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How To Create a Constant Flow of Email Newsletter Content Ideas
Create engaging content ideas on the fly
Linda Hwang & Lauren Haas
January 17th, 2023
Table of Contents
Do you worry that you'll run out of engaging content ideas for your email newsletter?
You're not alone. Many creators need help generating fresh content ideas that readers will appreciate continuously.
But don't worry — we've got your back! Here are ten content ideas to draw on and a system to keep those ideas flowing!
Email Marketing Content Ideas: Getting Started
Before we get to the list of topics, let's set up a system that will help each idea generate tons of content for you and keep working into the future.
The system is a content rubric or grid. You'll put the content ideas that suit your business across the top of the page and list your business pillars on the left.
What is a business pillar? It's a broad category of services you offer or a list segment that you focus on. When it comes to content ideas for email newsletters, these will give you the framework and direction to get started — and keep going!
To illustrate the concept, let's use a familiar business model as an example – a grocery store. The grocery store might define its pillars according to its bestselling merchandise – produce, meats, baked goods, and deli.
But the same store could also define its business pillars by the market segments it serves (which might match its email list segments as well) – families, budget shoppers, cooking hobbyists, and organic eaters.
Now that your business pillars are defined, you'll add content categories across the top of your rubric. But first, let's look at some content categories that can produce an abundance of stories.
These ten content areas can help you create endless amounts of engaging content for your readers. Not all ideas are relevant to all businesses — choose the ones that work best for you.
1) Solve Your Readers’ Problems
This one's a no-brainer — readers will flock to the stories that give them solutions they can use immediately. Think problem/solution scenarios, tutorials, how-to guides, Q&As, and more.
The founders of Thrive25, Ryan Schneider and Max Schlather, noticed that while there was abundant information on health and longevity, there needed to be a platform that could filter out inaccurate information and present it in a simplified way with science-based facts.
They formed the newsletter Thrive25 to address this gap, which focuses on nine crucial elements contributing to health and longevity, including mindset, nutrition, movement, growth, sleep, connection, fun, environment, and science.
Thrive25 is a comprehensive platform dedicated to promoting health and longevity. This innovative resource simplifies complex scientific concepts, making it easier for individuals to make informed decisions about their health and lifestyle.
Some examples for different industries:
Personal Finance Newsletter: Tips for budgeting, saving money, and reducing debt
City Guide Newsletter: Ideas for creating a great staycation, rush-hour strategies, and downtown parking solutions
Home Improvement Newsletter: DIY projects, home decorating ideas, and energy-saving tips
Dating Lifestyle Newsletter: What to talk about on a first date and how to include controversial things in your profile
2) Tell a Customer or Client's Story
Stories are powerful. You could feature someone successfully using your products or services, talk about their experience, and pull in the lessons they learned along the way. To keep readers engaged, focus on elements of the story that are useful to them — understanding how someone else solved a problem or achieved a goal can be inspiring and instructional!
Saeed Ezzati is an engineer who turned his passion for Artificial Intelligence (AI) into a successful business.
He is the mastermind behind the Superpower ChatGPT extension and the Superpower Daily newsletter.
Saeed's audience loved his newsletter, but some wanted to avoid installing the extension to access it. So Saeed decided to look for an alternative platform to publish his newsletters, and that's when he discovered beehiiv.
Saeed initially aimed to earn enough money to spend more time building his extension. But with beehiiv, he found a platform that enabled him to monetize his newsletters and generate a substantial income. Today, his beehiiv newsletter earns him between $100,000 and $150,000 annually.
Saeed's success story is unique in that he didn't follow the traditional route of building and monetizing an audience. Instead, he simultaneously created his extension and newsletter and pushed them out together. This approach allowed him to make a loyal readership and helped him generate significant revenue.
Saeed's story is an excellent example of how a simple idea can become a successful business with the right mindset, determination, and platform.
For instance:
Software Company Newsletter: Feature a customer who struggled with data analysis before buying the software and how it changed their business.
Real Estate Agency Newsletter: Share stories about clients successfully navigating through the home-buying process.
Travel Agency Newsletter: Talk about customers' experiences in different cities, from pre-trip planning to post-trip reflections.
3) Invite a Guest Blogger
If you don't have the capacity to produce content yourself, why not invite a particular guest blogger? Your vendors are a great place to find guest blog content. Ask them to write about a topic within their expertise that is relevant to your business pillars. You could also ask your senior staff or contractors to write about specific issues.
That might look like:
Financial Newsletter: Ask a financial planner to write about the pros and cons of creating an emergency fund.
Restaurant Newsletter: Invite a local food critic to share their thoughts about the restaurant's signature dishes.
Home Decor Newsletter: Ask a designer for tips on how to create cozy spaces on a budget.
Keeping your readers up-to-date on the latest industry news and trends is a great way to establish your business as an expert. You can share stories, reports, and updates relevant to your business pillars — this content will keep your readers informed and engaged.
Regularly sharing relevant updates shows your audience that you're not only on top of the latest developments but also invested in helping them stay informed. This fosters loyalty and positions your brand as a go-to resource in your field. This is an excellent content marketing strategy!
Sharing industry news and trends is beneficial for businesses of all sizes. Establishing credibility and attracting a loyal following is a cost-effective way for small companies. For larger companies, it reinforces their authority and keeps them connected with their audience's needs and interests.
Ultimately, this strategy helps engage and retain your current audience and attracts new customers, driving overall business growth.
Examples:
Healthcare Newsletter: News about breakthroughs in healthcare and health policy updates
E-commerce Newsletter: Latest trends in online shopping and e-commerce services
Car Enthusiast Newsletter: Automotive industry news, safety recalls, and maintenance tips
5) Promote Special Offers
Don't forget to use your email newsletter to promote special offers, sales, and discounts. This content is perfect for both existing customers and prospects, so it's sure to be a hit with readers.
For instance:
Cosmetics Newsletter: Promote a special discount for holiday gifts and seasonal collections.
Spa Newsletter: Offer a free upgrade to existing customers who book an appointment in the next month.
Retail Store Newsletter: Introduce a new rewards program with discounts on select items.
6) Create Quizzes or Contests
Keep your readers entertained and interacting with you by creating quizzes or contests. This content can be incredibly engaging and will make your readers want to come back to discover the results. If you decide to offer a contest, you could give away products, discounts, or gift certificates as prizes (which is also a great way to get samples in people’s hands).
These activities can also provide valuable insights into your audience's preferences and behaviors, which can inform future marketing strategies.
To make these activities effective, aligning them with your brand and audience interests is crucial. Ensure that the content is relevant, engaging, and valuable -- be it entertainment or the chance to win a prize. Keep the participation process simple and user-friendly to encourage more people to join.
Getting feedback from your audience is equally important. It gives you an understanding of what works and what doesn't and makes your audience feel valued and heard. You can gather feedback through follow-up surveys or ask participants to share their thoughts and experiences.
When used strategically, surveys, quizzes, polls, and contests can enhance your brand image, deepen audience engagement, and provide valuable data for business growth.
Some examples include:
Entertainment Newsletter: Create a poll asking readers which movie they're most excited to see this summer.
Fashion Newsletter: Ask readers to submit their favorite looks and create a contest for the best style.
Sports Team Newsletter: Have fans vote on which player should be featured in an upcoming interview.
Tips and tricks content keeps readers coming back for more. Give them the insider scoop on how to get the most out of your products or services or offer advice on best practices in the industry — they'll appreciate it!
Sharing tips and tricks is an effective content marketing strategy that can benefit businesses in numerous ways.
Provide valuable, practical information to your audience, which can help solve their problems or improve their lives. This attracts more traffic to your website or social media platforms and builds trust with your audience. People appreciate brands that offer real value beyond their products or services.
Sharing tips and tricks is also excellent evergreen content, meaning it stays relevant for a long time. This gives it a longer shelf-life than news articles or trend-based content, providing continuous value and attracting traffic over an extended period.
For instance:
Marketing Newsletter: Share tips on how to create a successful content strategy.
Homeowner Newsletter: Offer advice on the best ways to maintain home appliances.
Tech Newsletter: Provide hacks and tricks for using new products or services.
8) Create How-Tos
How-to's are a great content type for email newsletters. Think videos, tutorials, and step-by-step instructions — all designed to help readers understand how to use your products and services or solve a problem related to them.
Examples:
Photography Newsletter: Create how-to videos on the basics of using a particular software.
Gardening Newsletter: Share step-by-step instructions on creating a flower bed or garden.
Pet Grooming Newsletter: Offer tutorials on grooming techniques for different breeds.
9) Include Seasonal Content
It's always a good idea to include seasonal content in your email newsletters. Not only will it keep your readers engaged and entertained, but it can also be used to promote special offers or sales related to upcoming holidays or events.
Seasonal content examples:
Home Decor Newsletter: Share tips on how to do holiday decor on a budget.
Travel Newsletter: Offer discounts for booking trips over holiday weekends.
Food and Beverage Newsletter: Feature recipes or dishes related to the season.
10) Top 10 Lists
Compiling lists of the top items relative to your industry, business pillars, or readers is sure to draw attention. (You're reading one right now!)
Top 10 lists are a powerful tool in content marketing for several reasons. They cater to our human tendency to categorize and rank information, making it more digestible and memorable. This format simplifies complex topics into bite-sized, easily understandable pieces, making your content more accessible to a broader audience.
Top 10 lists inherently promise value -- readers know upfront that they'll get multiple insights or recommendations in one place. This can attract more clicks and shares, increasing your reach and visibility.
Offering unique insights or perspectives is essential to make your company’s top 10 lists stand out. Don't just rehash common knowledge -- dig deeper to provide new, valuable information that your audience can't easily find elsewhere.
Some examples across different verticals:
Outdoor Adventure Newsletter: Create a list of the top 10 outdoor activities for summer.
Health and Wellness Newsletter: Share a list of the top 10 healthiest snacks.
Automotive Newsletter: Feature the top 10 cars of the year.
Try experimenting with different content types and see what works best for your business. Be sure to measure every kind of content's engagement, so you know what's working and what isn't.
Get Your Creative Juices Flowing Around Email Content Ideas
Once you have a list of topic categories that work for your business, you're ready to generate ideas.
Go back to your grid with your pillars on the left and add some content categories across the top. You can add some categories that are specific to your audience and expertise or take all your ideas straight from our top ten list. Then, fill in the squares with ideas!
If you start with 4 business pillars and 5 content areas, you'll generate 20 email newsletter content ideas that you can use for your subsequent campaigns. Then, when you've used all those, you can easily develop 20 more just by reusing the same grid.
For example, let's assume the grocery store in our example wants to publish a newsletter for its customers. If they're using pillars based on merchandise, their grid might look like this:
On the other hand, if they choose to use their market segments as pillars, their grid would look like this:
As you can see, adding more content ideas across the top will exponentially increase the possibilities, and the same grid can be reused to generate a fresh batch of ideas as often as you'd like.
Recycling Email Content Ideas
Although you want to give your readers fresh and updated content, recycling old ideas can help you get the most out of them. For example, you can repurpose email newsletter content in different formats or update it with new information.
The most obvious example of repurposing content is rewriting it for different audience segments. For instance, if our grocery store sends a separate newsletter to each audience segment, they can rewrite something like "How To Keep Your Produce Fresh Longer" for each audience.
The same research can be tweaked to be relevant to families, budget-conscious consumers, gourmet cooks, or organic eaters.
But you don't have to be writing for separate audiences to repurpose your content. You can also package the same content in different formats, using the ten categories above or some of your own.
For example, let’s say a financial planning newsletter has put in a lot of work to create content about balancing portfolios for each stage of life. That research, structure, and some of the graphics could be recycled later into pieces such as:
Reader Solution: How To Balance Your Portfolio
Client Story: How One Family Found the Perfect Balance
Guest Blogger: (Bond Fund Manager) Why 20% of Your Retirement Should Be in Bonds
Industry News: Emerging Trends in Portfolio Management
Special Offer: Free Consultation To Review Your Portfolio
Quiz: Which Portfolio Is Right for You?
Tips and Tricks: 5 Tips for Reducing Your Market Exposure
How To: How To Create a Winning Portfolio
Seasonal: Should You Adjust Your Portfolio for the New Year?
Top Ten List: Top Ten Portfolios the Experts Love
Of course, you wouldn't want to run all of these stories back to back, but you can continue to revisit perennial topics over a period of months or even years.
Finally, keep in mind that you can update the same article later with new information and trends. This is a great way to keep your content fresh and relevant over time.
You can also experiment with putting your existing content into new formats, like videos or infographics.
Closing Thoughts on Content Ideas for Email Marketing
Generating a constant stream of email newsletter content ideas can sometimes feel challenging, especially if you're just starting out, but utilizing the grid system and recycling your content in different formats can help you get the most out of your ideas.
The ten content areas we've discussed, ranging from solving reader issues to special offers and quizzes, can help you create engaging and entertaining content. With a bit of creativity and experimentation, you'll have a continuous flow of content that your readers will love.
beehiiv offers the perfect platform to share your newsletter content. It’s built for growth and loaded with world-class tools to help you create beautiful newsletters, scale your readership, and monetize your audience. Check it out — you can start for free!
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