Guidelines For Internal Newsletters

Internal newsletters get a bad rap because most of them are terrible. I'm talking about those corporate updates that everyone immediately deletes. The ones that feel like someone's checking a box rather than actually trying to connect with their team. But here's the thing: when done right, internal newsletters can transform your company culture, especially for remote teams. Brittany Zerr breaks this down perfectly in her latest article about how we started The Hundy P Gazette at Kick Point Inc. two years ago, and it's genuinely become something our team looks forward to reading. The secret? Make it 80% fun and 20% important updates. Include recipe recommendations, pet photos, Taylor Swift fan theories (thanks Liz!), and yes, even silly polls. When people actually want to read your newsletter, they'll stick around for the boring but necessary stuff too. What I love most is how it humanizes everyone. These small connections make such a difference when you're all working from different screens. Brittany makes a great point about using Notion instead of fancy email templates because it keeps things casual and lets people comment directly. It feels more like a conversation than a corporate broadcast. The best advice from her article? Start small, make it easy for people to contribute, and don't overthink it. Your first edition will probably suck, but that's okay. Focus on getting your team's personality to shine through. #RemoteWork #CompanyCulture #InternalCommunication

We had a beautiful customer newsletter... and no one cared. Up until the end of 2023, we had a highly designed version of the newsletter. It looked great, but it took a ton of time to pull together. Every send required custom images, specific copy lengths, and with no real guardrails on content, we tried to include ✨everything.✨ And it did… fine. But not fine enough to warrant the time it required and no clear strategy, so we stopped doing it. This year, I relaunched our customer newsletter — and doubled our engagement score and click-through rates. Here's the 4 steps I took to do it: 1️⃣ I redefined the purpose. The newsletter needed to be a valuable touchpoint for account managers — something that kept customers informed and encouraged them to explore more of the Lattice ecosystem through features, events, and content. Not salesy. 2️⃣ I scrapped the overly designed template and went plain-text. The emails now come directly from Account Owners (because who’s Kerry Wheeler anyways?). 3️⃣ We segmented our customers into three key groups and tailor content to each one based on what’s most relevant to them. 4️⃣ I implemented strong content guardrails. Every send now includes just two of the most relevant product updates, events, and resources — and it must be actionable today (no “coming soon” teasers). The results? Open rates held steady at ~50%, but engagement took off. Click-through rates more than doubled, and we’ve heard great feedback from both customers and AMs on how the newsletter has kept them informed and engaged.

Just because we can send it, doesn’t always mean we should. As internal communicators, we often sit at the intersection of everything. Every update. Every initiative. Everyone wants their message out. But here’s the thing—when everything is treated as important, nothing truly stands out. Early in my career, I tried to say yes to every ask. The intention was good—but the impact wasn’t. The result? Noise. Confusion. Distraction from what truly mattered: driving toward the business goals. Here’s a simple framework that’s helped me align with stakeholders and bring more intention to what we send out: ◾ Urgent + Important + Critical to business or people: Send it. Now. ◾ Important, not urgent + Relevant to business goals: Share it—but let’s be smart about timing and format. ◾ Urgent, but not important: Pause. Does this need wide visibility, or would a smaller audience be better? ◾ Not urgent + Not important: Maybe this doesn’t need to be sent at all. But we can define the audience and explore other channels if needed. I also use two quick filters: ◾ Will this help employees take action or make a better decision? ◾ Does this support a key business goal or priority? Using a framework like this in internal comms does more than streamline messaging—it protects attention, ensures relevance and creates clarity. 👀 I’m curious: How do you filter the signal from the noise in your org? Let me know in the comments.

A calendar keeps you busy. An architecture keeps you oriented. Most internal comms ship on time and then disappear. The update is read once, needed later, and lost in a maze of channels. If people can’t find it at the moment of decision, it never happened. Comms isn’t only 'when.' It’s 'where' and 'how do I get back to it?' Design for retrieval, not just release. One simple fix: create a single, living 'Source of Truth' page. At the top: the latest decisions, owners, and dates. Below: links to current versions, not attachments. Pin it everywhere. Every message points back to it. Archive the rest. When people know where the truth lives, speed goes up, duplication goes down, and trust grows. Don’t ship more messages. Build a place they can return to. #InternalComms #EmployeeExperience #KnowledgeArchitecture #Clarity

Frontline teams shouldn’t have to ‘join the dots’ on vital updates. Too often, comms land in the wrong place, at the wrong time, or in a format that doesn’t work for the people who actually need it. McKinsey, via Ragan, found that 84% of frontline employees feel disconnected when outreach isn’t tailored to them. If you want messages to stick, it’s not about adding more channels - it’s about choosing the right ones, making them relevant, and keeping them human. In the last of my AI hacks for this series, here’s some ideas of what works: 1. Find out where people actually get their info. Don’t guess, ask them. AI hack: Feed AI a list of your different audience groups, their job types, and work environments. Ask it to generate targeted questions for a quick survey or 1:1 conversation guide to uncover how they actually receive and act on information. 2. Match the channel to the message. Signage for quick prompts, video for change messages, mobile/Teams for time-critical updates. AI hack: As an experiment, ask it to draft the same message in different formats so you can compare tone, length, and clarity. 3. Personalise without overcomplicating. One line linking it to their role makes it feel ‘for them’. AI hack: Feed it the plain update and ask it to rewrite with a tailored opening for each audience type. 🌟Bonus tip for ops teams: One of my favourites and most effective channel for giving operational teams what they need in a concise and effective way - the 10-1-4 email: Instead of endless emails and pings, updates are consolidated and sent at 10am, 1pm, and 4pm. Cuts noise. Improves cut-through. AI hack: Revisit a day where there were multiple ops updates, feed them all into AI and ask it to group them all into one concise, scannable email. Bonus points if you combine this with point one and ask your audiences for insights. The bottom line here is if people have to work to find what’s relevant, you’ve already lost them. Make it unmissable. #InternalCommunications #ChangeComms #EmployeeEngagement #CommsStrategy

For years, the internal communications team at Sprout Social was doing *everything* internal communicators are good at — crafting meaningful updates, rallying teams, + trying to keep everyone aligned. But like all too many comms teams, they were doing it with tools designed for marketers, not employees. Open rates were the only signal, and employees marked emails as spam. Lists were manually maintained (woof) as employees joined and left the company. Comms had to be copy-and-pasted by hand to other channels. They needed something different — not MORE emails, but more strategic comms. So, here’s the pivot that changed everything: • they replaced a marketer-centric email tool with a platform built for internal communications. • they integrated with Workday so people data stayed fresh without admin overhead. • they shifted from biweekly to weekly newsletters because the cadence finally felt strategic — not exhausting. • they consolidated fragmented team newsletters into one tailored experience using segmentation + customization. • they started sending all internal emails — including leadership messages — from a central place with better analytics. The impact was real: ✔️ readership on key leadership messages increased ✔️ engagement rose across internal emails ✔️ manual list management disappeared ✔️ global audiences saw messages at the right local times ✔️ the comms team finally had data that helped them refine content and steer strategy with confidence. As Stephanie puts it (and I paraphrase because it’s worth quoting): “Communication is about relevance, not noise. Workshop gave us the tools to be relevant — and the data to prove it.” If you’ve ever felt like your internal comms efforts are working hard but not working smart, this is the kind of transformation that proves otherwise. And if you’re ready to move from things that feel like blasts and busywork into to more strategic comms? Look into Workshop + let's talk. ✨

You redesign your newsletter every week. That's why you never send it. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘁𝗲𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿: 𝟭/ 𝗣𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝟭-𝟯 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝘅𝗶𝗺𝘂𝗺 Most newsletters fail because they're too ambitious. Seven sections means seven decisions every week. One main section. Maybe two. That's it. → Fewer sections = easier to execute. 𝟮/ 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲 250-400 words. One tip, case study, or observation. Not a manifesto. Not a comprehensive guide. Just one useful idea. → Short articles get finished and read. 𝟯/ 𝗔𝗱𝗱 𝟮-𝟯 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀 (𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻) Recent industry news. Interesting article you read. Tool recommendation. Two sentences per link explaining why it matters. → Curation adds value without requiring creation. 𝟰/ 𝗗𝗲𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 Week 1: Opinion piece + 3 links. Week 2: Opinion piece + 3 links. Week 3: Opinion piece + 3 links. Same structure. Different content. → Repetition eliminates weekly decisions. 𝟱/ 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗽𝘆-𝗽𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲 Not "write an opinion piece." Exact format: - Hook (2 sentences) - Subheading with bold - 3-5 bullet points with arrows - Short outro Write it out. Save it. Reuse it. → Templates are literal, not conceptual. 𝟲/ 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗧𝗔𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗳𝗶𝘅𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 Same call-to-action every week. Same sign-off every week. Same links every week. Don't feel the need to rewrite these weekly. → Automation for recurring elements. 𝟳/ 𝗞𝗲𝗲𝗽 𝘁𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝟱𝟬𝟬 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀 Long newsletters don't get written consistently. One idea. Briefly. Weekly. → Short beats comprehensive for consistency. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲: 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝟭: 𝗠𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 (𝟯𝟬𝟬 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀) One practical tip about your industry. Written in your voice. Specific and actionable. 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝟮: 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗵 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 (𝟭𝟬𝟬 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗱𝘀) Three links you found useful this week. Brief explanation of why each matters. 𝗙𝗼𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗿: 𝗦𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 CTA to book a call. Link to your website. Social links. Done. That's your template. You're not starting from zero. You're filling in blanks. "What's this week's tip?" "What three things did I find interesting?" Two questions. One newsletter. ♻️ Repost if templates eliminate decisions. ➕ Follow me, Louis Shulman, for more tactics to stay top of mind and beat the competition. 📧 Join our weekly marketing newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gYGzEeTb

If I ever stepped into a GTM role, the first thing I’d rethink is the company newsletter. The fundamental problem I see? Most companies treat newsletters as glorified update channels when they should be building what I call a "Newsletter IP”. A branded content asset that drives demand, builds authority, and generates sales intelligence. Here's my playbook (based on my experience): 1. Narrative before format I wouldn't waste time debating weekly vs. monthly cadence. Instead, I'd ask, What story can we uniquely own in the market? - For AI infrastructure → The hidden costs of scaling AI - For compliance solutions → The Risk Ledger - For productivity tools → Workflows that bend time The right narrative makes your newsletter an asset that appreciates over time, not just another marketing channel. 2. Prototype over pitching Executives don't want to hear about newsletter concepts; instead, they want to see them. Rather than explaining what it could be, I'd create a fully realized spec issue with actual subject lines, copy, and visuals. 3. Distribution beyond inbox • Repurposed into LinkedIn content for executives • Double as SEO-friendly blog posts • Snippets embedded in sales materials 4. Connect to revenue systems This is where I see most teams missing the opportunity. Newsletter engagement data should flow directly into your CRM: - Does the prospect click compliance content twice? SDR gets an alert - The investor keeps opening infrastructure pieces? AE knows to lead with scaling stories - Customer replies with a question? That feeds the product team 5. Set realistic expectations I'd make it clear to stakeholders that this newsletter is about building authority and embedding your POV into the market. I'm curious, how many of you are treating your newsletter as strategic IP versus just another update channel? What's working in your approach?

Internal marketing is so underrated. We all know what it's like to feel underappreciated in our marketing work. We create content and launch campaigns we're proud of, think our plate is overflowing, and still get asks to do more: - The channel we're not on yet - The trend we're supposedly missing - That thing a competitor did that we apparently need to copy Those asks can sting because they overlook everything marketing is already doing: - The events we host - The social posts and blogs we publish - The sales enablement assets we create - The care we take with the brand It's A LOT. And you ask yourself: how can people focus on what we haven't done in the face everything we're already doing? The problem? We focus so much on external audiences, we sometimes forget about internal marketing. By internal marketing, I mean communication from the marketing team to the rest of the organization that makes your priorities, initiatives, and impact visible. It's an opportunity to showcase our work and bring our partners in other teams along with us. I’ve been in roles where I didn’t do it well, and our internal optics suffered ("what are they actually working on?"). Because when your plate’s already full, “marketing for your marketing” feels like a luxury and not a necessity. I've also been in roles where I made internal visibility a priority and watched it change the narrative: - How marketing is perceived - How our work is used - How much impact we make A few low-lift, high-impact ways to start doing your own internal marketing: 1. Send a recurring internal newsletter featuring your latest campaigns, enablement assets, and next-up marketing priorities. Include stakeholders in sales, product, and other marketing teams. 2. Spotlight key marketing projects at all-hands meetings. These keep your team top of mind and give marketers a platform to showcase their work. 3. Celebrate new comms assets by posting link round-ups in Slack or Teams channels—press releases, web pages, social posts, blogs, etc. 4. Share regular updates with sales and customer teams to highlight new and “most-used” enablement assets. This kind of visibility earns trust, reduces reactive asks, and shifts the narrative from "what's marketing missing?" to "look at everything marketing already IS doing." That way, future suggestions and asks feel additive to a known foundation vs. feeling like a lack of appreciation for what’s already been built. As marketers, we know better than anyone that people aren't going to tell our stories for us. We have to tell it ourselves —and help others to tell it with us. And when you do, your team and your career will thank you for it.

Despite companies blasting out updates via Slack, email, and town halls, half the workforce still misses key information. That’s not just a communication gap; it’s a performance issue. When employees don’t get timely, relevant updates, they can’t align with priorities or feel motivated to act. And it’s not just frontline employees who are left out. Engineers deep in code, marketers across time zones, anyone not looped in at the right time or in the right way can also miss out. From my experience as a CHRO across global tech firms, I’ve learned what actually drives inclusive and effective communication. Here are tactics that work: -Morning standups with talking points from leadership -Digital messaging in an easy-to-find app -Physical communications (lunchroom posters, desk drops) for offline teams -Short video messages via QR codes -Targeted updates on Slack, mobile, and email -All-hands meetings that foster connection, not just information I loved this Nectar HR guide on inclusive internal comms: https://lnkd.in/g58S5syU One key stat: 89% of employees say regular leader communication boosts engagement. That’s material. Tactics matter, but true impact comes from a thoughtful strategy: segment messages by team, role, and language, and choose the right formats. When comms fall short, alignment and engagement suffer. People assume, check out, or move on. As leaders, we must do more than check the box—we must ensure everyone hears what matters, when it matters. What’s really working in your internal comms strategy? #InternalComms #EmployeeEngagement #InclusiveLeadership #HRTech #PeopleStrategy