The Newsletter Template That Works and Keeps You Consistent
Consistency in email marketing doesn’t come from motivation. It comes from structure. If you’ve ever sat down to write a newsletter and thought, “What do I even say?”, you don’t have a content problem.
You have a system problem. Building a system that works for you is the hard part, but once you have it, it can become a well oiled machine. Read on to find out how I built mine.
Start With Monthly Content Pillars
Instead of reinventing the wheel each week, define 1 overarching pillar per month. This can be something you grab from AI (prompt: “give me 12 pillars that relate to my {insert niche and industry}”, something you base on SEO research, or even something you may already talk about regularly.
For example I have:
- Branding
- Technology and Tools
- Customer Experience
- Business Growth
All of these relate to something I work with my clients on, so it is something I already get questions on and/or talk to my clients regularly about. From there I use the broad topic a month and am no longer guessing, I am rotating.
Create a Planning Period
The most overlooked step is planning.
Set aside time each month to:
- Brainstorm ideas
- Assign topics to each week
- Outline key points
This can be a solo session with coffee and a notebook, a structured planning block in your calendar or a meeting with your teammate. My planning period is a monthly zoom (all preset for the entire year) with my marketing coordinator to brainstorm ideas for our newsletter toppers (the note at the top) and the article topics. We base all the article topics around the monthly main pillars. From this small move, it becomes a lot easier to search keywords, reddit threads, my own brain from client interactions or social media for what people are asking relating to the pillars.
When you plan ahead, execution becomes easy.
Batch Your Content
After planning it goes into a template sheet like this, to keep everything organized. (Go ahead and copy ours 😉) Your monthly topic goes where it says “Overall Monthly Pillar”, then you set your brainstormed articles/podcasts and toppers in their spots. In other sections I gave you our little additional categories we use to add different value to the newsletters but feel free to change it up.
Then instead of writing one email at a time, batch them. You can put together 2-4 in one sitting to keep your messaging consistent as well as make the most of your time management because you stay in the same thought process.
Plug into Newsletter
Your newsletter (emails with your content sent to your email subscribers) doesn’t need to be complicated.
A strong structure could look like:
- Topper (a relatable or engaging opening)
- Value (article, podcast, etc. that links back to your site)
- CTA (next step: read, reply, listen)
- Bonus: add a fun section (books, news, tools, etc.)
Using the same structure each time because it will save you time and it helps build familiarity with your readers.
A strong newsletter strategy isn’t about writing better emails. It’s about building a system that makes writing easier. You remove the friction of always coming up with ideas, and when friction is removed, consistency follows.
Remember: a newsletter is great for building community and relationships.
