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The Ultimate Guide To Crafting a Winning Monthly Newsletter
Engaging Content and Designs That Stand Out in Crowded Inboxes
Megan Smith
March 5th, 2025
A great monthly newsletter is more than a way of sending updates to people — it's a powerful instrument to build relationships, involve customers, and expand your community.
That's why 71% of business-to-business (B2B) marketers and 68% of business-to-consumer (B2C) marketers incorporate a newsletter into their email marketing.
However, a newsletter's popularity also means that inboxes are crowded. Success comes from strategic planning and thoughtful design.
This guide will walk you through how to craft a strong monthly newsletter template, publish it, and grow your audience. Here's everything you need to hook — and keep — your audience.
Table of Contents
The Benefits of a Well-Designed Monthly Newsletter
A good monthly newsletter is a consistent connection between your brand and your subscribers. It's a chance to remind people of all that you offer.
Building Consistent Engagement
Consistency at every level lets you build your audience. You need to maintain high quality content, a regular schedule, and on-brand messaging and design.
Fostering Familiarity
Predictability can be a good thing. When your audience knows they can count on fresh insights, special offers, or industry trends every month, they’re more likely to open your emails and engage.
Striking the Right Balance
While you want to stay relevant and connected to your readership, you don't want to overwhelm or "bombard" readers.
At the beginning of 2024, half of respondents claimed they wanted fewer marketing messages in the months ahead.
The right frequency depends on your brand and audience. It could be monthly, weekly, or even every few days. (For more guidance, see "Striking the Balance: Monthly vs Weekly Newsletters.")
For most organizations, once a month is the perfect rhythm for newsletter communication.
Creating Deeper Connections With Your Audience
The best newsletters go beyond updates. Use this space to tell stories, showcase customer highlights, or provide behind-the-scenes glimpses of your brand.
The goal is to make your audience feel like active participants in your brand’s community.
Don’t forget to include opportunities for feedback and interaction. Invite readers to share their opinions, participate in surveys, or explore further content through links.
Every interactive element enhances the sense that readers’ input matters.
How beehiiv Can Enhance Your Newsletter Design
It's easy to design a newsletter using beehiiv. Our platform provides you with powerful tools to deliver your content in a way that's visually engaging and easy to read.
User-Friendly Editor
beehiiv’s editor simplifies the newsletter creation process.
You can create clean, professional layouts, adding the content blocks you choose. That includes interactive features such as one-click polls to gauge audience interest.
Design Customization
Create a branded newsletter that fits your audience and niche by customizing your template. Edit the details — fonts, colors, logo, and imagery — to match your brand's personality.
The AI writing assistant also allows you to tweak the tone to fit and generate outputs that are sarcastic, straightforward, empathetic, etc.
Responsive Templates
A lot of people read newsletters and other online content on their phones. beehiiv guarantees your subscribers a great user experience, regardless of device, with effective mobile-responsive designs.
Key Elements of an Effective Monthly Newsletter
Exceptional publications nail the basics by optimizing these key elements.
Crafting Compelling Subject Lines
Your subject line is the first thing readers see, and it often determines whether they’ll open or ignore your email.
Pay attention to subject lines that work in your own inbox and adapt their formulas to your communication.
Focus on Clarity and Relevance
Above all, expert subject lines are clear and relevant. They tell readers exactly what to expect and that content is tailored to their audience.
Check out this recent example from a newsletter run by beehiiv staffers for an audience of newsletter creators.
The subject line teases the main point of an interview, and the preheader text previews a quotation.
Add Personalization
Which is more likely to make you pause and take notice?: "Hey!" or "Hey, [your name]!" The same rule applies to the inbox.
In 2023, 65% of marketers regularly personalized subject lines because people respond better to emails that feel specifically crafted for them. Try to use first names or reference past actions or interests.
Creating Relevant and Valuable Content
An effective newsletter delivers value that keeps readers coming back for more. More than half of respondents cited relevance as the main reason they would open a marketing email.
Mix Content Types To Keep Your Newsletter Engaging
Relevance doesn't mean uniformity. Variety is essential for maintaining reader interest. A balanced newsletter combines educational, promotional, and entertaining content.
Avoid making your newsletter feel like a sales pitch. Subtle promotions, like sneak peeks into upcoming products or limited-time discounts, can spark curiosity while keeping the tone balanced.
Tailor Content With Personalization
Personalization shouldn't stop with the subject line. Use insights from past behavior, surveys, or campaign data to customize content.
Put segmentation strategies in place to distribute the right material to the right subscribers.
For instance, adventure enthusiasts might enjoy exploring new trails and destinations, while beginners might prefer step-by-step guides or a list of must-have gear to get started.
Strong newsletters include consistent sections or features that excite readers.
Consider incorporating some of the following ideas to diversify your email content and drive engagement:
Insider Tips or Tutorials: Share actionable advice or step-by-step guides.
Exclusive Offers: Include discounts, sneak peeks, or early access to products or services.
Customer Spotlights: Highlight success stories or testimonials from your audience.
Industry News: Provide valuable updates or trending topics relevant to your niche.
Interactive Elements: Use polls, surveys, or quizzes to engage readers directly.
Behind-the-Scenes Content: Offer a glimpse into your company culture or processes.
Prioritizing Clean, Readable Design
The ideal monthly newsletter template lets readers skim content and immediately navigate to the desired section.
Use headers and sections to organize information clearly and space out text and visuals to avoid overwhelming the reader.
Including Strong Calls to Action (CTAs)
CTAs give your readers clear next steps to engage with your brand.
Prioritize Clarity and Direction
Good CTAs leave no room for confusion. Phrases like “Sign Up Now" or “Shop the Sale” tell the reader exactly what to do next. Avoid ambiguous CTAs like “Click Here.”
Strategically Place CTAs
Where your CTAs appear influences how readers interact with them. Position one near the top for skimmers and include a final CTA as a closing instruction.
Keep CTAs Short and Sweet
Avoid long, detailed descriptions in your CTAs. They should be brief and to the point, using action verbs like “start,” “join,” or “learn.”
Use Visual Design To Stand Out
Create CTA buttons that pop and grab readers’ attention. Use bold fonts or contrasting colors. Simplify surrounding elements to avoid visual clutter and ensure that the action remains clear.
Choosing the Right Template for Your Monthly Newsletter
The right template sets the tone for your content, ensures a cohesive design, and saves time during creation.
You can create your newsletter in beehiiv or import a strong HTML template with the features you want.
Between fully loaded email marketing services and specialized email design tools, you can customize your newsletter to fit any vision.
beehiiv
beehiiv combines newsletter template tools with advanced features for publication, growth, and monetization.
beehiiv’s a one-stop shop for creating impactful, professional newsletters that leave a lasting impression.
Canva
Canva is an intuitive design platform that includes both free and premium newsletter templates. A range of designs can appeal to any industry or niche.
However, you'll still need to distribute your newsletter, and you can send gorgeous Canva newsletters through beehiiv.
Postcards
Postcards is the email builder tool connected to Designmodo, a platform for creating web pages. Both are modular builders with design blocks to put together in a custom template.
Examples of Successful Monthly Newsletters
If you're looking for inspiration, review successful monthly newsletter templates.
MacPaw: MacPaw Digest
MacPaw is a software company that develops and distributes products for iOS and Mac.
MacPaw sends out a monthly newsletter with updates on the software, tips for Mac users, the company's charity efforts, and any other major news each month.
The MacPaw Digest template is clean, with clearly designated sections and features. Large headings are easy to read at a glance, and brief snippets keep content skimmable.
Peerspace: Monthly Wow Space
The event rental company Peerspace sends out a monthly bulletin with a single focus.
The monthly "Wow Space" template highlights a unique venue. It reminds subscribers of Peerspace's services and inspires them with gorgeous pictures and intriguing possibilities.
Measuring the Success of Your Monthly Newsletter
Learn what’s working, what needs improvement, and how to better engage your audience. Data-driven decisions turn a good newsletter into a great one.
Use email metrics to boost your brand and test different elements of your publication to discover how your readers respond.
Important Metrics To Track
According to professional marketers, the preferred metrics to determine email campaign success are (first) the open rate, (second) the conversion rate, and (third) the click-through rate (CTR).
Open Rate
Tracking email open rates shows the percentage of subscribers who open your emails. A high one tells you that your subject lines are enticing, your timing is effective, and your audience has learned to trust your brand enough to engage.
Conversion Rate
Conversion rate is the percentage of subscribers who follow through with your call-to-action (CTA). A high conversion rate means that your content and design effectively persuade readers to take the desired action.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
Tracking click-through rates (CTR) measures the percentage of subscribers who clicked on a link within your newsletter. This shows engagement and interest.
Subscriber Growth
Monitoring how many people subscribe or unsubscribe each month helps you gauge audience satisfaction. Consistent growth signals that your content is valuable and worth sharing.
A/B Testing for Continuous Improvement
A/B testing is all about identifying small tweaks that make a big impact.
By focusing on one variable at a time and analyzing results carefully, you’ll continuously improve your newsletters, making each issue stronger than the next.
Fine-Tune Subject Lines
There are built-in features to let you A/B test subject lines in beehiiv. Test different versions that vary in tone, personalization, and length.
Experiment With Content Layout
The structure of your newsletter impacts engagement. Test elements like image placement, text length, and the position of key sections, such as tips versus news stories.
For instance, does listing a call to action right at the top drive clicks, or do readers prefer scrolling through content-rich stories first?
Optimize Calls to Action
CTAs are crucial for converting interest into action. Experiment with wording, button colors, and placement.
Bringing It All Together
A successful monthly newsletter template combines engaging subject lines, appealing design, valuable content, and clear calls to action to capture attention and drive results.
The goal is to create a connection with your audience. Let your publication evolve and improve to keep readers excited for the next issue and the one after that.
Make beehiiv your home. It's the perfect platform for you and your growing audience. You'll find everything you need to create your template and develop your publication.
Why Trust Me
beehiiv gathers the foremost experts in email marketing and newsletter publication. I regularly publish articles on all things digital marketing and apply those lessons to my own clients in the Twin Cities.
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