Short answer: An email newsletter is a regular email you send to the people who joined your list, with news, tips or offers from your business. Send it when you have something to say, put the most important news first, end with one clear next step, and judge it more by clicks than by opens.
What an email newsletter is
In this guide, a newsletter is an email you send on a schedule to your whole list, or to part of it. Send it only to people who asked for it, as our guide to building an email list explains.
Mailchimp’s content style guide opens its newsletter page with its oldest tip: only send when you have something to say. The most common emails Mailchimp sends include product announcements, tips, regular monthly newsletters and event invitations.
What every newsletter needs
| Part | What it does | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| From name | Tells people who sent the email | Your business’s name, the same every time |
| Subject line | Says what’s inside | It describes the content instead of selling |
| Preview text | Shows beside the subject line in the inbox | It gives a reason to open |
| Body | Carries the news | One main idea, the most important part first |
| Call to action | Gives the next step | One step, with a link that says where it goes |
| Footer | Lets people leave and know who you are | The unsubscribe link, your mailing address and why they get it |
The parts come from the Mailchimp style guide; the third column is our own check.
Recipients see the subject line, the preview text and the sender’s name and email address first, and in Mailchimp you can’t change them after you send. Our guide to email subject lines covers the subject line itself.
The footer follows the law: the style guide says all of Mailchimp’s campaigns follow CAN-SPAM rules. Their footers carry an unsubscribe link, a mailing address and a reminder of why people get the email. Our CAN-SPAM guide covers what each marketing email needs. Mailchimp also requires an unsubscribe link in every email and adds one if you remove it.
What to write about
Some ideas of our own for a small business: what’s new, a tip that saves your customers time or money, the answer to a question they often ask, a reminder before a busy season, an event or an offer. Make one of them the main idea and keep the rest short.
Write for the people who will read it. Mailchimp suggests segmenting your list to find the people most likely to react, then adjusting the language to fit them. If part of your list reads in Spanish, give those readers their own version.
How to write an email newsletter
- Decide what the newsletter is for and how often it goes out, and say both on your sign-up form.
- Pick one main idea for each issue.
- Put the most important news first, in short paragraphs.
- Write a subject line that says what’s inside and preview text that adds to it.
- End with one next step and a link that says where it goes.
- Add alt text to every image and check the footer.
- Send a test to yourself, click every link and read it on your phone.
The steps are our own. The Mailchimp style guide notes that most readers scan emails or read them on a small screen. It adds that more than 50 percent of emails are read on a mobile device, so it suggests keeping only the most important links. Some email clients turn images off by default, so each image needs alt text that describes it for people who can’t see it.
Mailchimp also suggests avoiding “click here” as link text: it doesn’t say where the link goes, and it leaves out information that screen readers need. If the email is about a service, link to that service’s page instead of your home page.
Spam filters look at content too. Mailchimp advises against all capital letters, too many exclamation points and gimmicky phrases. The rest of the sender rules are in our guide on why emails go to spam.
How to measure a newsletter
Mailchimp defines the open rate as the share of delivered emails that were opened, counted with a tiny, transparent image in each email. Because it relies on images, it isn’t fully accurate: if a reader’s email app has images turned off, the open only counts when the reader clicks a link.
Apple Mail Privacy Protection makes opens less reliable still. It only applies to Apple Mail users. When one of them turns it on, Apple Mail preloads the image even if the email isn’t opened, and the email is reported as opened.
Clicks are still reported for those readers. Mailchimp recommends focusing on clicks and watching bounces, unsubscribes and conversions, since clicks and purchases are stronger signs of interest than opens.
The click rate is the share of delivered emails that got at least one click. Average rates vary by audience, industry and company size, so compare each issue with your own earlier ones. Mailchimp adds that, in general, sending more emails lowers engagement per email, though it differs for everyone.
Before you send a newsletter
- The issue has one main idea worth sending.
- The subject line says what’s inside, and the preview text adds to it.
- The most important news comes first.
- Every image has alt text, and every link says where it goes.
- The footer has the unsubscribe link and your mailing address.
- You sent a test to yourself and clicked every link.
RememberSend a newsletter when you have something to say. Lead with the main news, close with one clear step, and judge each issue more by its clicks than by its opens.
Our email and SMS service writes to your customers twice a month in the language they speak, from your own email platform, such as Mailchimp, Klaviyo or HubSpot.
Common questions about email newsletters
What is an email newsletter?
An email a business sends on a regular schedule to the people who joined its list, with news, tips, events or offers. Mailchimp’s own email includes product announcements, tips, regular monthly newsletters and event invitations.
How often should I send a newsletter?
Only when you have something worth saying, on the schedule your sign-up form promised. Mailchimp says senders may email 10 times a day or once a quarter, depending on their goals, and that sending more generally lowers engagement per email.
What is a good open rate for a newsletter?
Mailchimp says average open and click rates vary by audience, industry, company size and other factors. Apple Mail Privacy Protection also inflates opens for the people who turn it on, so compare each issue with your earlier ones and give clicks more weight.
What is preview text?
The short line that appears beside the subject line in the inbox. The Mailchimp style guide calls it preheader text and says it should give readers the information they need to decide whether to open. You set it before you send.
Why shouldn’t a newsletter say “click here”?
Mailchimp suggests avoiding it. Some people won’t click because it’s unclear where the link goes, it leaves out information that screen readers need, and it suggests a mouse to people reading on a touchscreen. Say where the link goes instead.
Sources
Sources read on November 6, 2026: Writing Email Newsletters (Mailchimp Content Style Guide). Best Practices for Mailchimp Emails, About Open and Click Rates and Apple Mail Privacy Protection (MPP) FAQs (Mailchimp Help). Edit Your Email’s Subject Line, Preview Text, From Name, or From Email Address (Mailchimp Help).