Let’s get into it.
You’ve likely landed here because you’re considering how to start a B2B newsletter, or you’re looking for ways to update/improve the one you’ve already got. Great start. However, before we get into the meaty sections, first we’ll explain a bit about newsletters.
A brief history of the company newsletter…
Believe it or not, the concept of the company newsletter has been around for centuries; long before email made it a digital marketing staple. Back in the 17th century, merchants and traders relied on handwritten newsletters to share important market news, shipping schedules, and economic updates with their networks. These early newsletters were essentially the LinkedIn posts of their time, minus the hashtags and elaborate stories about what your personal life can teach you about sales.
Fast forward to the early 20th century, and businesses started using printed newsletters to keep employees informed, boost morale, and subtly remind them how well the other departments were doing (a little competition never hurts). Companies like Ford and General Electric were among the first to formalise internal newsletters, offering everything from company news to workplace safety tips.
By the late 1990s and early 2000s, email newsletters became a marketing essential. Once businesses realised they could speak directly to their audience, bypassing expensive print production and postal delays, it became the most effective marketing communication tool. Suddenly, every brand had a newsletter and now you have to really fight for the attention of your audience. Our brains have evolved to automatically filter out information that we don’t immediately deem to be relevant, so there’s become quite a psychology to attracting and retaining your audience’s attention. Our first biggest tip? Consistency.
Thanks to the evolution of marketing technology, now we have sophisticated email marketing platforms, automation tools, segmentation etc, so we can create targeted, engaging communications that drive actual, tangible results. And what we know about consumer behaviour, shows us that if we carefully blend strategy, storytelling and the above mentioned technology, we can really use the power of email to our advantage as marketers.
Why are newsletters such a valuable tool for B2B business?
Just like we discussed in the history lesson above, newsletters are a great form of communication with your audience, enabling you to tell them about all of your important updates. That’s everything from pricing, promotions and product updates, to corporate social responsibility, sustainability initiatives, team updates, and industry insights.
Newsletters can play a vital role in your overall communications strategy and content plans, used for ‘lead-nurture’ and relationship building with new and existing customers, as well as prospects.
It’s a drum we often bang, but it’s worth reminding you that Statista anticipates that there will be 4.6 billion email users by the end of 2025 – so if you’re not utilising email as a communication tool, that’s a huge opportunity you could be missing.
If we’ve said enough and you’re ready to learn how to start your B2B newsletter, here’s where to begin:
Define your newsletter goals
Do you have a reason for creating your newsletter? Or are you just following the marketing playbook and hoping for the best? Before you get started, you need to define what you want your newsletter to achieve and let that be what drives you – the unsubscribe button is far too easy to press for you to take a scattergun approach to see what sticks. Ask yourself the crucial question; “if I was receiving this newsletter, would I read it?”. If it’s not interesting or useful for you, then it likely won’t be to your audience.
Here’s some considerations for your objectives and the overall purpose of your B2B newsletter:
- Brand awareness – if you’re sending a newsletter with a view to building trust and establishing yourself as a thought leader in your field, you need it to be filled with insightful articles, opinion pieces, industry trends and expert advice. These things will keep your brand front of mind if you’re regularly offering value and insights to your readers.
- Lead nurturing – a subscriber might have signed up to your newsletter while they are in the information searching stage of their buying cycle. The newsletter is a gentle way to promote your product or service without being too pushy. Sharing case studies, guides and insights will help to convince them that now is the time to buy.
- Customer retention – a newsletter isn’t just about finding new clients, it’s about keeping the ones you have. Share tips, success stories, and exclusive content to add ongoing value and strengthen relationships. We often add other client success stories to our B2B newsletter because not only does it help show off the work that our wonderful team does, it also helps inspire our other clients and gently reminds them of the services we offer.
- Driving traffic and conversions – want more visits to your website, downloads of your latest whitepaper, or sign-ups for an upcoming event? Your B2B newsletter can direct subscribers toward key actions with well-placed CTAs. In our opinion, all marketing materials should point back to your website, afterall, that should be the best place to convert new customers, offering the most information and opportunities to cross sell and upsell. Your visitor journey should be primed to take your newsletter visitors from one blog or landing page on a journey around your website to encourage conversions.
Who is your newsletter for?
Before you even think about sending out your B2B newsletter, the most important thing to tick off your list is confirming that you’re sending the right content to the right people. Knowing who your subscribers are and what is important to them will help you to shape your content and keep readers engaged.
Take the time to understand who is reading your newsletter; think about what their job position may be (i.e Marketing Managers, procurement teams, CEOs), consider what challenges they face and how your product or service might help them. Understand that they’re likely very busy people and bring them insights, solutions and valuable takeaways.
Where possible, segment your audience and send tailored content, breaking them down by industry, job role and the stage of the customer journey that they’re in. Consider whether they’re a new lead that needs regular information and social proof, or whether they’re an active client that might need nurture and cross sell or upsell opportunities.
Most email platforms (e.g MailChimp and CampaignMonitor) allow you to easily segment your lists. This will help you to send relevant content that is more likely to be opened and read.
Still not sure what your audience wants? Ask them! Engaging with your audience on social media, email, face to face, or in phone conversations are all great ways to ask them what they want to hear from you. Consider frequently asked questions and consult your engagement metrics to see what really interests them.
How to build your B2B newsletter subscriber list
Here at Browndog, we don’t focus on vanity metrics. It doesn’t matter how many people are on your subscriber list if they don’t actually read your newsletter. What’s really important is building your list the right way – with people who have signed up to read what you have to say and will regularly open and engage.
For that reason, we’re not a fan of buying lists. We understand it can be tempting, and it can have its place, but buying a list with thousands of contacts can sometimes do more harm than good. Purchased lists can lead to low engagement (they haven’t signed up in the first place, so why would they be interested?), high unsubscribe rates (leading to domain blacklisting and spam reports) and the potential legal risks of not following GDPR.
The conclusion is that having a smaller list of highly engaged readers far outweighs being able to tell your leadership team that you have thousands of newsletter subscribers.
So, what’s the best way to build your B2B newsletter subscribers without buying them?
- Using website sign-up forms – it’s incredibly rare that we build a website these days without having a newsletter sign-up placed firmly on the homepage. A simple form that tells people how they can hear more from you; whilst simultaneously ensuring that their data transfers directly into your MailChimp/CampaignMonitor account is essential.
Tip – be upfront with people who sign up to your newsletter. Tell them how frequently you’ll contact them and provide assurances that you won’t share their information or spam them regularly with sales-based content. - Incentivise your audience – I personally have given my data away countless times for the chance to win a spa day or a meal at a nice restaurant. Have I ever won? No. But do I still follow and regularly engage with the Yorkshire Food Guide? Absolutely. As a reader, they offer me value because they tell me about all the restaurants and hotels in the area that I might want to add to my list.
- Gated content – gated content is a polarising topic at the moment. Will you lose your audience if you demand something in return? That’s a blog for another day, but for now we’re including it in this list because asking for an email address in return for a valuable piece of content is another way to gain newsletter subscribers. Of course, you should always make sure you’re clear about what lists you’re adding new subscribers to and how often you’ll contact them, but if you’re providing something that they want, you can gain something too – a captivated reader.
Tip – websites will regularly put useful whitepapers, industry reports, guides and eBooks behind a ‘gate’ so that they can gain valuable data. Here’s a great blog on gated content to help you decide if it’s right for you. - Webinars and events – do you regularly host webinars or events? They’re an ideal way to build your newsletter audience. Encourage people to sign up in person, giving you the chance to explain why your newsletter is for them.
- Social media – one way that we share our newsletter outside of email marketing platforms is via LinkedIn. Using their newsletter feature, we’re able to share our content with additional subscribers, gaining extra engagement and opportunities for our content to be shared. We recommend directing visitors to sign up to your newsletter using a number of mediums, and social media is a great way to add to your list!
Create high-value content
If there’s one thing we talk about as much as possible, it’s producing high-value content. It’s great for customers, prospects and search engines. Often included within that message, is the importance of building trust and a great reputation for knowing what you’re talking about. People and search engines are looking for experts with years of experience to guide them and offer advice.
What most people aren’t looking for, is heavy selling. Keep that in mind when producing content for your newsletter. Choose educational and informative content over your desire to make a sale.
B2B newsletter content that typically works well includes industry insights and trends, case studies and success stories, thought leadership and expert hints and tips; occasional product updates and special offers.
Don’t forget, whatever content you create for your newsletter can be used elsewhere. Case studies, blogs, and thought leadership pieces should be published on your website and used to drive traffic there; you can also incorporate them into campaigns, documentation, brochures, etc.
As humans, by nature we like routine, and in newsletters this comes by way of regular scheduling and following a structured approach to your content. We find it helpful to have clearly identified sections for your readers to look forward to; consider having a product spotlight, customer voice section, team news and updates, and industry thoughts. Some newsletters have a regular quiz section or piece of trivia that readers can regularly look forward to; others have competitions and incentives. Find what works for you and your audience, and form your structure.
Tip: having that structure makes it much easier to plan your content each month!
Establish a consistent schedule
When it comes to buyers, it’s true that they spend most of their time in the research and information stage of the sales cycle. What this means for you as marketers is that you need to drive awareness so that when the buyer is ready to make a purchase, your brand is front of mind. You can do this by establishing a clear schedule of messaging that has your audience anticipating your email landing in their inbox. Some might even begin to look forward to it!
Establishing this schedule not only lets your reader know when to expect their monthly dose of insights, it also helps you plan and execute your content, holding you accountable each month because your subscriber list is relying on you!
We know some brands send weekly or bi-weekly newsletters; we personally prefer to share them monthly. Everyone is different, so it’s important to do your own research and establish how often your database would like to receive your updates; combining that with a realistic schedule for you/your team to create the content.
Timings – we recommend using your first few newsletters as a test to understand the best time to send. For instance, you might find that your audience is busy on a Monday morning and actually, Friday afternoons are a better time to send your newsletter. This is the kind of specific information that may only come from trial and error. However, MailChimp has identified that between 9-11am on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays is the best time to send B2B emails, so we’d start there!
Design formatting and best practice
Even the most valuable content can fall flat if your newsletter is a cluttered mess. Design and formatting play a crucial role in engagement after all, no one wants to squint at a wall of text or struggle to find the point! A clean, professional, and visually appealing newsletter keeps your audience reading and clicking.
Just like your website, the format of your newsletter should be easy to read and built with a mobile friendly, optimised design. The best way to do that, is through using preset templates in your email platform, or by working with a designer that specialises in digital communications.
Your B2B email newsletter should follow a clean layout with clear CTAs and elements that encourage the reader to continue. You should also pay attention to things like alt text and ensure you have subject lines and preview text.
Your newsletter should also fit perfectly with your brand, reinforcing recognition from your audience and contributing to trust signals. Make sure to use your brand colours, fonts and logos, following your brand guidelines as closely as possible within your chosen email platform.
Our best advice? Keep it simple. While a perfectly designed newsletter might look great to you, you cannot guarantee how it will be displayed on various devices, so you should make it as uniform and simple as possible. When it comes to images, many email service providers have settings that automatically block images, so, that alt text is really important; as is striking a balance between text and imagery.
Finally, make sure you have clear calls to action – each newsletter issue will serve a purpose and your readers should easily be able to tell what they need to do next. Do you want them to read a blog, visit your website, watch a video or sign up to an event? Try not to overwhelm your readers with too many choices, and always use the opportunity to direct people back to your website (just make sure it’s set up for a well-optimised user journey).
How can you see if your design style is working? Audience preferences are constantly evolving, so your email design shouldn’t be a ‘one and done’. Use A/B testing to trial different layouts, button styles, image placements, subject lines etc, to see what resonates best with your specific audience.
Tip: always get someone else to proofread your newsletter before pressing send. Test, test and test again so that you don’t have to send any embarrassing apology emails!
Measure your performance
Hitting send on your newsletter shouldn’t be the end of your monthly process – most email marketing platforms offer a plethora of ways to track its performance. The best B2B newsletters evolve by understanding the metrics and implementing updates as needed. Here’s some key metrics to understand:
- Open rate – how many recipients have opened your email. Keep in mind that some email service providers allow readers to view content in a preview, so this doesn’t always register as a verified open. If you find you’re experiencing a low open rate, try refining your subject lines, adjusting your send time and changing up the ‘from’ name. We often find that readers are more likely to open emails from a named contact than a generic mailbox.
Note: according to HubSpot, a good open rate for a B2B newsletter is generally considered to be between 20% and 30%, depending on industry, size, and email list. - Click through rate (CTR) – this is the percentage of readers that have clicked links in your email. A low CTR suggests your content may need some improvement, or your CTAs aren’t well signposted enough.
Note: according to CampaignMonitor, a good CTR should be between 2-5%, depending on your industry. We always encourage you to research your specific industry for benchmarking purposes! - Unsubscribe rate – a real blow to the heart of any marketers writing a newsletter, but let it be a warning to you to be diligent about who you email and the content you provide. This is how many people are opting out of your emails. You only get one shot, as once that unsubscribe button has been pressed, you can no longer email that contact. A high unsubscribe rate means you’re talking to people who haven’t shown a clear interest in your product/service/brand so check your email lists. You could also be sending content too frequently or not having a clear purpose. This is a rate to really watch out for!
Note: you need to keep your unsubscribe rate below 1% (ideally 0.2-0.5%) as anything higher could see you get blacklisted. - Bounce rate – another warning sign that you haven’t properly vetted your subscriber list – the bounce rate can be a sign that email addresses are incorrect, or unused. Sometimes, you might experience a soft bounce, where an email address is still valid but their server is having difficulty accessing your email – don’t worry too much about these. However, if you see a pattern of high bounce rates, you know your list needs to be reviewed quickly. Try to maintain a bounce rate below 2%.
What does a good newsletter look like?
The answer to this question is highly subjective, so instead of reeling off lists of what we think you could include, we’ve asked some of our team to share their favourite newsletters and their best piece of advice.
Alexis Bradbury, Strategy Director
As owner and director at Browndog, Alexis has over 25 years of marketing experience, working with businesses of all sizes, at all communication levels.
Favourite newsletter – Prolific North, which is a daily marketing industry newsletter for the North of the country, giving updates on contracts, people and trends.
Best tip for creating the perfect newsletter – Break down your content into bite-sized chunks, so people can get the gist even if they don’t want to click through to read more.
Eleanor Firth – Project Manager
Eleanor is our talented project manager and experienced digital marketer. She has valuable, in-depth knowledge of digital marketing tactics and often builds newsletters and advises on content for our clients. She’s our go-to for tracking and analytics, device optimisation and generally understanding if a style will work!
Favourite newsletter – I’m signed up to very few email newsletters, those I do get are from mainly shopping and food companies I have accounts with, so I’d have to say – solely for interactivity, dev features and uniqueness – McDonald’s.
Best tip for creating the perfect newsletter – Keep the design and structure as on brand as possible and don’t change it too much month to month. Consistency is key.
Megan Bradbury – Content Writer
Meg has a wealth of knowledge in effective content writing, making her an essential part of our email marketing process. Captivating readers with engaging content that converts is her specialty.
Favourite newsletter – Admittedly, I don’t sign up to many newsletters, other than our own and our clients’. I do sign up for promotions from my favourite restaurants, such as Miller and Carter, as I love getting deals and birthday treats from them that make me feel that little bit special!
Best tip for creating the perfect newsletter – There are many factors that must be considered when creating the perfect newsletter for your business and customers. However, what remains true for all is that consistency is important! It builds a stronger relationship between yourself and your readers (and also if you’d like to make your reader feel special, exclusive deals are always well received!)
Laura Dean – Head of Marketing
Laura (author of this blog) is responsible for making sure the Browndog newsletter gets to our readers each month. She started her marketing career in an assistant role, taking charge of all email communications, social media and exhibitions. She has sent hundreds of email campaigns and newsletters over the course of the last two decades and sees them as an essential marketing tactic.
Favourite newsletter – I’m a big fan of Morning Brew, a New York based publisher that shares daily updates on the various goings on in the world. Although it is heavily focused on American news, I enjoy its defined sections and casual tone of voice. I particularly like that towards the end, there is always a quiz or trivia question that I often share with the team.
Best tip for creating the perfect newsletter – find a formula that is easy to follow and easy to replicate. Keep it simple – something like 1 x client update/case study, 1 x team update, 1 x industry insight, 1 x guide or blog.
Create your successful B2B newsletter…
You’ve reached the end of this blog – thank you for taking the time to read it and we hope it was useful! Now, it’s time to go away and put what you’ve read into practice. Try to keep in mind that a successful B2B newsletter won’t happen overnight, but it won’t happen at all if you don’t get started. Start small, stay consistent and refine as you go.
