Email newsletters. Most of them suck.
And I mean that. Open your inbox right now. Count how many newsletters you actually look forward to reading. For inspiration, see our newsletter template examples and fresh newsletter ideas.
Probably two or three, max.
The rest? Delete. Archive. Ignore. Maybe an aggressive unsubscribe if they've been particularly annoying.
Here's the thing. The newsletters that work, the ones you actually open, they're not doing anything magical. They're just following a handful of principles that most people ignore.
So let's fix yours.
1. Segment Your List (Stop Blasting Everyone)
Sending the same email to your entire list is lazy. It's also hurting your results.
Think about it. Your new subscriber who signed up yesterday doesn't need the same message as your customer who's bought from you five times. They're in completely different places.
Segmentation just means grouping people by what they have in common. Location. Purchase history. How they signed up. What they've clicked on before.
Netflix does this. Amazon does this. Every email you get from them feels weirdly relevant because it is. They know what you watched. They know what you bought. They use that.
You can too.
Start simple. Create two segments: new subscribers and everyone else. Send your new folks a welcome sequence. Send your regulars your normal content. Just that one split will boost your engagement.
(If you want to go deeper on building a quality list first, check out our guide on building a targeted email list that converts.)
2. Design for Mobile First
More than half your subscribers are reading on their phone.
If your email looks like garbage on a small screen, they're not pinching and zooming to figure it out. They're closing it. Gone.
Single-column layout. Big fonts. Buttons you can actually tap with a thumb (at least 44x44 pixels, for the nerds out there).
This isn't about fancy design. It's about not making your reader work.
Airbnb and Starbucks nail this. Clean. Simple. One column. Big buttons. Easy to scan while you're waiting in line for coffee.
Test every email on your phone before you send it. Every single time.
3. Write Subject Lines That Earn the Open
Your subject line is your first impression. Maybe your only impression.
If it's boring, nobody's clicking. All that work you put into the email body? Wasted.
Good subject lines are specific. They use numbers when it makes sense. They create just enough curiosity to get the click without being clickbait garbage.
Bad: "Tips for your morning"
Good: "5 ways to fix your morning routine (number 3 changed everything)"
Keep it short. Under 50 characters is the sweet spot because anything longer gets cut off on mobile.
And for the love of all things holy, don't use all caps or a million exclamation points. That's how you end up in spam.
4. Make Your CTA Impossible to Miss
Every email needs a job. One job.
What do you want people to do after reading? Click a link? Buy something? Reply?
Whatever it is, make that action obvious. Your call-to-action button should pop off the screen. Different color from the background. Big enough to tap. Above the fold so people see it without scrolling.
"Click Here" is weak. "Get Your Free Template" is better. "Start My 30-Day Trial" is even better because it uses first person.
One primary CTA per email. Not three. Not five. One.
5. Send on a Schedule
Random emails at random times train your subscribers to ignore you.
Consistent emails at predictable times train them to expect you.
The Skimm lands in inboxes every weekday morning. Their readers expect it. They look for it. It's part of their routine.
You probably don't need to email daily. But pick a day. Pick a time. Stick to it.
Tuesday through Thursday tends to work well for most businesses. But test it with your audience. What works for a B2B software company isn't going to work for a DTC fashion brand.
The point is consistency. Show up when you say you will.
6. Clean Your List Regularly
Sending emails to dead addresses hurts you in ways you can't see.
Every bounce, every ignored email, every spam complaint, it all damages your sender reputation. And when your sender reputation tanks, even your engaged subscribers stop getting your emails.
Double opt-in helps. It makes sure new subscribers actually want to be there.
For your existing list, run a re-engagement campaign every few months. Send an email to people who haven't opened in 60 or 90 days. Ask if they still want to hear from you.
If they don't respond? Remove them.
It feels counterintuitive to shrink your list. But a smaller, engaged list will outperform a big, dead one every single time.
7. Actually Deliver Value
This is where most newsletters fail completely.
They're either all promotion (buy this, buy that, sale sale sale) or they're so boring and generic they might as well be written by a chatbot.
Your newsletter should make your subscriber's life better in some small way. Every single issue.
Give them something useful. A tip they can apply today. An insight they hadn't considered. A story that entertains them for three minutes.
The 80/20 rule works here. 80% value, 20% promotion. If you're flipping that ratio, you're going to bleed subscribers.
Think about the newsletters you love. They teach you things. They make you smarter. They respect your time.
Be that newsletter.
8. Test Everything
Guessing is for amateurs. Data is for professionals.
A/B testing means sending two versions of something to small groups, seeing which performs better, then sending the winner to everyone else.
Start with subject lines. That's where you'll see the biggest impact.
Then test send times. CTA button text. Email length. Different types of content.
Change one thing at a time. If you change the subject line AND the send time AND the CTA, you have no idea what caused the difference.
Keep a log of what you've tested and what you learned. Over time, you'll build a playbook that's specific to your audience.
(For more on what to measure, check out the key email marketing metrics to track.)
9. Get Your Technical Setup Right
This is the boring stuff that makes everything else possible.
SPF, DKIM, DMARC. These are email authentication protocols that prove to Gmail and Outlook that you're a legitimate sender, not a spammer.
If you don't have these set up, you're fighting an uphill battle. Your emails are more likely to hit spam. Your deliverability suffers.
Most email platforms walk you through this. It takes maybe 30 minutes to set up properly. But the impact lasts forever.
Also: always include your physical address and an unsubscribe link. It's the law. And it's the right thing to do.
10. Sound Like a Human
Corporate speak is a disease.
"We are pleased to announce" and "pursuant to your inquiry" and "at the end of the day" and all that garbage, it makes people's eyes glaze over.
Write like you talk. Short sentences. Real words. Personality.
Read your email out loud before you send it. If it sounds like something a robot wrote for a board meeting, rewrite it.
The best newsletters feel like a note from a friend. Someone who knows their stuff but doesn't take themselves too seriously.
That's the voice you want.
Quick Reference
| Practice | Why It Matters | Quick Win |
|---|---|---|
| Segment your list | Right message to right people | Split new vs. existing subscribers |
| Mobile-first design | Most opens happen on phones | Single column, big buttons |
| Strong subject lines | Controls your open rate | Use numbers, keep under 50 chars |
| Clear CTA | Tells people what to do | One button, action-oriented text |
| Consistent schedule | Builds reader habit | Pick one day, stick to it |
| Clean your list | Protects sender reputation | Run quarterly re-engagement |
| Deliver value | Why people stay subscribed | 80% value, 20% promotion |
| Test everything | Data beats guessing | Start with subject line A/B tests |
| Technical setup | Gets you into the inbox | Set up SPF, DKIM, DMARC |
| Sound human | Builds connection | Read it out loud before sending |
What To Do Now
Pick one thing from this list. Not all ten. One.
If you're not segmenting at all, start there. If your subject lines are weak, focus on that.
Make one change. See what happens. Then pick the next thing.
Email newsletters aren't complicated. They just require you to actually care about your reader's experience.
Do that, and you'll be ahead of 90% of the newsletters out there.
Need help turning your newsletter into a real revenue channel? The team at Inbox Connect builds email systems that actually work. Book a free 30-minute audit and we'll show you exactly where to start.