The Importance and Purpose of an Internal Newsletter in Business

A company newsletter is one way to motivate employees to be happy at what they do. A well-designed newsletter can help improve the performance of the workforce as it is an important tool that can keep employees in the loop on the company's policies, activities, services, social events, and other company news.

Healthy communication lines between management and staff and within the departments in the organization are crucial to the success of every organization. The purpose of an internal company newsletter is to support the achievement of this goal. 

Internal newsletter objectives

A company internal newsletter should aim to reach an audience composed of employees and management to inform them about important information. It is expected that they will be interested in the content and will feel more engaged and informed after reading it, which underpins the importance of newsletters in business.

To achieve these objectives, employee newsletters need to include information about the activities of the various departments as well as corporate information that applies to everyone in the company. This is a good way to break down any information silos in the workplace.

Organizations always have internal news for their employees many have relied on sending email messages in the past. By putting various pieces of information into a newsletter, companies can reduce email overload. A newsletter can inform everyone about scheduled outages,  marketing updates, company announcements and more. These multiple news items would have filled up employees’ inboxes -  but with one newsletter that is regularly distributed, there is a reduction in emails being sent.

The purpose of an internal company newsletter is to also reinforce other means of communications such as the company's intranet or internal communication system. The newsletter provides all the updates and 'what's new' in the company. It informs everybody about the processes that need to be followed for certain tasks. It can also be used to promote the resources and communication tools of the company for better and effective communication.

Tips for creating an engaging company internal newsletter

To be able to create a winning and attractive internal newsletter, here are a few tips that can help ensure you have an effective one:

1. Most of the content should be about the employees and the things that are important to them and they care about. 

Many companies think a newsletter is a way to simply publish their plans and policies. By writing employee-focused engaging content, the newsletter will be much more successful. Your newsletter can recognize achievements and thank individual staff members for their contributions, introduce new staff members or let people know when a team member is leaving.

2. Aim to create a newsletter that boosts employee morale and helps to make them happy and motivated. 

A newsletter is one of the best ways to motivate employees. Keep the tone conversational and positive.  Constructive criticism and feedback about work should be left in private. Your newsletter is a way to inform and to affirm and it is not created to preach. Always write in plain English so that everybody understands your messaging.

3. Keep your newsletter simple and most of all, keep it short. 

Avoid lengthy stories and essays so that your readers don't get bored easily and you don’t take away from their productivity.

4. If you have regular updates on the same topic, keep it consistent:  keep the same sections and places to find them in the newsletter.

5. Get creative by incorporating images, videos and graphics and to keep readers interested and engaged. 

Visualization helps people retains messages so they will remember what they have read. Also make sure you include infographics in the newsletter.

6. Make your newsletter “Edu-taining” by making the content 80% educational or informative and 20% entertaining. 

Entertainment may consist of cartoons, comic strips, trivia, or inspirational quotes.

7. Modern employee newsletter benefits include the ability to create interactive features such as surveys and contests. 

Gone are the days that employee newsletters are a one-way street. Today, everybody is encouraged to participate. With the advancement of technology, we have to make use of all that it has to offer.

Read more on the topic: Alternatives To Newsletters

Why are company newsletters important?

Company newsletters have an important role to play in sharing information and helping employees feel motivated and engaged.  Some of the key takeaways about the importance of newsletters in business include:

• A well-informed workforce that understands your organization’s goals and objectives, is less likely to make mistakes and more likely to be be more productive and profitable.
• Helps to build an inclusive company culture
• Decreases the amount of internal emails that are sent.
• Helps employees to feel valued.
• Breaks down information silos.
• Helps to reinforce your internal brand.
• Helps to spark important conversations in the workplace.
• Encourages and promotes innovation and collaboration.

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The importance of an employee newsletter cannot be underestimated. A great company internal newsletter should be educational as well as entertaining. It should not bore readers and should include visualization, infographics and other entertaining features. It should talk about the employees more and help them improve their self-esteem. It should also be motivating and encouraging. The purpose of a newsletter in a workplace is that after employees have read the newsletter, they become more motivated to get engaged in the company's activities.

Frequently Asked Questions

 How do you create an effective internal newsletter?

 An effective internal newsletter is one that is created to have a wide appeal to staff and includes informative and entertaining content. It should be written in a conversational tone, and should use plain language.

 What is the purpose of an employee newsletter?

 The purpose of a newsletter is to keep your employees updated about important corporate information while aiming to improve morale and boost productivity. Without these things, there is no point having one.

 What should be in an employee newsletter?

 Employee newsletters should include important news that is relevant to the employees of a company. Topics might include:

•        Information about projects
•       New policies and procedures
•       New product information
•       Recognition and rewarding of staff
•       Profiles of staff members
•       Messages from senior management
•       Updates on KPIs and goals
•       Relevant industry news
•       HR updates
•       IT updates
•       Health and wellbeing information
•       Information about staff social activities
•       Information about training and development opportunities
•       Reminders about upcoming corporate events.