want?
• What do they like to do for fun?

Take some time to research your audience and then write engaging email newsletters just for them (keep picturing them as you tap those keys!).

4. Give your readers plenty of actionable tips in your email marketing 

Don’t gatekeep your skills and expertise – share them in your newsletter every damn time! From productivity tips to a ‘how-to’ guide, the more value you can give, the better you serve your community. 

Even if you repurpose older content, freshen up the words and give your readers an ‘easy win’ or a hack to make their lives that much easier or better. 

You can then show them how working with you can help them get their desired result more quickly and invite them to consider one of your offers.

5. Include a Call-to-Action in every email 

By writing a clear call to action in every email, you’re not leaving money on the table! (Yes, my love, people want to buy from you!)

For more direct email sales funnels, you can sprinkle CTA buttons all the way through your email, whereas, in your regular emails, your CTA can be more gentle. Do it YOUR way, but just make sure you do it!

6. Add personality and spice to your email newsletter 

Your newsletters need to be dripping in YOUR energy! Your personality attracts people to work with you.

YOU are the brand people want to hear from, so the more you keep writing to your peeps as your authentic self, the more your brand voice will develop, the stronger your messaging will become, which means YOU stand out more.

When your content marketing makes your audience feel like they’re sitting drinking an iced latte with you (or a spicy marg?!), they’ll feel wayyyyy more connected to you than if you’re using long fancy technical terms your readers won’t relate with, or if you use trendy expressions everyone else is using all over Insta to try and impress them, that don’t suit you!)

I go into detail about why you should write how you talk in my blog post: Conversational Copywriting; Tips for Writing Warm Winning Words. Go check it out and go forth to add YOUR spice, your ‘isms’, the words you like to use, and have fun with your copy!

7. The best copywriting newsletters share content writing to drive traffic to their website

Whatever your business, if you have a blog, your email newsletter is the perfect place to invite people to your website.

Summarise one of your blog posts and link to the full article, or include a roundup of your latest posts in one tempting paragraph. Tell your readers what each blog post will help them with so they know it’ll be worth their time and energy to follow that link.

8. Become their go-to person in your industry through your newsletter content 

Guess what? You should be directly selling your services in your newsletter! But first, focus on providing value through quality content that gives your audience:

• Industry-specific shortcuts so they can get what they want more quickly
• Advice from your experiences- the good, the bad, and the ugly!
• Tips and tricks to make their lives easier

Do this consistently, and you’ll become the ‘go-to’ name for your niche in their inbox (and in their heads!), so when you invite them to buy, they will do so because it seems like a natural next step.

9. Sell your services in your email marketing

Tell your readers what you do and invite them to buy your services! This is where you have to be brave and big yourself up cos no one else gonna do it for you!!!

Tell stories of how you’ve helped clients before, share testimonials, paint yummy pictures of what life could look like when people sign up to work with you:

• What can they expect?
• What results do you promise them?
• How can you invite them to explore working with you risk-free?
• What statistics can you share that show ‘before and after’ results? 

When you’re promoting your services, lead them to THE hottest sales page on your website to take them on the most relatable journey, where they feel so deeply understood and are convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt that you have what they need that they’ll click ‘sign-up’ without hesitation! (Sales pages are my specialty, so let me write one for you!)

10. Let me write your weekly newsletter for you

If you’ve enjoyed this blog about email marketing but are mega-busy with the gazillion other moving parts of your business, having a copywriter on retainer could be the best decision you could ever make.

As a personal brand, you need every word you put out there to express YOUR heart, YOUR vision, YOUR mission, in YOUR voice, right? 

So could a copywriter do this FOR you?

The answer is YES! Having me on monthly retainer to write all your newsletters for you means that together we’ll build you such a strong brand voice, that I’ll be able to carry your messaging for you through your emails on a long-term basis. 

Just imagine, KNOWING that your message is going out to your list, regularly, attracting in the right aligned clients for you to work with, leaving your hands free to go and do what you do best- your craft!

For a 20 minute coffee-chat to learn more, fill in this form here.  Thanks for reading.