Small Business
In this guide, we’ll explore what a newsletter is, its purpose, and what to include. We’ll also provide practical tips for writing engaging emails and how Adobe Express can help.
Adobe Express
12/05/2025
A newsletter is usually used in marketing to update subscribers, and keep them informed, engaged, or inspired. They can be promotional, informative, or a mix of both, and are a way of sharing anything from upcoming events and product launches to offers and exclusive updates.
In this guide, we’ll break down what makes a great newsletter and share some practical tips for writing them. Learn how to engage and capture the attention of your audience, and just how easy it can be with Adobe Express.
A newsletter is a form of communication used to share content with a specific audience – typically subscribers – who have opted in to receive regular updates. While newsletters are often part of an email marketing strategy, they’re used for much more than just promotional content. They’re a strategic method for businesses, charities, and organisations to help maintain consistency and foster valuable connections with their audience.
Whether you’re sharing news, updates, insights, or exclusive content, newsletters help build trust, strengthen relationships, and keep your subscribers engaged.
Newsletters are especially valuable to businesses, as they’re versatile and allow companies to communicate regularly with their customers and build relationships. Whether you send your newsletters by email or print, they’re a way of showcasing expertise and enhancing trust and credibility.
Businesses can create newsletters with a variety of goals in mind, whether it’s to help drive sales, increase engagement, or to simply connect to their audience. Here are a few of the ways a newsletter can be used:
Newsletters are a great way to keep your audiences informed and updated. They can help you:
Check out some example newsletters for inspiration.
A well-crafted newsletter will support your broader email marketing strategy by helping to boost brand awareness. They can also improve open and click-through rates and grow your mailing list by attracting new subscribers.
Consistently delivering valuable and relevant content can help build trust with your customers and keep them engaged. Readers will come to expect insightful tips, updates or offers in your regular emails, which means they’re more likely to open and read them.
Establishing this habit can make customers more receptive to future promotional messages, showing why it’s important to focus on building trust and brand loyalty.
Newsletters are an effective way to direct readers to your latest products or content, key landing pages, or campaigns. Linking to valuable resources can help increase your website traffic and build engagement with your business.
When considering what makes a great newsletter, it’s important to focus on the basics – ensuring it’s relevant and engaging for readers. A good newsletter should encourage the audience to open, read, and take action.
Take a look at what you should include in your newsletter to make it stand out in busy inboxes:
Crafting an attention-grabbing subject line is crucial to encouraging people to open your newsletter. Humorous, curiosity-driven, or personalised subject lines tend to be more appealing and perform best. Avoid long, dull lines as these can be easily overlooked, and instead use short and snappy wording to capture attention.
To successfully engage your audience, stick to a schedule. Whether you plan to send newsletters weekly, monthly, or quarterly, it’s important to be consistent. Maintaining a schedule illustrates reliability and keeps your business front of mind, ensuring subscribers are engaged and not missing out on communications or updates.
A good newsletter delivers content that educates, entertains, or informs. Relevancy is key – if the content doesn’t feel useful or interesting to you, it probably won’t resonate with your subscribers. Take time to understand what your reader's interests are, and craft high-quality, targeted newsletters they’ll genuinely want to read.
Many people check their emails on their phones while on-the-go, during commutes, coffee breaks, or just before bed. That’s why it’s essential to optimise your newsletters for mobile. Make sure your layout, images, and text are fully responsive and easy to read across all handheld devices to enhance user experience and engagement.
While strong visuals are important, clear written content is still essential. Use clean, legible fonts that are easy to read on all screen sizes, particularly on mobile devices. Avoid decorative or small fonts, especially when your audience will likely view the newsletter on their mobile.
You should also pay particular attention to accessibility, ensuring your content can be easily understood by everyone.
Incorporating visuals like photos or infographics can make your newsletter more engaging and eye-catching. They can break up the text and help convey messages more effectively, while also reinforcing brand identity. Be sure to balance the visuals with clear content to avoid overwhelming the reader or cluttering the newsletter.
