An email newsletter for your small business: how to do it well

Is a newsletter worth it for a local business?

On social media, only some of your followers see each post, and the platform decides which. An email lands in every subscriber’s inbox. For a local business, it is a simple way to stay on the minds of people who already like you: the couple who came for an anniversary, the Saturday regulars, the person who bought a gift from you last December.

A newsletter does not need to be a magazine. For a restaurant, bakery, salon or shop, it is often three paragraphs and a photo: what is new, why come back, how to book. This guide focuses on practice; retention as a whole is covered in our customer retention guide.

How do you collect customers’ email addresses?

A list of 80 regulars who know you is worth more than 2,000 strangers. The best places to collect:

• at the till or counter: a small notebook or a tablet, with a clear line (“Get our new menu and events, one email a month at most”). Offer it, do not push;
• on your website: a visible sign-up form that says what people will receive and how often;
• when people book: an unticked box to receive your news on top of the confirmation;
• on receipts, menus or table cards: a QR code leading to the form on your website;
• at events: tastings, workshops and themed evenings are good moments to offer sign-up.

The rules, briefly

Rules depend on where you and your customers are, so check locally. In the UK, the ICO’s guidance on electronic mail marketing says you generally need specific consent, with a “soft opt-in” for existing customers who bought something similar from you, provided you offered a simple opt-out when collecting their details and in every message. EU countries apply similar rules. In the US, the FTC’s CAN-SPAM compliance guide requires accurate sender details, honest subject lines, a valid postal address, a clear way to opt out and opt-outs honoured within 10 business days. Our retention guide covers the data side in more detail.

Never buy a mailing list: those people do not know you, will not open your emails and will make your sends look like spam.

Which tool should you use to send it?

Avoid sending from your everyday inbox with everyone in the “To” or “Cc” field: customers see each other’s addresses, there is no unsubscribe link, and your account may be blocked for bulk sending. There are three broad families of tools:

Whatever you choose, check five things: an unsubscribe link added automatically to every email, the ability to export your list (it must stay yours), proper display on phones, a sender name that is your business name, and where the data is stored.

If you have a Voxtya website, the Newsletter section adds a sign-up form to your site (email, optional first name, editable consent line). Subscribers appear in your account with a CSV export, and you write to them from Voxtya: a subject, a message, one button, with an unsubscribe link added to every email. It is included in the Website service.

How often should you send, and how do you write the subject line?

Frequency

For a local business, once a month is a good starting pace. Some send only four to six times a year, at key moments (back to school, the holidays, Valentine’s Day, summer), and that works too. What matters is having a reason every time. An email with no news, sent “to stay in touch”, is the one that triggers unsubscribes. A marketing calendar helps you spot the right moments.

Day and time matter less than people say. Pick a moment that makes sense for your trade: Thursday for a restaurant filling its weekend, Sunday evening for a salon opening the week’s slots, a few weeks before the holidays for a gift shop.

The subject line

The subject decides whether the email is read. A few simple rules:

• say what is inside: “Our autumn menu starts Thursday” rather than “October newsletter”;
• keep it short: on phones the end is often cut off, so put the key words first;
• no shouting: all capitals and rows of exclamation marks look like spam;
• be honest: do not announce a deal that does not exist. Misleading subject lines disappoint people, and US law, for one, prohibits them;
• a recognisable sender name: “Sarah at Market Street Bakery” stands out more than a technical address.

What does a good small business email look like?

A local business email can be read in thirty seconds on a phone. The structure that works best:

1. An opening line that gives the news (“Our terrace reopens on Saturday”).
2. One photo, taken by you (see our smartphone photo guide).
3. Two or three short paragraphs: the detail, the date, what makes it worth coming.
4. One button: book, see the menu, make an appointment, find us. Two buttons already create hesitation.
5. A human sign-off: your first name, your address, your opening hours.
6. The footer: business name, address, why the person is receiving this and the unsubscribe link.

• The subject line clearly says what the email contains
• The sender name is your business or your first name
• One action requested, with a visible button
• Text proofread, dates and prices correct
• The email displays properly on a phone (send yourself a test)
• The unsubscribe link is there and works
• Your address and hours appear at the bottom

What should you write about? 12 ideas

Running out of ideas is the main reason newsletters stop. Here are twelve topics that work for most local businesses:

1. The new menu, new collection or new seasonal treatments.
2. Bookings opening for a key date (the holidays, Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day).
3. An event: a tasting, a workshop, a themed evening, meeting a supplier.
4. Free slots this week, for a salon, a spa or a restaurant midweek.
5. Behind the scenes: how a product is made, the morning delivery, a special order being prepared.
6. A portrait of a team member or a supplier.
7. A trade tip: storing bread, caring for colour-treated hair, pairing wine and cheese.
8. Summer hours, holiday closures and the reopening date.
9. A limited-quantity product to reserve.
10. Gift cards or vouchers, ahead of gifting seasons.
11. A thank-you to customers: the business’s anniversary, a kind review (with the author’s permission if you name them).
12. A practical change: online booking, a new payment method, delivery or collection.

Already posting on social media? Recycle the best of the month into your newsletter. Our article 15 Instagram post ideas for restaurants has more ideas, and so does our guide to local business marketing ideas.

Which emails should you send? 4 templates to copy

Fill in the brackets, cut what does not apply and keep one button per email.

New menu or new collection

Subject: Our autumn menu starts [day] Hi [First name], From [day], our menu changes with the season. On it: [dish 1], [dish 2] and the return of [a favourite dish or product]. As always, everything is made here with [suppliers, ingredients or craft]. We would love you to come and try it. [Button: Book a table] See you soon, [Your first name], [Business name] [Address] · [Opening hours]

The holidays

Subject: Holiday orders are open at [Business name] Hi [First name], The holidays are coming and we are already preparing [cakes, gift boxes, set menus, gift cards]. To be sure of getting what you want, order before [date]. Collection in store on [dates]. Holiday opening hours: [hours]. Closed from [date] to [date]. [Button: See holiday orders] Thank you for your support this year, [Your first name], [Business name]

An event

Subject: [Day] [date]: [theme] evening at [Business name] Hi [First name], On [date] at [time], we are hosting [short description: tasting, workshop, live music]. [One sentence about the guest, the producer or what makes the evening special.] Limited to [number] people, [price or “free entry”]. [Button: Save my spot] Hope to see you there, [Your first name], [Business name]

Free slots

Subject: A few slots left this week Hi [First name], We still have a few spaces on [Tuesday afternoon, Thursday morning, Friday lunchtime]. If you were thinking about [your next haircut, a treatment, coming in for lunch], now is a good time. [Button: See available slots] Speak soon, [Your first name], [Business name]

For slots and bookings, the button must lead to a page where customers can actually book. Our guide to online booking with no commission explains how to get one.

How do you know whether your newsletter works?

Email tools show three numbers. They are useful as long as you know their limits:

Why opens are approximate: an email counts as opened when a tiny invisible image loads. Apple, for example, explains that Mail Privacy Protection downloads that remote content in the background, whether or not you engage with the email. Conversely, an app that blocks images misses real reads.

The best indicator is what happens in your business: bookings in the following days, customers mentioning the email at the counter, holiday orders. Note them after each send. Compare your sends with each other rather than with industry averages, which vary widely.

What newsletter suits which kind of business?

• Restaurant, bar: new menu, events, holiday bookings, closures and reopening. Send on Thursday for the weekend. See also our restaurant page.
• Hair salon, beauty salon: free slots, new treatments, aftercare tips, gift vouchers before Mother’s Day and the holidays.
• Shop, wine shop: new arrivals, new brands, tastings, gift selections. A good product photo does most of the work.
• Bakery, patisserie: seasonal products, holiday orders, summer hours. Sending at key moments is often enough.
• Tradesperson: seasonal maintenance reminders (boiler, chimney, garden), availability, recent before-and-after jobs. Four sends a year can be plenty.
• Hotel, B&B: season opening, local events, dates still free, an offer for past guests.

What mistakes should you avoid?

• Adding customers without permission or reusing addresses gathered elsewhere.
• Sending with visible addresses from your inbox: every recipient sees everyone else’s email.
• Forgetting the unsubscribe link, or carrying on emailing someone who unsubscribed.
• Writing too much: a business email is not an article. Three paragraphs, one photo, one button.
• Only sending discounts: customers who only get deals wait for deals before coming in.
• Sending one big image with no text: it displays badly when images are blocked and looks more like spam.
• Starting strong then stopping: three sends in a month, then nothing for a year. Pick a pace you can keep.
• Not proofreading: a wrong date or broken link cannot be fixed once the email has gone.

For the rest of your presence (Google listing, social media, reviews), our free visibility check shows in a minute what customers see of your business on Google.

The steps at a glance

The steps to start a simple, useful newsletter with your customers’ permission.

1. Choose a tool. Pick a tool that adds an unsubscribe link automatically and lets you export your list.
2. Set up collection. Add a form to your website, an unticked box when people book and a clear line at the counter.
3. Set a pace. Once a month or at the key moments of the year, whatever you can keep up.
4. Write a first email. One concrete piece of news, a photo, two or three paragraphs and one button.
5. Test before sending. Send it to yourself, read it on your phone, check links and dates.
6. Send and note the results. Track clicks, unsubscribes and bookings in the following days.

This guide for your trade

• Restaurant
• Hair and beauty salon
• Bakery
• Shops and retail
• Tradesperson
• Hotel and B&B

Go further

• Customer retention for small businesses
• Marketing calendar for small businesses
• Local business marketing ideas
• Social media for a local business
• Business photos with a smartphone
• Restaurants: 15 Instagram post ideas