You're looking to create a newsletter for your journalism project. What's the best tool to use?

2 Design your layout

Designing your newsletter layout is the next step. You should strive to create a newsletter that is visually appealing, consistent, and reflects your journalism project's brand and style. Consider the format of your newsletter - single-column or multi-column - as well as elements such as images, videos, audio, headers, subheaders, or bullet points. Additionally, think about the color scheme you want to use - do you want to match your logo and website or use a different palette? Also, decide on a font - serif or sans-serif - and consider the size, weight, and style of the font while ensuring readability and accessibility.

3 Write your content

Writing your newsletter content is the most important step. You want to make sure it is informative, engaging, and relevant to your audience. Consider what the goal of your newsletter is: do you want to inform, educate, entertain, or persuade? Make sure the content aligns with your journalism project's mission and vision. Additionally, think about who your target audience is and their needs, interests, and preferences. Tailor the content to their level of knowledge, tone, and language. Ensure that you are providing value to your readers by solving their problems, answering their questions, or inspiring them. Demonstrate your expertise, credibility, and authority to gain trust from your readers.

4 Optimize your subject line

The subject line of your newsletter is the first thing readers see when they receive it, so you want to make sure it is catchy, clear, and compelling. To do this, you can use strategies such as creating curiosity with questions, teasers, or surprises; communicating the benefit of your newsletter with words, numbers, or phrases; and personalizing the subject line with your readers' names, locations, or preferences. Doing this will help pique their interest and make them feel special and connected.

5 Distribute your newsletter

The final step is to distribute your newsletter to your subscribers and create a newsletter that is delivered, opened, and read by your audience. Timing is an important factor to consider when sending your newsletter. You should choose the best day and time to reach your audience, as well as test and adjust your frequency and schedule. Additionally, you should build, segment, and maintain a quality email list that avoids spam, bounce, and unsubscribe rates. Finally, you should use analytics, feedback, and calls to action to measure and improve your newsletter engagement in order to track and increase open, click, and conversion rates.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?