How to Create Internal Company Newsletters with Proven Examples
Internal company newsletters are more important now, more than ever. Since the pandemic started, the number of remote workers in the US jumped from 31% to 62% in just three weeks. Managing remote teams will become a huge challenge for the 60% of companies that don’t have a proper internal communication system.
Internal company newsletters become a must to keep the whole staff informed on what’s going on in the company, and increase morale and productivity.
So, what should an internal company newsletter include and how can you adapt it to your needs.
What is an internal company newsletter?
Internal newsletters are emails reporting the news from a company to its employees. Internal newsletters are sent by the HR team, or the marketing team, who in some cases manages internal communication as well.
They can communicate about future activities, report relevant numbers, and celebrate achievements from employees.
Internal newsletters are vital to keeping the whole staff informed about everything they need to know, company-wise. These newsletters are a fundamental form of company-wide communication, and, when done well, can become an important part of the company’s internal community.
Why are company email newsletters important?
Here are the main reasons why newsletters are so important in business:
Helps sustain company culture
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Internal newsletters are a great way of keeping employees involved in internal company activities.
When using online internal newsletters, your company can add different media and online activities for employees to interact with each other, like contests and even online games. Company mascots usually feature prominently in these newsletters, reaffirming the company’s culture and values through tone and content.
Keeps the whole staff informed
Like any newsletter, the main purpose of internal newsletters is to inform its readers. They’re a great way of letting people know about company goals and what’s needed from the staff to achieve them. They can also be a great tool to keep people informed about an ongoing situation like, say, the impact of a global pandemic on the company.
However, internal newsletters aren’t necessarily just a one-sided communication channel. They’re also a great tool to gather employee feedback and input. This helps upper management connect with employees, knowing about their goals, their issues, and their general feeling towards a company.
This data is extremely useful for HR and can be analyzed to inform potential company activities, and even be the basis for internal educational strategies.
Desired by employees
When done right, employees will look forward to reading internal newsletters. Since they supplement the company’s culture, they usually include information relevant to employees, and interesting content to keep employees engaged
To do this, internal newsletters are created based on what the employees need to know. If the information in the newsletter is useful, employees will not want to miss out on it.
Brings the sense of appreciation
Internal newsletters can also be used to highlight employees based on their activity, achievements or interaction with clients.
These mentions create strong connections with employees, especially when the newsletter mentions people they know, or even themselves. It also helps in boosting employee morale and in increased productivity.
Great way to discuss company goals
Internal newsletters are usually better at helping employees remember company goals than just telling them face to face.
When employees read about company goals, they learn how to measure company success, and the role they play in it. Employees can also go over them as many times as they need, and even cut out the company goals relevant to them to keep them in mind more easily.
5 Elements for an effective email newsletter?
Here are the five elements you need to have when writing a newsletter:
Staff knowledge
When company newsletters fail, it’s usually because they simply aren’t read by the employees. This happens because the writers of a newsletter don’t take time to really get to know who they’re writing for: their employees.
Before writing the first word on your newsletter, you need to know who it’s for. Use company data to know more about your staff and what they care about. Find out more about their demographic information and company culture.
If you know your staff, you’ll know what kind of information they’ll love to read about.
Strong subject line
Email subject lines are usually the difference between an email getting read, and an email sent directly to the trash or spam folders.
A strong subject line will almost always get clicks because it tells your employees not only why they should be reading the newsletter, but why they should be reading it now.
Interesting content
The best internal newsletters use storytelling techniques to keep employees engaged. Use a conversational tone. Tell your employees information that they’d like to know, not just the information they need to know.
Showcase your best content, even if it’s not strictly relevant to your employees’ work, to get them to engage with your newsletter.
Company-congruent design
As we’ve mentioned before, your internal newsletter must reflect your company’s image, values, and vision.
Make your internal newsletter’s design consistent with your company’s image and color theme. Once you have a design that works, keep the general structure in all newsletters so your employees know where to go and what to click.
Call-to-action
Just like any marketing email, your internal newsletter needs a clear CTA. End your newsletter with a call-to-action on what you want your employees to do, whether that’s to enter a contest, fill up a survey, or even share the newsletter with their team.
How to create internal company newsletters
Here’s how to create your internal company newsletters:
Personalize your emails
Start with finding out how to merge company interests with employee interests. Let your company values inform the design and content of your newsletter.
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Finally, add the relevant metatags so your newsletter is addressed to each employee by name.
Use descriptive subject lines
Strong subject lines are like promises of what the reader will get if they just click to open the email. And, like with anything else, these promises must be kept to generate trust with your employees.
Instead of using a subject like “Newsletter 24” or “Newsletter March 26 – March 31”, craft a subject line that features the most compelling parts of your newsletter, like “Steps Employees Must Take During COVID-19” or “New Company Contest +prizes!”.
Find a good tone and style
No one wants to read an impersonal essay or blocks of text filled with jargon and complex words. Instead, make your newsletter easy to read.
Keep the tone as conversational and informal as your company’s values and image allows you to. Aim for a reading level of about 7th-8th grade. Break apart long paragraphs and long sentences.
And, above all else, avoid boring content. If that means adding some levity or a funny employee story that doesn’t really have anything to do with your employees’ day-to-day, so be it.
Keep it short and sweet
Keeping your newsletter as short as possible is vital when designing it.
Think about it.
If you have 60 employees and they need to spend 15 minutes reading the newsletter, interacting with the activities, and clicking the links, they’ll be spending a total of 15 man-hours, almost two full days of work, just on company news.
Aim for a newsletter that can be read in about 2 minutes to keep your employees reading, without keeping them from doing their jobs. If you need some inspiration, look for internal company newsletter samples to get content ideas.
Monthly newsletter ideas
Here are a few monthly newsletter ideas to get you started:
Milestones
Milestone newsletters are great for employee engagement. They’re good news that are based on the success of individuals.
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You can start with company milestones. Celebrate with your employees when your company hits its 5 year anniversary or when it completes its sales quota beforehand.
You can also use milestones to highlight a particular team achievement or even an individual employee. Showcase your employee of the month, create and celebrate an employee of the year, and show the people that have been with the company the longest or have gotten a promotion.
Company events & surveys
All of your company events should be announced and promoted through your internal newsletter.
Company marathons, end of the year parties, and bring-your-daughter-to-work days should be announced in the newsletter, and feature the photos of them once they’ve passed.
This will create engagement in company events and will get people to look forward to the internal newsletter to see the photos afterward.
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You can also send out company-wide surveys about various topics that might interest both management and employees. And don’t forget to share the survey results if it is relevant.
Training opportunities
The more your employees grow, the more your company grows. That’s why continuous training is vital for any company. It can be training to improve language skills, communication skills for leadership, digital skills, etc…
Use your newsletter to inform your employees about upcoming workshops and optional training, so they can sign up and attend to the ones they like.
If your employees see ways to grow, they’ll be more likely to stay at your company for longer.
New recruitment announcement
Are you looking for someone to fill a position? Keep your employees informed about new job opportunities for themselves and their acquaintances.
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If you already hire someone else, introduce them to the company, not by listing their professional attributes, but by showing who they are and what they’re like. Tell them about their favorite movies or hobbies, maybe even a short fun personal experience.
That will help your newcomers integrate with the team quickly and feel welcomed.
Team party
All companies need parties every now and then to bring the employees together and let them blow off some steam. However, the larger the company is, the harder they’ll be to organize.
Use your internal company newsletter to create hype around the party and let them know how to sign up and what to bring. Give them updates about an upcoming company retreat or party to keep them informed.
Once the party ends, send them photos and videos of the party through the newsletter so they can upload them to their social media. Make sure your company logo is evident in most photos to get free promotion and brand exposure.
Wrapping up
Internal company newsletters are vital to keeping your whole staff informed and up to date with relevant company news. If done right, they can be one of your most competitive ways to bring your team together and share your goals and values with your whole staff.
Start right now by creating a newsletter that’s faithful to your company’s image and values. If you follow the steps and tips you just read, your employees will be looking forward to your next newsletter in no time.
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