10 Best Practices to create a Successful Email Newsletter in 2025

Even in 2025, a great email newsletter is the best way to connect with your readers. But getting people's attention is tough when their inboxes are full. To make sure your newsletter gets opened and read, you need a solid plan. Here are 10 simple and effective practices to help you create a newsletter that people actually want to receive

1. Set Specific Goals and Purpose for Your Newsletter

Before sending out newsletters, it’s essential to define what you want to achieve. Your goals might include improving open and click-through rates, driving more visitors to your website, generating sales, or nurturing your audience relationships.

For instance, if you’re a fitness coach looking to grow engagement, you could aim to boost reader interaction by 20% over the next three months. To reach that target, you might plan to share weekly workout insights, introduce a monthly fitness challenge, and feature your latest healthy recipe e-book.

2. Create Engaging and Value-Driven Content

Your content is the core of your newsletter, it’s what keeps subscribers opening and reading your emails. Focus on delivering information that’s valuable, timely, and relevant to your audience. A well-rounded newsletter often includes:

• Actionable guides and how-to articles
• Industry updates or expert insights
• Real-life case studies or customer success stories
• Engaging multimedia such as videos, podcasts, or infographics

Always include a clear call-to-action (CTA) that directs readers to your website, product page, or additional resources. Even subtle CTAs like offering a free guide or template can significantly boost engagement.

The main purpose of your newsletter is to deliver value. Share useful resources like blog posts, reports, visuals, or industry insights. If you’re not doing that, you’re missing the mark.

3. Know and Understand Your Audience

Before crafting compelling newsletters, it’s crucial to know who you’re speaking to. Deep audience understanding helps you tailor your tone, topics, and offers ensuring every email resonates and delivers real impact. Researching your audience is one of the smartest newsletter best practices you can adopt.

This process includes building audience personas, using analytics, studying competitors, engaging directly with your readers and goes even further when you segment your audience and monitor trends over time.

• i. Build Detailed Audience Personas

Create specific profiles that represent different segments of your audience including demographics, interests, challenges, and motivations. This helps you personalize both your content and messaging effectively.

• ii. Use Data and Analytics

Tap into data from your email platform and website analytics to uncover what readers interact with most. Look at open rates, link clicks, and content performance to understand what topics truly engage your audience.

• iii. Study Your Competitors

Review competitor newsletters to identify what works for them, their tone, content mix, and structure. Spot the gaps or missed opportunities you can leverage to stand out.

• iv. Engage Your Audience Directly

Conduct surveys, polls, or even short feedback forms to hear directly from your readers. Ask them about their interests, content preferences, and what they’d like to see more of.

• v. Segment Your Subscribers

Group your audience into segments based on behavior, interests, or demographics. This allows you to send tailored content for instance, product updates for buyers, educational content for new subscribers, and exclusive deals for loyal readers.

• vi. Track Evolving Trends

Audience interests evolve. Keep monitoring trends, seasonal changes, and new behaviors. Regularly update your personas and strategies to keep your newsletter fresh and relevant.

Example: Suppose you run a tech newsletter for startup founders. You could create personas such as:

Early-Stage Founders: Seeking growth hacks and funding tips.

Tech Enthusiasts: Interested in AI tools and product launches.

Segmenting your audience allows you to send startup-related funding resources to founders and product reviews to tech enthusiasts.

By continuously analyzing engagement data and audience feedback, you ensure your newsletter stays relevant, valuable, and aligned with what your readers care about most.

4. Automate Your Email Campaigns

A example of different ways you can automate your email campaigns with Mailchimp.

Email automation is one of the most powerful tools for scaling your newsletter strategy without losing the personal touch. With platforms like Mailchimp, you can create automated workflows that send the right message to the right person at the right time based on their actions, interests, or stage in the customer journey.

Automation might sound complex initially, but it’s a game-changer, especially for eCommerce and online businesses. It helps you nurture leads, re-engage inactive subscribers, and drive consistent conversions all on autopilot.

How Email Automation Works

Automations follow an “if / when / then” logic. For example:

1. If a subscriber joins your list,
2. When they click on your welcome email,
3. Then send them a follow-up email introducing your products or resources.

These workflows allow you to build strong customer relationships with minimal manual effort.

Example: eCommerce Automation

Imagine you own an online bicycle store. With automation, you can:

1. Track user behavior on your site.
2. If someone browses family bikes, automatically send them an email suggesting child bike seats or safety gear.
3. Follow up a few days later with a limited-time discount to encourage conversion.

This kind of personalized automation mimics what big players like Amazon do and it can make a massive impact for smaller brands too.

5. Test, Measure, Compare and Improve

The success of your newsletter doesn’t come from just sending great content, it comes from testing, analyzing and improving over time. Regular optimization helps you understand what resonates with your audience and refine your strategy for better engagement and conversions.

Start by monitoring key performance metrics such as open rates, click-through rates (CTR), conversion rates, and unsubscribe trends. These insights reveal how well your emails are performing and where there’s room for improvement.

Key Areas to Test and Experiment With

1. Subject: Try different tones, emojis, or personalization to see which subject lines drive the highest opens.
2. Call-to-Actions (CTAs): Experiment with placement, color, and phrasing and even subtle changes like “Learn More” vs. “Get Started” can make a difference.
3. Email Layout & Content Order: Rearrange your content blocks, adjust image-to-text ratios, or highlight key sections differently to find what captures attention best.
4. Check Times & Days: Test different days or times of day to discover when your audience is most likely to engage.

Example:

For an eCommerce brand, you could A/B test two subject lines for your promotional email:

“Get 20% Off Our Fall Collection”

“Your Exclusive Fall Discount Awaits Inside”

Whichever earns higher opens and clicks should guide your future campaign strategy.

6. Emails should be Personal rather than '[email protected]'

Example: Email directly from the founder of beehiiv.

Send Emails from a Real Person, not a Robot Nothing feels more impersonal than getting an email from [email protected]. If your goal is to build trust and connection, your sender name should sound human because people like to engage with people, not bots.

Use a friendly and recognizable name like “Rohit from Stackout” or “The Stackout Team.” It instantly adds authenticity and reminds subscribers that there’s a real person behind the message.

Alongside this, make sure your email domain is properly authenticated using tools like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. These measures tell email providers such as Gmail and Yahoo that your messages are safe and legitimate, helping you avoid the spam or promotions folder.

Tip: Turn Your Inbox Into a Conversation

Encourage subscribers to reply instead of treating your emails as one-way broadcasts. You could include a simple line like:

“Hit reply and tell me what you think I read every response.”

This two-way communication not only strengthens your relationship with your readers but also improves deliverability.

7. Avoid Being Overly Promotional or Spammy

No one enjoys being bombarded with multiple emails a day even. If you fill your subscriber inboxes, they’ll likely tune out, unsubscribe, or worse, mark your emails as spam, instead, focus on quality over quantity.

The best frequency depends on your audience and goals, so experiment and track engagement. If open rates start dropping or unsubscribe rates climb, it’s a sign you may be overdoing it.

Ultimately, every email you send should add value whether it’s educating, entertaining, or rewarding your readers. When your audience feels that each message is worth opening, you’ll never have to worry about being too spammy.

8. Keep Mobile Optimization a Priority

More than half of all emails today are opened on mobile devices so if your newsletter isn’t mobile-friendly, you’re losing a huge chunk of your audience. Your emails should look clean, readable, and visually balanced, no matter the screen size.

This is where responsive design comes in. A responsive email automatically adjusts its layout and font size to fit the user’s device whether it’s a phone, tablet, or desktop. Without it, your message might appear tiny, misaligned, or hard to read, leading subscribers to delete it immediately.

Best Practices for Mobile-Friendly Emails

• Use responsive templates that adapt seamlessly to different screen sizes.
• Keep subject lines short (under 40 characters) so they display properly on mobile.
• Use concise paragraphs and larger fonts for easy readability.
• Avoid cluttered designs focus on one clear message or call-to-action.

9. Pick the Right Newsletter Software

Before creating your newsletter, you need a proper email service provider (ESP) to design, send, and track your campaigns. While it’s possible to send emails using Gmail or other mailbox providers, they have limits: low sending capacity, tricky mail merges, and no email authentication which can land your emails in the spam folder.

A purpose-built ESP solves these problems and makes managing newsletters much easier. But with so many options out there, choosing the right one can be tricky. Start by listing the features and services you need, then compare different tools to see which fits best.

Key Features Every Professional ESP Should Have:

• Easy drag-and-drop editor to build emails in minutes.
• Ready-to-use, mobile-friendly templates you can tweak.
• Personalization options to tailor content for each subscriber.
• Ability to segment your audience based on interests or behavior.
• Built-in tools to edit and enhance images directly in your emails.
• Subscription forms to grow your list while staying compliant.
• Efficient contact management for keeping your subscriber data organized.
• Reliable deliverability so your emails land in inboxes, not spam.
• A/B testing to experiment with subject lines, layouts, or offers.
• Clear analytics to measure performance and improve future campaigns.
• Free trial to explore features before committing
• Integrations with tools like WordPress, Salesforce, and more.
• Compliance with GDPR and other privacy/security standards.

Choosing the right ESP makes sending newsletters easier, more professional, and ensures your emails reach the people who actually want to read them.

10. Chose Topic that gets Clicks

A successful newsletter does more than just promote your brand, it builds a relationship with your audience by consistently offering valuable and engaging content. Few suggestions are:

1. Company Updates: Share internal news like awards, new hires, and company events.
2. Promotions & New Releases: Announce special offers, discounts, or new products to drive sales.
3. Industry News: Discuss the latest trends and developments to establish your authority.
4. Customer Testimonials: Feature positive reviews and success stories to build trust.
5. Surveys & Feedback: Ask for your audience's opinions to gather valuable insights.
6. Practical How-To Guides: Offer helpful tips and solutions to your subscribers' problems.
7. Charitable Initiatives: Announce volunteer opportunities or your company's social efforts.

Final Thoughts

Creating a successful newsletter takes more than just hitting send. By understanding your audience, delivering valuable content, using the right tools, and continuously optimizing, you can build stronger relationships, boost engagement, and grow your brand. Keep it personal, relevant, and easy to read and your subscribers will keep coming back for more.