Employee newsletters are traditionally a great way to spread company-wide information. But they can be more than that! Internal newsletters can help increase employee engagement and foster your company’s culture. Here are a few tips to help you start one! And make sure to check Bulletin, if you are looking for the perfect newsletter platform for your internal communications.
Depending on your company size, your internal newsletter may have different types of audiences (employees, board members, investors, etc.). You should establish an up-to-date list of who will be contributing and a list of who will be receiving the newsletter.
Having a content calendar is a great way to keep in mind important events and dates related to your company. Events like employee birthdays, work anniversaries, and company milestones, are always great content to be featured in your internal newsletter.
If you plan on working with coworkers on your internal newsletter, you should make sure to establish good practices before starting. Having guidelines will help you to save time later down the road when editing the newsletter. Guidelines can be about the content itself (suggesting topics) or the layout (word count, illustrations, etc.).
Managers should be reliable partners for your employee newsletter. They should not only be sold on the idea but also on its implementation. For example, encouraging and valuing employee participation should be seen as a positive contribution that is part of their work.
It is very easy to get overwhelmed while making a newsletter, trying to integrate your company's design guidelines. One thing to keep in mind is to always focus on your content rather than the layout. Go for a simple design and try to make it as accessible as possible, so that anyone feels like they can contribute without messing up the layout.
Internal newsletters are everyone’s business. That’s why they should be made by all the employees and not just a few! Stop wasting time cherry-picking who will write what, and just give a platform to your employees' creativity. This will lead to various potential positive outcomes: more transparency, better internal communication, more trust, and better company culture.
Having a diversity of subjects to talk about is always a great way to have an exciting internal newsletter. You could, for example, talk about your employees' hobbies, and side projects, and expand on interesting facts about them. Another way to diversify your newsletter is by sharing interesting content you have recently read/viewed, and going the extra mile by highlighting interesting things you have learned.
As you know, your employees are very busy and have limited time for reading your newsletters. Having straightforward communication is a very effective way to engage your readers. This can be easily achieved, for example, by using bullet points to make your content digestible. It's also beneficial to have a consistent email structure over time so that the reader can easily navigate it, for example by using headers and sections.
One of the best ways to create a long-lasting newsletter is to follow up on previous issues. Follow up on important news, and company updates, to create a sense of involvement among your employees. Over time you might even want to create sections that will be recurring.
While you can rely on metrics to know who opened or clicked on your email, you also want to make sure that you know why. At the end of each email, invite the reader to contact you with any feedback. You can also use surveys if you are looking for more quantitative data.
