How to build an unskippable newsletter

While social media and in-person events offer the possibility of being seen and heard by many, sales are not always guaranteed. Newsletters enable you to foster a deeper connection with your customers or potential customers and help achieve your goals for engagement, sales, or developing new products and services.

There’s a lot to consider when setting up a newsletter: from choosing a platform from options such as Mailerlite, Substack and Mailchimp, to writing content that readers will love. If you’re also considering setting up a online store to drive traffic to, check out our how to build a website in Shopify’ piece, or we also have tips on turning your art into products.

To find out how you can best set up and run your newsletter, I spoke to experts with three different perspectives on running a mailing list. Karen Turner is an artist featured on BBC’s Extraordinary Portraits series, who also has a side hustle helping artists become more visible and create sustainable incomes through mailing lists.

We also have input from Susan Bonnar, founder of online art and craft marketplace The British Craft House, and Melissa Howard from design agency Brand On Demand. Here are their tips:

01. Think about your goals

Susan set up her list before The British Craft House launched to “build anticipation and create an audience".

"I imported a subscriber list from a previous business as it was similar content,” she explains.

For Karen her main goal was to sell. “I’d been building visibility through social media and in-person events, but when it came to generating actual income, I didn’t have anything reliable," she says. "If you don’t have an email list, you’re not in control of your sales – you’re relying on chance, algorithms, and one-off interactions.”

For Melissa, her mailing list has also helped business growth. She says that at “Brand On Demand, the newsletter is one of our best tools for nurturing leads, staying top-of-mind, and booking dream clients without having to shout online every five minutes."

The best time to actually start a mailing list? “The best time is before you think you need one," says Karen. "You absolutely don’t need a customer base to start; you’re building one with your list."

02. Research before you start

Before you start think about the following:

• GDPR regulations – subscribers will give consent when they sign-up, and data should be kept and protected in line with these regulations.
• Techniques to avoid emails ending up in junk mail folders e.g. avoid phrases for headings and main content that could be picked up by spam features and don't include images that are too big. If you create good quality content with calls to action that will also help recipients see your emails.
• Scheduling and time management – allow space for manual tasks such as keeping email lists up to date and looking at bounce back rates.
• How to make content accessible across all devices. Many platforms will have built in features to help you do this, but it's helpful to design for the smallest screen first and make sure everything is readable, and images are quick to load. Single column layouts, and web safe fonts will also help your newsletter be readable on all devices.

Melissa’s tip is to start with a clear strategy, to avoid any false starts. Within her business she now has "a clear goal (nurture not just sell), a simple repeatable format (story, value, call to action), one main content theme each month, and a calendar I can actually stick to (we plan 1-2 emails a month).”

03. Choose a mailing list platform

Technology is your best friend when it comes to running a newsletter, with a variety of platforms available that you can build and send your content from. Some platforms offer free or paid-for plans, each with differing features. These include limits on the number of contacts you can email, emails you can send a month (very important as you grow), along with analytics and support options.

Our experts shared their experiences with the platforms they use and/or recommend to other artists. "When you’re starting out, the most important things are simplicity and function. You need a platform that’s easy to use and that gives you the core tools to start building real relationships," says Karen.

"I usually recommend MailerLite to the artists I work with. The free plan includes automations, landing pages, and allows up to 1,000 contacts, which gives plenty of space to grow without needing to spend any money.”

Susan currently uses Kit and is "happy with the value it provides me in terms of sales and analytics as well as email automation. There is support that you can access too, which is helpful.”

04. Create engaging newsletter content

“Think about what you love (or loathe) most about the emails you receive and bring more of that energy into your own. It’s one of the fastest ways to make your newsletter feel like you, not just another thing on the to-do list.” These are wise words from Melissa, but how does that translate into engaging content that people will read, share, interact with, and more?

Being human and being personal could mean teasing things that are to come, personal insights into your creative projects, or exclusive content just for your subscribers. Karen points out that you shouldn’t constantly ask something of your subscribers. "A lot of artists overcomplicate things," she says.

"They assume it has to be full of announcements and news. What we actually want to do is build a connection. Show them what it means to be an artist, not just what you’re selling. That’s what turns subscribers into buyers over time.”

The type of content that hits with an audience can vary depending on the sector you're in. For Susan, The British Craft House Audience “likes great product images, and often buys exactly what is in the newsletter, rather than going to the website.”

Melissa sees changes and shifts in her audience and the type of content that works, but finds it always comes back to: “Creative folks want something they can feel. They want clarity, story, and something that makes them go 'ooh that’s me!' or 'I’ve never thought of it like that.'"

Brand On Demand releases real snapshot examples of clients, behind-the-scenes stories, and quick value drops to connect with their audience. What will your content look like?

05. Get signups quicker

To free up time to work on your creative content and business goals, there are a couple of things you can set up to save time and encourage sign-ups. Karen recommends:

• Automated welcome sequences – “When someone joins your list, they hear from you right away without you manually having to follow up. That sequence is where you introduce who you are, what your work is about, and give them a sense of your world.”
• Landing pages – “These are critical if you want to grow. Rather than saying sign up to my email list, you can offer something specific – early access to new work, a behind-the-scenes resource, a short guide, and collect emails in exchange. That’s how you build a list with intention, not just hope.”

06. Use external tools and integrations

Integrations are where you connect your social media accounts to your newsletter platform, which allows you to share content across multiple channels and coordinate your marketing across them all. It can allow you to manage social and email marketing in one place. This may be useful for growth and engagement for fully-fledged businesses, although the external tools Melissa recommends can benefit us all as creatives running newsletters. Her tool kit includes:

• Trello (planning and batching content).
• Photoshop or Canva (for visuals).
• Flodesk (email design and scheduling).
• RightBlogger (idea prompts, outlines, and repurposing).

07. Avoid pitfalls

Having a clear strategy and starting small can help set you up for email marketing success and avoid some of the common pitfalls. Melissa says some of the pitfalls she has come across include “over-editing until your voice disappears, writing for everyone instead of the one right person, and inconsistent sending that makes your audience forget you exist (or worse, only emailing when you’re selling)”.

It's incredibly easy to overthink or overcomplicate something new, wait for the perfect time, or not even start at all, but putting in the groundwork can set you up for a successful launch and growth.

08. Advertise your newsletter

“Everything else, TV appearances, fairs, exhibitions, social media is how people discover my work, but my email list is how I turn that into something lasting," says Karen. Whatever she does creatively, she is “always thinking how do I make sure this isn’t a one-off moment?”

Keeping things simple has been touched on through this piece, and that theme continues with newsletter promotion. "I have an area on my website front page (not a pop-up) for sign-ups, and an opt-in tick box at checkout," says Susan. "I also do giveaways occasionally via the newsletter, only to try and get new sign-ups from my social media platforms.”

Gaining that initial spark of interest through printed materials is also a useful tool, which Karen mentions is where “a lead magnet, a QR code, or sign-up prompt comes in”.

If you’re thinking about setting up a newsletter, then follow the tips above and build those deeper connections over time, and that will help drive sales and engagement.

To find out more about Substack in particular – a popular newsletter platform – see our Substack review. And if you want a website to go with your newsletter, see our best website builders for small businesses.