Create the Best Internal Newsletter: Ideas, Examples & Tips

06.09.2022
Read time: 13 min
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Create the Best Internal Newsletter: Ideas, Examples & Tips
Try Publicate For Free Today
02.03.2022
Read time: 13 min

Let’s face it: your organization always has some kind of news to share with its employees and stakeholders. Whether you’re promoting events, sharing company updates, introducing new team members, or whatever else is going on, an internal newsletter is a great way to make sure everyone knows the latest and greatest information! 

In this article, we will share some fun employee newsletter ideas and take a look at impactful email newsletter templates. This way, you can boost employee engagement and interaction. 

Employees working together on laptops in shared working space

Picture source Unsplash

What is an Internal Newsletter?   

A newsletter is an electronic or printed update that reports company activities. An internal newsletter is the same thing, but this time, rather than sending the update to subscribers or customers, you send it to internal stakeholders, such as employees, board members, management teams, etc. 

As you know, print is fading out (that’s not to say it still doesn’t have its fair use cases). But, internal email newsletters are typically the most popular format in which companies send internal newsletters. 

With a web-based email builder like Publicate, you can create internal email newsletters in no time using their wide range of existing templates and drag-and-drop functionality to customize the content as you see fit. 

Why Use an Internal Newsletter?

Internal newsletters are clearly a great way to keep everyone updated on the happenings within a business. You have the freedom and flexibility to send internal email newsletters to specific departments, teams, or the entire organization. 

The options of what you choose to share are endless. But, besides being informational and straightforward, internal newsletters serve an even greater purpose, which is to engage employees. 

Employees who feel like they are a part of the organization and have an impact on reaching its goals are more likely to remain engaged and motivated on the job. The research has shown that when employees feel empowered, they are able to increase their productivity on cognitive tasks by 25% (and maybe even more). 

How to Write the Best Employee Newsletter?

With that stellar statistic, you’re probably itching to get going on your own internal newsletter. Before you do, take a look at these suggestions for how to write an impactful employee newsletter:

1. Give Employees Context to Growth & Goals

Your employees have a lot on their plate as it is. And, they are likely sifting through countless emails, so when they get to an internal newsletter, they need to be able to get to the point quickly. 

Having a focused approach is key so you can provide the news and information that is relevant to your readers. Additionally, instead of stating company growth, goals, or milestones, try to put it in context. 

This means that you connect how their role, team, or department has contributed to the successful outcomes. By doing so, you can both recognize and motivate employees to continue putting forth their best effort. 

2. Spotlight Your Employees

Just like you can connect the dots in terms of goals and growth on a company level, you can do the same for individual employees. An employee spotlight with success stories is a great way to showcase employees who are working hard! You can share promotions, welcome new hires, or distribute positive customer feedback. 

3. Include Different Perspectives

Invite employees to get involved with the internal newsletter creation process! By sharing diverse perspectives rather than just sharing news from the top, you can create a welcoming atmosphere in which everyone feels seen and heard. 

4. Use Employee Feedback Loops

Speaking of feeling heard, communication goes two ways. In turn, your internal newsletter can too by providing a way for employees to give feedback. For example, you can add a link at the bottom of your newsletter that connects to a poll on Slack. 

If you’re using a tool like Publicate to create and send newsletters, you can integrate seamlessly with Slack and your other existing communication tools. 

Why is Tone Important for Internal Newsletters?   

In an inbox filled with professional and formal emails, your internal newsletter should stand out as fun and exciting to read. That’s why writing in the right tone is so important when it comes to sharing your internal newsletter topics. 

It’s best to try and write in the same personable and friendly tone that you would use to speak to a friend. Take the same approach when writing your subject lines, as that’s the first thing any reader will see. 

It can either prompt someone to hit delete or want to open the email quickly. Incorporate catchy, fun, and concise headlines within the newsletter content to call attention to readers to know what they can expect to learn from each newsletter section. 

How to Increase Engagement in Internal Newsletters?       

As you can see, tone plays a big role in capturing engagement. Along with nailing the tone, you can also incorporate relatable content for employees. For example, blending images with text and including assets like GIFs can be a fun and interactive way to grab and maintain attention. 

You can easily upload all your email assets, including video, GIFs, images, audio, and files (i.e. PDF, Word, Excel) into Publicate’s content library. Once you have them uploaded, you can access them anytime and input them into newsletters using the drag-and-drop functionality with just a few clicks. 

Why Share Resources in Internal Newsletters?   

Beyond driving engagement and boosting motivation levels, an internal newsletter should add value for each reader. This can be accomplished by sharing resources with those who need them. 

To illustrate, you can share relevant industry news, upcoming staff training and development courses, or internal job openings within the company. 

These items all add value to employees’ lives and will likely entice them to continue reading internal newsletters when they see them in their inbox. 

What are the Best Internal Newsletter Ideas?       

Looking for fun employee newsletter ideas? We got you covered. Here’s a look at 15 ideas. 

  1. Media Coverage: If your company made it in the headlines, share it loud and proud with the people who helped make it happen!
  2. Company Success: Promote any company successes or milestones reached to keep the momentum going. 
  3. Social Advocacy: Does your company take part in any corporate social responsibility initiatives? Get your employees involved by sharing events, collecting donations, or promoting a volunteer day. 
  4. Content Marketing: If your company already spends time and resources on a blog, the content could be used to boost sales and prospecting. By sharing evergreen content internally, employees can amplify the content and use it to drive forward their goals. 
  5. Open Positions: Open positions may be best filled by those you already have within your organization. Highlight and share open positions to tap into your existing talent pool. Or, your employees can share the positions with their own network. 
  6. Top 10 Lists: Top 10 lists are a quick and easy way to share information that’s valuable. For example, you can share the top 10 places to eat that are close to the office or the top 10 events happening locally so employees can accomplish work/life balance. 
  7. Employee Profiles: Showcase employees to encourage connection between colleagues and recognize employees for doing a good job. 
  8. Business Updates: An internal newsletter is a great place to share any company updates and direct them to the people who the updates will affect. 
  9. FAQs: Have new hires or employees who are commonly asking the same questions? Consider sending out a list of frequently asked questions (with answers, of course) to clear up any confusion on a mass scale. 
  10. Training Opportunities: Employees who feel supported in their growth are more likely to stay within your organization. Promote any upcoming training and development programs so employees have a way to register and take part in them. 
  11. Competitor Information: In constantly evolving business landscapes, it’s important to know what the competition is up to. You can use internal newsletters to share industry updates or competitor news that impacts your organization. 
  12. Events: Boost attendance at upcoming industry or company events by sending out event-based newsletters. 
  13. Leadership Messages: Most employees don’t get to interact with the C-suite on a daily basis, but it’s of great value that they feel involved. Leadership can use internal newsletters to send out updates, messages of gratitude, and motivational insights. 
  14. Meeting Recaps: Have important information that was shared in a meeting? Send it out in a recap email so anyone can use it as reference moving forward. 
  15. Surveys: Hear back from your employees by sending out surveys in an internal newsletter. 

How to Create an Employee Newsletter   

Creating an employee newsletter doesn’t have to be time-consuming nor overwhelming. Start by setting a goal and determining what kind of content you wish to share. 

The most engaging type of internal newsletter is sent using HTML. If the acronym for computer coding scares you, don’t fret. You can use email builders like Publicate to create beautifully designed email newsletters without knowing even a line of code. 

A tool like Publicate offers a drag-and-drop interface with templates organized by topic and use case. For example, you can search for templates by type (Company, Blog, Events, Sales), industry ( ecommerce, real estate, school, church, etc.), or seasonal (Christmas, Valentine’s Day, Thanksgiving, and more). 

Once you find the template you wish to use as your base (or you can choose to create your own layout with drag-and-drop content sections), you can start inputting in your content. You have the option to add any type of multimedia you wish and store it in the content library to easily use again another time. 

Once you’re happy with the result, you can export and send your internal newsletter using whatever email service provider you prefer. Then, you can track results with detailed analytics to see how it performed. 

Designing and creating email newsletter content

Photo from Pexels

What are Best Internal Newsletter Examples?   

Want to see what we mean? Here are some of the best internal newsletter examples, taken from Publicate templates. If you want to try it out for yourself, you can get started for free. 

1. Training and Development

You can use a template like this to highlight upcoming professional development courses and opportunities. 

2. Company Event

Looking for ways to increase collaboration and colleague engagement? Host and share an event using an internal newsletter. It’s straight to the point, and you can create your own using your company’s branding. 

3. Company Updates

Looking to highlight big ticket milestones and showcase company success? Check out this template that makes it easy to read using icons and a blend of text with imagery. 

How to Name Your Employee Newsletter?   

If you’re going to send an internal newsletter regularly (which is always recommended), it could be a good idea to make a name for it, just like how newspapers have names. 

To create a fitting name, try to get the company involved by hosting a brainstorming or ideation session. Additionally, you can consider the common naming methods used, such as:

  • A rhyme
  • Alliteration
  • Industry expression 
  • Journalism or pop culture reference 
  • Meaningful term  

The Bottom Line 

As you can see, an internal newsletter can serve a variety of purposes. You may have held off on creating your own out of a worry that it would be too time consuming or necessite highly-skilled professionals to design or code something appealing. 

It’s time to get started since you’ve thrown that worry out the window. You can use a web-based email builder like Publicate to design and send your internal newsletter without hassle and increase employee engagement by doing so! The best part is you can try it free!

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