15 Employee Newsletter Templates That Get 50-65% Open Rates (2026)

Newsletter Templates You Can Copy

Newsletter Template: Weekly Digest

Best for: Fast-paced organizations with frequent updates

Subject line formula: [Day] Digest: [Top wins/news] 🎉 Example: Friday Digest: 3 new clients, product launch, team awards 🎉

Email structure:

Header: [Company logo] | Week of [Date]

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👋 Quick hello from [Name/Department]
[2-sentence message connecting to this week's theme or highlight]

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🎯 THIS WEEK'S WINS
• [Major achievement with 1-sentence context]
• [Second win with numbers/impact]
• [Third win celebrating team or individual]

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📢 WHAT'S HAPPENING
• [Upcoming event or deadline with link]
• [New policy or process update]
• [Opportunity (training, volunteer, social)]

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⭐ SHOUTOUTS
[Name] for [specific achievement—be concrete]
[Name] went above and beyond [how specifically]
[Team] crushed it on [project/metric]

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📅 NEXT WEEK
• [Monday]: [Event or deadline]
• [Wednesday]: [Meeting or initiative]
• [Friday]: [Activity or celebration]

Have a great weekend! 🙌
[Sender name and role]

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💬 Got news to share? Reply to this email or #[slack-channel]

Why it works: It’s scannable, celebrates wins, shares what’s happening, and looks ahead—all in under 3 minutes. Easy to read.

Newsletter Template: Monthly Roundup

Best for: Organizations with moderate news volume, preference for depth

Subject line formula: [Month] Highlights: [Key themes/numbers] Example: November Highlights: Record quarter, new office, 15 anniversaries

Email structure:

[Large header image or graphic]

[Month] IN REVIEW
[2-3 sentence overview of month's themes or major storylines]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

📈 BY THE NUMBERS
[X]% - [Metric achievement with context]
[Y] - [Count of something meaningful]
[Z] days - [Streak, time savings, or milestone]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

🎤 EMPLOYEE SPOTLIGHT: [Name]
[Photo of employee]

[3-4 sentences about employee: role, recent achievement, interesting fact]

"[Quote from employee about their work or company]"

[Read full story →]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

📰 AROUND THE COMPANY

**[Department]**
[Achievement or update with 2-3 sentences]

**[Department]**
[News or milestone with context]

**[Department]**
[Update or announcement]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

🎂 CELEBRATING ANNIVERSARIES
[Years] years: [Names]
[Years] years: [Names]
[Years] years: [Names]

Thank you for your dedication! 🙏

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

👋 WELCOME NEW TEAM MEMBERS
• [Name] - [Role, Department]
• [Name] - [Role, Department]
• [Name] - [Role, Department]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

🔜 LOOKING AHEAD
[Major initiative or event coming next month]
[Preview of exciting news or changes]
[Call-to-action: registration, deadline, participation]

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Questions or story ideas? Email [address] or Slack #[channel]

Subject Line Formulas That Get Opens

News-focused:

• [Month] wins: [Achievement], [Milestone], [Recognition]
• This week: [Event], [Deadline], [Opportunity]

Number-based:

• March in numbers: 47% growth + 12 new hires
• 3 wins, 2 reminders, 1 big announcement

Personal:

• From [CEO name]: Why I'm excited about [initiative]

Specific subject lines beat generic ones by 20-40%. And yes, emojis actually work—they boost opens 5-10%.

Content Mix & Ideas

What Content Actually Gets Read?

High-engagement stuff (do more of this):

Content ideas by category:

• Recognition: Employee spotlights, anniversaries, peer nominations, team wins
• Updates: Performance metrics, new products, policy changes, benefits reminders
• Culture: New hires, behind-the-scenes looks, event photos
• Forward-looking: Upcoming events, training, calls-to-action

Design & Layout Best Practices

How Should They Look?

Design for mobile first (over half your readers are on phones):

• Single column: Multi-column layouts break on phones
• Big tappable links: At least 44×44 pixels
• Readable fonts: 16px minimum for body, 22px+ for headings
• Short paragraphs: 2-3 sentences max
• White space: Don’t cram everything in—give it room to breathe

Images:

• Real employee photos (not stock)
• Max 600px wide, under 200KB each
• Always include alt text
• 60% text / 40% images ratio

Common Design Mistakes

• Too much content: Aim for 3-5 minute read
• All text, no visuals: Include 2-3 photos minimum
• Tiny text: 16px minimum, test on mobile
• Broken on mobile: Always test before sending

Distribution & Engagement Strategies

When Should You Send Newsletters?

Best day/time analysis:

Consistency matters more than perfect timing. Pick Tuesday at 10am and stick with it. When people know it’s coming, they’ll actually look for it.

How Do You Know If It’s Working?

Track these numbers:

• Open rate: 40-50% is average, 50-65% is good, 65%+ is killing it
• Click-through rate: 10-20% is typical (way higher than marketing emails)
• Read time: See how long people actually spend reading
• Mobile vs desktop: Most people are on phones

Also track replies, who’s signing up for the stuff you promote, and run quarterly surveys. Test different subject lines. Watch for unsubscribe spikes—that’s your canary in the coal mine.

How Often Should You Send It?

• Weekly: If you’ve got tons happening (need 3-5 solid items every week)
• Biweekly: Sweet spot for most companies (6-8 items every two weeks)
• Monthly: Only if you’ve got really meaty content to share

Here’s the thing: being consistent matters way more than being frequent. Pick a schedule and stick to it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What should I include in a company newsletter?

Shoot for this mix: 40% company news and updates, 30% employee recognition and stories, 20% community stuff (new hires, anniversaries). Throw in some leadership messages, upcoming opportunities, and clear calls-to-action. The key is balancing “here’s what’s happening” with “here’s who’s awesome.” Keep the same sections every time so people know what to expect.

How do you write a good newsletter subject line?

Be specific. “March wins: Record sales + 10 new hires” beats “Monthly Newsletter” every time. Create some curiosity or urgency. Use emojis (but don’t go crazy). Keep it under 50 characters so it doesn’t get cut off on phones. Preview what’s inside. Test different styles and see what your people actually open. And don’t use ALL CAPS or tons of exclamation marks—you’ll look spammy.

What is a good open rate for employee newsletters?

40-50% is average, 50-65% is good, 65%+ means you’re doing something right. Weekly newsletters usually get lower rates than monthly (people get tired). Mid-week mornings perform best. Your subject lines and content matter more than anything. Don’t obsess over the exact number—watch the trend. Going up? You’re improving. Going down? Time to change something.

How often should you send company newsletters?

Weekly if you’ve got a ton happening. Biweekly is the sweet spot for most places—regular enough to stay connected, manageable enough to actually produce. Monthly works if you’ve got really good content, but it’s easy for people to forget about you. Whatever you pick, stick to it. Consistency beats everything.

What makes employees actually read newsletters?

Subject lines that tell them what’s inside (not “Monthly Newsletter”). Design that works on phones. A good mix of news and shoutouts. Real photos of actual employees, not stock images. Keep it to 3-5 minutes max. Send it the same day every week/month so they expect it.

How long should a company newsletter be?

Aim for 3-5 minutes to read (roughly 500-800 words). Weekly ones should be super scannable—people don’t have time. Monthly newsletters can go a bit deeper, but keep the main email under 1,000 words. If you need more space, link out to full articles.

What are common newsletter mistakes to avoid?

Generic subject lines that say nothing. Cramming in way too much content. Tiny text that’s impossible to read on phones. All news, zero recognition. Sending whenever you feel like it instead of on schedule. Using only stock photos instead of real employee faces. Forgetting that over half your readers are on their phones.