Employee Newsletter Examples: The 5 Tips That Really Work

Looking for employee newsletter examples? Searching out ways to improve your company’s bulletins? Discover 5 newsletter tips that will take your publications to the next level.

Employee newsletter examples can be found online, but they seldom come with tips you can use to make them actually work. And the fact of the matter is, if used properly, employee newsletters can be an extremely effective tool for Employee Communication.

In this blog post, we’ll show examples of different kinds of newsletter content, accompanied by concrete steps you can take to get the most out of your organization’s employee dispatches. Which will lead to more employee commitment and an informed workforce.

What do you write in a company newsletter?

There are no strict rules about what can go into an internal company newsletter —in effect, you can include anything you want. However, that doesn’t mean it will necessarily work by grabbing your employees’ attention and informing them of what they need to know. It doesn’t mean it will be interesting for employees, or that they’ll be excited to see it in their inbox.

Here’s the story: for decades, employee newsletters were printed on paper, distributed at the entrance of an office, or sent to the employee’s home. They were like newspapers, with headlines, different sections, and sometimes even a crossword puzzle or two for fun. This went on for decades.

But then email came along in the late 1990s and changed how newsletters were made, delivered, and read.

Which in some ways did make things easier—no printing costs, easier production, seamless delivery. But there was also a problem: workers were already getting too many emails, meaning these virtual newsletter emails were often getting lost in an overflowing inbox.

And then there is also the problem of relevance. For many workers, part or all of the information contained just doesn’t pertain to them.

Why would a frontline worker in a factory need to know about staff changes in the marketing office in another country? Or vice versa? Much of what was going into email newsletters just wasn’t interesting to the average worker.

Which presented, and continues to present, a challenge: how can communications departments ensure that the newsletters they send are opened and read? How can they be sure that the information they contain is relevant and interesting to their entire workforce?

The following employee newsletter examples will help make all of this more clear. And if you want to know more, you can read this full guide on internal communication in an organization.

How do I write an internal corporate newsletter? Some employee newsletter examples.

So you want to write an internal corporate newsletter. One that will be opened and read by all. But how can you make sure that happens? What can you do to create something that the workforce will become immersed in?

Here are a few tips to ensure that your newsletter is read, and we guarantee that they work. How do we know? Because at Sociabble, we’ve worked with dozens of clients who’ve put them into place and seen the results.

Tip #1: Segment your audience

This is especially true for international companies with global and local communication streams. It’s important to filter the information flow. Why?

So relevance and clarity will be maintained, no matter where the employee is located or what they do. Therefore, an effective newsletter needs to be targeted by audience. This could mean segmenting by multiple parameters, like by department, location, responsibility level, specific task allotment, or even by interest.

You could, for example, categorize it by people who work the late shift, people who have children, people who commute to work—the sky’s the limit. Employees should receive the version of the newsletter that is most relevant to them.

And language is a consideration as well. A dynamic virtual newsletter will ideally have language translation capabilities and should smoothly transition between global content in English and local content in other languages.

With the Sociabble communication platform, for example, admins have the ability to create newsletters that can target one or more groups, or the entire company. You can ensure that employees are receiving  an email with  the newsletter that is most pertinent to their needs.

And it has a language capability that allows for instant translation in over 60 languages, meaning employees will receive news they can understand, no matter where they are located.

Tip #2: Segment your content

Some content is obviously going to be useful for everyone at your organization—there is news that affects everybody. But other information isn’t universal. For example, an important announcement from the CEO concerns all employees.

But the arrival of a new manager at the purchasing department does not, unless you actually work in the purchasing department. And if new purchasing legislation is implemented in the US, it may not interest you unless you work in purchasing and in the US both.

So what does this mean? It means that in addition to segmenting your audience for optimal relevance, you also need to segment the information itself. In effect, that may mean categorizing each piece of content. In fact, a piece of content can be assigned to several categories at once: for example, if a commercial offer is launched on a drink that is marketed worldwide, but is only valid in England and the Netherlands, the ad can be categorized in the “product” category and in the England and Netherlands categories.

This will make the advert relevant to salespeople working on the drink in question, but only in these two countries. Thus, segmentation and targeting achieve the aim of increasing relevance.

Tip #3: Combine audience and content segmentation to create custom newsletters

Once both audience and content have been custom-segmented, it’s just a question of cross-referencing the data and sending a relevant newsletter. To accomplish this, you need a communication platform that has the capability to create dynamic newsletters according to these criteria.

With Sociabble, admins can easily use pre-existing templates to create newsletters that are dynamic and tailored toward each individual recipient. You can automate mailings, so they are sent at regular intervals, or even arrange the sending by time zones. Sociabble makes it simple—practically effortless—to send relevant, engaging newsletters that employees will want to open and read.

As for benefits, the employees will be better informed, more engaged, and better equipped to perform their daily tasks. Job satisfaction and performance will also increase, as they feel like they’re part of the company, and connected to everything that’s happening within it.

Tip #4: Be clear and make them fun

We know newsletters often get lost in the email inbox, so make the purpose and sender clear. The employee needs to understand immediately what they are opening and who it is from (and ask yourself: would you open an email with a vague subject line from “the communications department”?). These elements should be customizable, as they are with Sociabble.

Once you’ve done that, you also need to ensure that the newsletter is as fun and visually appealing as possible. A long, unbroken block of text doesn’t appeal to anyone. Add a little spice, a little color! First, that means branding your newsletter with company colors, logos, etc. You can even customize the appearance for special occasions, like holidays or big events.

Second, back it up with strong images as part of the content. Infographics, emojis, fun pictures from office life—include them! Try to make the reading of a newsletter a fun pause in the day, something employees can look forward to as part of their coffee break, lunch hour or any free time.

And lastly, be interactive. Include external links, videos they can watch, websites they can visit, and yes, even include online surveys! With Sociabble, for example, it’s simple to create employee surveys that employees can answer about company life, areas for improvement, or just fun feedback about what’s going on around the office (i.e. where should we have the holiday party this year?). You can even use surveys to test that knowledge from previous newsletters was read and understood.

Be friendly, and be warm. Tone matters. Talk to employees like people you care about, not automatons or robots. They’ll be more inclined to read the newsletter, and to remember what it says.

Tip #5: Measure and adjust

Open rates and retention—that’s what companies are looking for. You want to make sure employees are opening the newsletter, first of all, but also reading and absorbing what it has to say. What’s the purpose of sending newsletters if they’re not being opened, absorbed, and remembered?

Sociabble is the best way to achieve this, as we offer a full analytics package to keep track of how effectively your newsletters are performing. You can keep tabs on open rates, unique open rates, clicks, and unique click rates.

Also, you can segment all relevant data by department, geographic region, or any other category you choose, and that may be useful for the company. Moreover, you can even monitor what times the newsletters are being opened, and on which kinds of devices.

This information is important, because you can use it to optimize your sending strategy. If newsletters have the highest open rates between 10am and 11am, then you can automatically set the platform to distribute them at that time, thus optimizing your success

Great internal newsletter ideas

These tips will certainly help, but let’s not forget—content matters. Your goal is to get people reading, and having strong content will do just that. After all, you have to fill up all that blank space with interesting material for the reader.

So what kinds of content should you include, to keep employees interested and engaged with their newsletter? What are the golden topics that work? Here are a few ideas and employee newsletter examples that you might find helpful when it comes to putting together a winning publication.

Employee newsletter example: Leadership messages

Much anticipated and great for both transmitting information and boosting morale, these are key moments in company life.

Newsletters can include a written message directly from the CEO, but they can also be used to inform about an upcoming event or announcement coming from top leadership. Embedded videos are also something to consider.

Team and staff news

These kinds of updates are great for building team spirit and a sense of belonging. They can use a casual tone, and include anything like fun moments outside work (happy hours, holiday parties, etc.), fun facts about employees, birthdays, recognition of achievements, recognizing team members’ accomplishments, or just special moments in company life.

People love to be included and recognized in these kinds of sections, and it’s a great opportunity to share group pictures, especially from events.

Company life

This can include events inside or outside the company that relate to the brand at large, from financial results to big mentions in the media, to milestone anniversaries in the company’s history. If the company makes the news, it’s worth mentioning!

Doing so can enhance the sense of pride employees feel for working at such a well-regarded and newsworthy organization. Did your company just win an award or receive recognition? This is the place to highlight it!

By reinventing its internal communications, Edenred used various channels including the newsletter, which was deployed to send out a digest of the company’s most important communications. Read the full case study of Edenred.

An example of company newsletter: HR news

New hires, open positions, changes in policy—having an HR-devoted section will create a space to share this kind of information. And employees want to know what’s going on in the Human Resources sphere.

Some of them will be thrilled to learn about job openings they might be able to apply for, or that they can tell their qualified friends about. And everyone likes to learn a little more about the new person in accounting, or the interns who they are passing in the hall. What better place to spread the news and introduce the fresh hires?

Business newsletter

This is the place for case studies and client stories, as well as competitive news and market trends. But product plays a role as well—any new launches or campaigns can be broached here.

Essentially, this is the place for discussing what’s going on in the market, and how the company is reacting to any changes in the ecosystem.

Employees want to know that their daily actions have a bigger impact, and this is a way to demonstrate that. Show them that what they do is actually helping to steer the company in the right direction.

Sociabble for easy and modern newsletters

Yes, newsletters are as important as ever when it comes to Employee Communication. And yes, by following the tips above, you can enhance your newsletters to make them more effective, and to really get your workforce engaged. And if you want to make it even easier, we can help!

Sociabble is an easy-to-use communication platform designed to create employees who are informed, engaged, and influential. It has a comprehensive newsletter engine built in, and it allows you to manage targeted communications at both a local and global level, no matter the size of your organization.

Sociabble is the only platform on the market that offers a total package of Employee Communication features. This includes our signature dynamic newsletter generator, that comes complete with templates, segmentation options, notifications, and analytics, so you know if the newsletters are being opened and read. Discover our employee newsletter feature.

Sociabble comes backed up with expert consulting, launch assistance, training, and CSM support. We’ve already helped industry leaders like Coca-Cola CCEP, Primark, and L’Occitane perfect their communications and advocacy, and we’re always happy to chat.

Want to learn more about how Sociabble can improve your newsletters and enhance your internal communication? Drop us a line to schedule a personalized demo today!