13 Newsletters Every Newsroom Should Launch

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When I give talks to newsrooms, I’m always asked: Dan, how many newsletters should an organization like ours have? 

I answer the same way every time: You can have as many newsletters as you want — just as long as you can:

1. Grow them.
2. Monetize them.
3. Measure them.
4. Sustainably produce and support them.

Launching more newsletters for your newsroom might be worth it if you can do those four things. You can engage with readers, build a large, loyal audience, and make money for your org.

I’ve written about all the different types of emails you can send. You can and should think about many email formats, including automations or transactional emails. But for this guide, I’m going to focus exclusively on newsletter formats. As I defined that in this story:

Some of these types of emails are what I’d call “ongoing newsletters.” They’re designed to go out regularly (daily, weekly, monthly) and showcase content or ideas. They might include some calls to action, or CTAs, to donate or buy a product, but that’s not the main point of the email.

Others are what I’d call “short-run” newsletters. They look like other newsletters, but with one exception — they’re only sent for a brief window of time.

But before I go through the 13 types of newsletters you can launch, let’s go over a few rules to keep in mind before launching.

Before you launch a newsletter

The savviest creators always know three things before launching a new newsletter:

1. They understand who their audience is.
2. They know what that audience needs.
3. They know why that audience needs it.

As you look through these newsletter ideas, think about those three things. Ask yourself: Who is the potential audience for this newsletter? Is it clearly defined, or do we need to do some research to understand the ideal reader better? Do we know what this newsletter will do for them? And can we explain its value in a sentence or two?

The better you understand the who, what, and why, the better your chance of building a newsletter you can grow and monetize in the long run.

Two Things To Know Before Launching Your Newsletter

One more thing: If you do launch multiple newsletters, make sure you’ve got a landing page where readers can sign up for multiple newsletters at once, and make sure your email platform supports a preferences center where readers can update the list of newsletters they receive from you. It’s great to offer multiple newsletters to readers, but only if they can easily customize which newsletters they get from you.

Newsletters you can launch

Some newsrooms have only one newsletter, and that’s OK! But there’s a good chance your org can support more than one. I don’t expect you to launch all 13 of these newsletters — but I hope one or two ideas from this list seem worth exploring.

1.) Recent headlines

A headlines newsletter is usually the first newsletter a newsroom launches. The frequency of the newsletter depends on how often you publish. I work with teams that publish new stories only once or twice a week, so this newsletter only comes out that often. Other teams publish five or seven days a week. The more frequently you publish new content, the more likely you are to send the newsletter multiple days per week.

Some teams use email platforms that support RSS-to-email — your email platform ingests the latest stories from RSS, reformats the stories into an email, and then automatically sends the newsletter. If that’s what you can support at the start, that’s absolutely fine. You don’t need a writer or editor to put this email together manually.

But if you can do more, I’d encourage you to. That might mean curating links into specific sections or adding a brief intro from a staff writer. Here’s a good example from the Salt Lake Tribune. There’s a top story or two, a list of featured headlines that include photos from the stories, and a few quick hits at the bottom. It’s simple, but it does a good job of getting readers back to their site to read (where readers might hit their paywall and decide to pay for a subscription).

Something else to consider: How newsy do you want the content to be? A daily headlines newsletter doesn’t need to be driven by politics, crime, or business news. Look at a publisher like Cleveland Magazine — they have a daily headlines email focusing on art, food, culture, and things to do. The headlines aren’t newsy, but the newsletter still meets the expectations of its readers.

2.) Personality-driven daily 

Another daily (or daily-ish) newsletter option is what I’d call a personality-driven daily. This email likely includes plenty of headlines, like in the examples above, but there’s a specific writer or writers behind the newsletter. In a way, the personality-driven newsletter is like an email version of a podcast. It’s not just about the news — a big reason a reader makes time for this type of newsletter is that they like the person behind it.

When I think about personality-driven newsletters, the first name that comes to mind is Mike Allen. At Politico, he wrote Playbook, a popular daily newsletter highlighting the biggest news of the day in U.S. politics filtered through Allen’s lens. Allen is now at Axios, and like Playbook, his newsletter, Axios AM, isn’t just a list of recent stories and analysis from Axios — they’re Allen’s picks and views on the news.

This can work for a local newsletter, too. Sioux Falls Simplified is a great example. Megan Raposa, the site’s founder, writes the newsletter and boils down the day’s big stories into a few key bullet points for readers. But she also injects her own voice into the email — it doesn’t feel like a “just the facts, ma’am” kind of news story, and she adds personal recommendations of things to do at the end of the newsletter.

If you’re building a personality-driven newsletter, think about how you’ll give that writer the chance to showcase themselves. Is it through analysis? Is it by letting them be funny or quirky? Is it by giving them the chance to recommend stuff they like?

You also may want to have multiple writers for the newsletter. If so, clearly define what the voice of the newsletter should sound like — otherwise, it may be jarring if the tone is serious most days but then suddenly silly when a different writer fills in for a day.

3.) Great deals newsletter

When I first moved to New York City, lots of people recommended I sign up for a newsletter called the Skint, which highlighted free and cheap things to do in the city. I immediately loved it — I was single, in my 20s, and my budget for comedy shows and events around town topped out at about $10. The Skint always delivered for a reader like me. (I saw a lot of mediocre comics on Tuesday nights on the Lower East Side, but hey, the price was right!)

I’m surprised more newsrooms don’t try to build a similar product. As you think about those three questions I identified earlier — Who is your audience? What do they need? Why do they need it? — the why should be fairly obvious. (To help you save money in your city.) But the who and what are worth thinking through in more detail.

Who could mean launching a deals newsletter for:

• College students or young people in your community.
• Stir-crazy parents who need stuff to do with their kids.
• Foodies who want to try new restaurants.
• Music lovers looking for shows in the area.

What could mean:

• Places to eat for $10 or less.
• Family-friendly activities.
• Discounts on art, museums, or concerts.
• A general mix of events in your area.

You could always build something for a broad audience, but monetizing the newsletter, particularly via advertising, may be easier if you have a more specific audience in mind. A family-oriented newsletter, for instance, could open doors for all sorts of new advertisers, from kid-friendly restaurants to businesses that host birthday parties.

4.) In case you missed it…

A weekly newsletter like this can be attractive to a reader who isn’t interested in a daily product, and it could be a good way to re-engage readers — in particular, paying subscribers, members, or donors — who are drifting away and might soon cancel their support of your newsroom.

Lots of orgs that send emails like these find ways to automate the process. Some use RSS feeds. A few clients of mine use Glueletter to put together an RSS feed of their most popular stories and then send an email based on that feed. Others use automated tools like Echobox or Twipe to handle sending. And some use an editor to curate the content in these emails.

The New Yorker’s version of this email is based on personalization. They track what kinds of stories subscribers like to read — say, mainly politics and humor — and then surface the best of that content in a weekly email. No two emails are identical; each subscriber gets a slightly different version based on their reading habits.

Other teams focus less on personalization and more on utilizing their personalities. The 19th, which covers gender, politics, and policy, is a fine example of that. Their weekly email includes an introduction from a reporter about a story they covered that week before linking out to a few of their recent top-performing stories. It’s a good way to catch up on the big news you might have missed.

Something else to consider: Do you want to make this type of newsletter an opt-in or opt-out product? Some teams do the former — you have to choose to sign up for these newsletters. Others, like the New Yorker, include it as part of a paying subscription but allow readers to opt out if they want to. 

And many teams do a combination of the two! There isn’t just one way to handle this sort of email.

5.) Behind-the-scenes letter

Here’s a newsletter I truly believe every newsroom should launch: a behind-the-scenes letter. This typically comes from a publisher or an editor-in-chief. Some teams rotate among a few different writers, but to keep things simple and on schedule, I usually recommend picking one staffer for this email.

Then, pick a cadence. Do you want to send it every month? Every other month? Every quarter?

Pick a specific day to send (i.e., the first Tuesday of the month) — that way, you can lock it in your editorial calendar.

This type of email aims to tell readers what’s happening at your organization. If you published a big story this month, tell them more about how you did it. If you hired a new reporter, introduce them to readers. If you’ve launched new features or benefits (a new crossword puzzle, a new podcast, an events series, etc.), talk them up.

Close the email with a few stories that readers particularly loved recently, and maybe nudge readers to do one more thing — sign up for a new newsletter, download your app, or donate to support your work.

This example from the Guardian is one to mimic. They start with a short note about one of their colleagues and the impact of his work, highlight a few recent stories, and end with a CTA for upcoming events. It’s only a few hundred words, but it’s a good way for their donors to stay connected to what the Guardian is doing.

This sort of email is often targeted just to paying supporters as a way to keep them engaged. The more they see what you do with their money, the likelier they will keep supporting your work. But you could also send the email to non-supporters — just add a few CTAs within the email to pay for a subscription, become a member, or donate.

6.) Breaking news alert

When I look at my clients’ data, one type of newsletter consistently has higher open rates and engagement: breaking news alerts. These types of emails are usually short and link back to the story — or live blog — you’ve published on the topic.

The Texas Tribune does a good job with these. Their emails are pretty simple. The subject line always starts with “Breaking News:” which helps these stand out in the inbox. The email contains a headline, a one-sentence story description, and a “Read More” link.

They also do a good job of picking which types of stories truly qualify as breaking news. Since these emails often drive lots of traffic back to your site, it can be tempting to send breaking news emails all the time. Make sure you talk with your team about what type of story is worthy of that “breaking news” label — otherwise, you may see a high rate of unsubscribes when readers get a constant deluge of emails. The Tribune, for instance, typically sends fewer than ten of these emails in a month, mostly for stories involving the state’s Supreme Court or key political leaders.

More sophisticated orgs might offer different types of breaking news alerts based on different verticals on their site. For instance, the Washington Post offers more than ten types of alerts, from U.S. news alerts to alerts about Washington, D.C., sports teams. This way, readers can choose which types of emails are most interesting to them.

7.) Seasonal pop-up

Consider creating a pop-up product aimed at helping your community make the most of a particular time of year. These pop-ups are a great way to experiment with new formats or designs. You’re only going to send them for a few days or weeks, so while they may take a bit more work to build, you may learn something new to apply to your ongoing newsletters.

Plus, since there’s a seasonal aspect to these newsletters, you can bring them back every year. For instance, many newsrooms offer a pop-up weekly newsletter series about summertime events in their city. Once fall hits, the email goes on hiatus until the next year.

A great example is the Toronto Star’s Cookie Calendar — it’s basically an e-Advent calendar of cookie recipes from the Star’s archives. Every day, readers get a different recipe, each tested by staff at the Star. (And they don’t limit it to their Food team. Cookie bakers have included members of their breaking news and opinion teams.) The newsletters are casual, fun, and a nice way to deepen engagement with their audience.

8.) Something from a staff writer

In such a newsletter-heavy era, it’s surprising to me that more newsrooms haven’t given their top writers the chance to helm their own newsletter.

If you run a newsroom like the Los Angeles Times, and you’ve got an established food writer and editor like Laurie Ochoa, what do you do? Give her a newsletter where she can write about what she’s eating, restaurants she’s excited to check out, and stories in the L.A. food scene she’s covering.

If you’re a publisher like Puck and you’ve got a veteran sports business reporter like John Ourand, what do you do? Give him a newsletter where he can break down big stories, share scoops, and empty his reporter’s notebook just for subscribers.

If you do want to launch a writer-first product, think about how you can incentivize staff to write these newsletters. Maybe that means sharing some of the newsletter’s ad revenue with that writer. Or if this newsletter attracts a new audience, and that audience then converts to pay for a subscription, shouldn’t the writer get a bonus for that? I certainly think so. (Compensation also might give top talent another reason to keep doing this in-house instead of leaving to start their own indie newsletters.)

9.) “One Thing to Read” newsletter

New York Magazine’s One Great Story newsletter is my favorite example of this type of newsletter. Even if you’ve never read it, you can guess what it is: a newsletter that highlights one story to read every weekday. There’s a brief note from the writer behind the piece and a link to read. If you’re not interested, that’s OK — there will be another story to read the next day!

I’m starting to see more newsrooms launch similar, traffic-driving products. Many are sent at lunchtime — the thought being that you might be looking for something to read while you eat — but an end-of-day newsletter might also work. (I wouldn’t send it in the early morning, though. I think this sort of product works best as something to distract you from the day, and that means it’s probably not a first-thing-in-your-inbox kind of newsletter.)

It doesn’t need to go out daily. If your newsroom produces just a few stories per week, sending them once or twice a week might be the right cadence to start with. You can always start with less and add more sends per week down the road.

10.) Parenting newsletter

Whenever I give a talk at a media conference, someone asks, “How do we attract a younger audience for our newsletters?”

Here’s one trick: Build a newsletter just for local parents.

The parents in your community are mostly in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. They’re people who care about a lot of different topics, from news to food to local events. They’re busy but still want to engage with what’s happening in the community.

And what’s a great way to quickly catch up on what’s happening in your community? A newsletter, of course.

So, launching a newsletter aimed at families, like the one St. Louis Magazine sends, should be a no-brainer. Plus, building a loyal audience could lead to new revenue streams, like the opportunity to launch kid-friendly events that parents will pay for.

11.) “Welcome to Our Area” course

New readers move to your area every month. So why not build an email course — a series of automated emails that deploy after a reader signs up — to welcome them to town?

Think about sending an automation that sends an email a day for about 5-10 days that walks readers through a different aspect of your community.

Take Charlotte Starter Kit from the Charlotte Ledger. Each short but useful daily email has a different theme, from ways to meet new people to buzzy restaurants worth trying.

What’s great is that once the course is built, it doesn’t require much updating. (I’d recommend reviewing the emails at least once or twice a year to make sure things are up to date. You don’t want to recommend a restaurant that’s closed!) You can use these courses to bring in new readers, and once the course is done, you can encourage them to sign up for additional newsletters or to become paying supporters of your site.

(For transparency: several orgs mentioned in this story, including the Charlotte Ledger and St. Louis Magazine, are longtime Inbox Collective clients.)

12.) B2B newsletter

There are so many success stories in the B2B newsletter world, like Industry Dive, Skift, and Workweek. But there’s still an opportunity for more newsrooms to launch products for specific communities.

Take Dallas-Fort Worth’s D Magazine, which has a vertical called D CEO, with stories aimed at the business community. Under that, they have a series of newsletters aimed at people working in key business sectors, including health care and real estate. If you work in those industries, those newsletters are must-reads — they keep you informed about your field’s latest news and events.

Once you’ve built that audience, you can build events — from small happy hours to big conferences — or subscription products to serve those readers. These readers can often expense things to their company, so higher-than-usual prices might not be a deterrent if these products count as professional development.

13.) A pop-up experiment

Sometimes, you just need to launch something to learn something.

One of my favorite examples was when we launched the Royal Baby newsletter in my BuzzFeed days. (That royal baby was George, who turns 12 this year, and that fact alone makes me feel so old.) The idea was that we’d send readers a breaking news alert when the baby was born (we went with this very subtle subject line: “THE ROYAL BABY HAS ARRIVED!!!”), along with BuzzFeed’s coverage of the royal family before and after the birth.

Before the Royal Baby newsletter, we’d only launched newsletters tied to a specific vertical on our website, like Food or DIY. We didn’t know how to grow a new newsletter yet, so launching something experimental allowed us to try different tactics to see what would bring in new subscribers.

We didn’t plan to run the Royal Baby newsletter forever. But launching it helped us learn a lot about newsletter growth, and we used those lessons to build a better playbook for future newsletter launches.

Not everything needs to have a long-term plan or be very serious. Maybe an experimental product would be the right thing for you.

How to grow a new newsletter

Growing a new newsletter takes planning. Think about all four of these growth quadrants, and try to find a few tactics in each that will help you build your list quickly, including:

• Owned growth — Adding the newsletter to your landing page, building on-site pop-ups, running house ads on your site
• Earned growth — Promotion on outside podcasts, partnerships with other orgs
• Algorithmic growth — Launching on social media, adding the newsletter to your link in bio
• Paid growth — Spending money on channels like Facebook to build the list

You should also consider cross-promotion with other newsletter lists. Here’s how the Toronto Star does that to grow their new newsletters quickly.

Know how you’ll measure success

Before you launch any newsletter, I want you to think about how you’ll measure success with that newsletter. Will you look at engagement metrics, like opens, clicks, or unsubscribes? Will you look at list growth? What about revenue metrics, like ad revenue or tickets sold to events? And how will you factor in feedback collected via surveys?

Pick a few metrics upfront to measure — and remember that you may choose unique metrics for each newsletter. For instance, for a “Welcome to Our Area” course, I’d look at a few key data points:

• New newsletter sign-ups
• Feedback from readers via surveys
• What percentage of readers are still engaged at the end of the course 

I’ve got more suggestions here for different metrics to measure with your newsletter.

25 Ways to Measure the Success of Your Newsletter

You’ll also need to figure out what to do with all this data. I recommend setting a date to re-evaluate this new product’s performance three to six months after you launch the newsletter. Don’t just launch it and forget about it — see how it performs according to your chosen metrics. From there, you’ve got a few options:

• If things are working well, invest more in the newsletter. Think about new ways to grow the list, test out new monetization strategies, or expand the staffing and support for this newsletter.
• If things are working just OK, adjust your strategy. Try some A/B tests to see if you can improve the content or design of the newsletter, or run surveys to understand the newsletter’s audience better.
• If things aren’t working at all, sunset the newsletter. You don’t need to keep the newsletter going forever if readers don’t like it. Be willing to say goodbye to the newsletters that aren’t performing well.

If there’s one thing I hope you’ve gotten from this guide, it’s that there are always new ideas for newsletters to launch — and shutting down an underperforming newsletter might give you the time and resources to launch something that will resonate with your audience and drive revenue for your newsroom.

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