Employee Newsletter Ideas to Boost Engagement in 2024
If you’re wondering how to develop an engaging employee newsletter and want ideas on how to proceed, we’ve done the homework! This blog shares a list of meaningful newsletter examples and ideas. Dive right in and bookmark it so you always have something to start with.
Effective internal communication is indispensable to business success. As the modern workplace evolves with increasing hybrid work, transitioning company cultures, and growing diversity in demographics, ensuring everyone is aligned and motivated isn’t straightforward. Introducing well-planned company newsletters in your internal communications app is a great way to overcome traditional communication barriers and ensure everyone’s informed, connected, and engaged.
What is an employee newsletter?
An employee newsletter is an informative and eye-catching publication designed for internal sharing in an organization. HR managers and internal communicators use these to distribute information, updates, news, and announcements relevant to employees and also ensure everyone’s engaged.
Why are employee newsletters still so important?
Even with growing social media and group chats, newsletters are still relevant, even when you have frontline workers. They’re integral to:
- Building a sense of community and trust at work: 94% of employees state that it is crucial for them that their workplace creates a sense of belonging. Frontline workers are particularly at risk of feeling alienated and disconnected. Newsletters help establish a sense of community and trust by recognizing employee achievements, highlighting important milestones, and sharing personal anecdotes (with permission).
- Helping reach deskless and remote workers regularly: Research states that nearly 40% of deskless workers may quit their jobs in the coming months. The top reasons are a lack of career advancement opportunities and low wages. Newsletters are a fantastic platform for reconnecting with deskless workers and helping them decide to stay. Most importantly, by contacting them regularly, you’ll make them feel part of your organization.
- Increasing employee engagement and motivation: Highly engaged teams are 21% more profitable for companies. However, ensuring deskless workers remain engaged can get tricky. Newsletters are a great way to disseminate content and encourage conversations without being intrusive. Quiz contests, informative articles, and employee recognition via newsletters can generate conversations and motivate remote workers.
- Keeping employees informed about company news and updates: 84% of deskless workers claim that their superiors don’t communicate directly with them. If you can’t get your time-pressed leaders to communicate with deskless workers regularly, newsletters provide a great platform to ensure communication flows.
- Reducing communication and information overload: 50% of workers feel that increased meetings and messages negatively impact productivity and cause information overload. Newsletters containing pertinent information address this and encourage asynchronous communication.
- Improving employee morale and loyalty: 72% of employees report that if company benefits were customized to their needs, they would be more satisfied and loyal. Newsletters are an excellent avenue to inform employees of specific company benefits. Usually, frontline workers aren’t aware of these or have access to this information. Informing via newsletters is easy and boosts loyalty and satisfaction.
Convinced to try it out? Let’s dive into ideas you can implement.
Here are 12 employee newsletter ideas that will help you drive employee engagement
Employee-focused newsletter content ideas
1. Jobs and training
Internal job postings make an excellent newsletter topic. You can advertise internal job openings and career opportunities via newsletters. This will help reduce recruitment spend and allow existing employees to grow with development opportunities. You can also leverage your monthly newsletters to inform staff about various training opportunities to help them get certified or upskill themselves. Another option is to list open positions and invite employee referrals.
2. Anniversaries and milestones
Highlight your employees' personal and professional milestones in your newsletters. This will skyrocket employee engagement and make your employees feel valued. You can also feature employee stories to boost recognition and encourage social conversations. If your employees have participated in social welfare activities, this is an excellent place to showcase them.
3. Pulse surveys and anonymous feedback
Pulse surveys are short and quick surveys that collect opinions and feedback regularly. Embed their links to monitor employee sentiments and continuously understand what employees need. Leverage newsletters to send out feedback forms to better understand your employees’ pain points. Examples of surveys and feedback forms include questions related to working conditions, team well-being, feedback for supervisors, individual circumstances, etc.
4. Quotes and inspirational ideas
Share inspirational quotes, stories, and anecdotes. This can be encouraging and refreshing and will break the monotony of corporate and company-related content. You can also urge employees to contribute to the newsletter, which helps save creation time and promotes employee recognition. Other examples include offering health and well-being resources and tips.
Company-focused newsletter content ideas
5. Share blogs
Links to old blogs, articles, and case studies can help employees learn more about your company, products and services, and policies. Use your newsletters to share important information and resources related to specific tasks, and you’ll definitely see better productivity and engagement. Doing so will also provide frontline workers with a helpful resource to share among themselves when necessary.
6. Business and company updates
You can also create newsletter content that paints a macro picture of your company. Examples include company milestones, corporate social responsibility initiatives, etc. When you draft these, use them to inform frontline workers and inspire them to be better employees. Update them on company events so they can socialize and overcome any job-related isolation. You can also update your team with developments like promotions, policy updates, and new initiations.
Other examples include reminding employees of referral programs, showcasing positive press coverage, and “ This day in history” under company-specific news.
7. Changes in policies and products
Due to the nature of their work, frontline workers often miss essential updates. Including policy changes in your newsletters can help ensure they always have a reference to return to. You can also send out employee newsletter articles based on significant product updates. This will help them understand the product they’re dealing with more deeply. Other examples include letting employees know how to apply for travel benefits, medical insurance, and other information.
8. Competitor news
Another helpful approach to follow in your newsletter is an email to inform workers about your competitors' actions. Such content can help them become more proactive, feel inspired, and learn new ideas.
9. Company culture
Leverage your newsletter to let everyone know your company culture is about creating a welcoming family. Inform when there’s a recruit, share employee profiles, and make seasonal content to wish employees during a festival. Other examples include highlighting recent employee vacations, writing up your staff’s favorite recipes, starting an “overheard” or “rumor mill” column, and sharing staff-recommended books, movies, and TV shows.
Customer-focused newsletter content
10. Customer reviews
Showcase testimonials and customer reviews in a visually appealing newsletter template so that your employees improve their performance and customer service. Urge your loyal customers to write a blog or a short article as part of your content strategy. These can also be included in a newsletter occasionally to break the monotony.
11. Industry news and trends
Nothing is better than letting your staff know how industry trends affect customers. Newsletters with such content help frontline workers understand the more prominent trends within their industry. Examples include problems with shipping and logistics for your delivery agents, social media trends for your marketing guys, and technical information for those who repair gadgets and devices at client locations.
12. Exclusive offers and promotions
Last but not least, remember that your employees can be your customers, too. Occasionally, offer your employees discounts, promotions, etc., and communicate this via newsletters.
Use an employee engagement app to automate newsletters
While drafting newsletters is one part, distributing them well is equally important for getting results.
A simple way to streamline this part is leveraging a comprehensive employee engagement app for internal comms. Using a unified platform can help you connect across your entire workforce. Go for a mobile-first app as a single source of company information to connect with both in-office and frontline workers. Use the same to send timely newsletters and ensure engagement builds around them.
Speakap is the only internal comms app your employees need. Its content distribution helps admins write, edit, plan, and post curated content on an employee app. It’s built with acknowledgment features to let you know if your team reads it, and the statistics dashboard reveals the exact impact. Contact us today to learn how Speakap’s employee communications app can help you implement successful employee newsletter campaigns and much more!