What Is a Newsletter? Definition, Types and Who Needs One

A newsletter is an email sent on a fixed rhythm to people who have given you permission to email them. Every issue gives readers something worth opening, even if they buy nothing. A fictional bakery in Taunton sends one each month: the bread of the month, the Christmas order dates and a tip for keeping sourdough fresh.

A newsletter differs from a sale announcement or a single campaign in its rhythm, its mix of content and what readers were promised when they subscribed.

What is a newsletter? Three things make one

To define a newsletter, check for all three of these:

• A rhythm. It arrives weekly, monthly or each season, so readers know roughly when the next one is due.
• Readers who gave permission. Subscribers get it, along with customers and members who have reason to expect it.
• Something for the reader in every issue. News, dates, a tip or a story, with any offer as one item among several.

Remove the rhythm and you have a one-off announcement. Fill every issue with offers and it turns into a sales email with a masthead.

The dictionary definition of a newsletter is about members: Cambridge describes a printed or electronic document "sent regularly to the organization's members" (Cambridge Dictionary). Councils, churches and residents' groups still deliver paper ones, but the word now usually means an email, also called an e-newsletter, e-news or an email bulletin.

Newsletter vs eshot, service message and blog

In a single week, one customer might get three emails from the bakery. The first is the newsletter, the second an eshot about a Saturday pop-up stall, the third a cake order confirmation.

Email	When it goes out	What it carries	What the reader expects
Newsletter	On a fixed rhythm	Several items: news, dates, a tip, perhaps one offer	The next issue, on about the same day
Eshot or email blast	When there is something to announce	One message and one action	Nothing more; it is a one-off
Service message	When an order, booking or membership needs it	Administrative details only, with nothing promoted	An answer to something they did or owe
Blog post	Whenever you publish	An article on your website	Nothing in the inbox; readers come to the site

An eshot, which Americans call an email blast, can go to the same list as the newsletter.

A blog waits on your website for readers to find it, while a newsletter goes to them, often with a link to the latest post.

Types of newsletter

Newsletters fall into five common types, and the reader decides which one you are writing.

Type	Who reads it	What a typical issue carries
Customer newsletter	Customers and people who subscribed on the website	New products, a how-to, opening hours, one offer
Internal newsletter	Everyone who works for the organisation	Decisions, changes to rules or systems, new starters, dates
Club or community newsletter	Members, residents, parents or volunteers	Events and fixtures, results, help needed, committee news
Charity supporter newsletter	Donors, volunteers and fundraisers	What donations paid for, a story from the work, an appeal
Content or creator newsletter	Subscribers to a writer, expert or publication	The content itself: an essay, a roundup or an analysis

An internal newsletter goes to staff, so it is the one type nobody opts in to.

Do you need a newsletter?

You need a newsletter if people want to hear from you, your news comes on a regular rhythm and someone can write it on a set day.

Test the second point against the last three months. Could you name a few things each month that customers or members would have wanted to know? If so, you have enough for a monthly issue. In October the bakery could list a new rye loaf, half-term opening hours and the date Christmas orders open.

If your news comes twice a year, send an eshot when it happens and skip the newsletter. A club of 15 people who share a group chat may not need one either. It starts to pay off once the group is too big for one conversation, or when outsiders want the news.

How often should you send a newsletter?

Send it as often as you can fill an issue with things readers would miss. Choose a rhythm you can keep through your busiest month.

• Weekly suits news that dates fast, such as fixtures, a weekly menu or a running series.
• Monthly suits many small businesses and clubs, with time to gather enough items.
• Quarterly suits charities reporting on projects, and anyone whose news follows the seasons.

Whatever you choose, put it next to the subscribe button, for example "one short email a month, on a Friday". Then send on that same day each time, which also gives the writer a deadline. The bakery stays monthly but sends its December issue a week early, before the Christmas order deadline.

Length follows the content. A lead item and a couple of short ones fit a phone screen in a few scrolls. If you have ten items, you probably have two issues.

Newsletter format: what goes into one issue

Every issue has the same parts in the same order, so readers learn where to look. Here is the bakery's November issue of Bread Notes, part by part.

Part	What it does	In the November issue
From name	Shows who sent it before anyone opens it	The bakery's name
Subject line	Names the lead item	"Christmas orders are open, plus the November loaf"
Preview text	Gives a second reason to open	"And how to keep sourdough fresh"
Masthead	Newsletter name, issue number and date	Bread Notes, issue 4, November
Lead item	The one thing to read if they read nothing else	Christmas order dates and a link to the order form
Short items	News and something useful	The rye loaf; a storage tip
Dates	What is happening, and when	Market Saturdays; closed on 25 and 26 December
Sign-off	A real person and an invitation to reply	"Reply and tell us your favourite loaf"
Footer	Who sent it, an address and a way out	Shop address and unsubscribe link

Keep that order fixed from issue to issue, so anyone looking for event dates knows to scroll to the end. Width, image sizes and dark mode sit on top of this structure, not in place of it.

Who can you send a newsletter to in the UK?

UK law lets you email a newsletter to subscribers and to a few groups with an existing relationship. PECR, the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, sets out those rules, and the ICO (Information Commission's Office) explains them in its guidance on the email marketing rules, updated 28 April 2026.

• Subscribers. A sign-up counts as consent when the form names you and says what you will send; newsletter signup form examples show wording that does.
• Past customers. Under the soft opt-in, buyers who were offered an opt-out when you took their address can get news of your similar products.
• Charity supporters. Since 5 February 2026 a charity has its own soft opt-in for messages that further its charitable purposes. Only details collected on or after that date count, as consent management under PECR explains.
• Members. An email that only gives the annual general meeting (AGM) date or the subs deadline is a service message, not marketing. Once it promotes something, such as a quiz night or a donation appeal, the ICO counts it as direct marketing (key concepts).

Most club newsletters promote something, so treat yours as marketing: members need to have agreed to it, or one of the soft opt-ins above must apply. Each issue also has to say who it is from and offer a working way to unsubscribe, a chance the soft opt-ins require in every message. The ICO's pages are the source here, and our reading of them is not legal advice.

For the bakery, online customers given the chance to opt out at checkout can receive Bread Notes, because it is about bread the bakery sells. Counter sign-ups are covered by their consent.

What you need to send the first issue

You need six things, and a designer is not one of them.

A personal Gmail or Outlook account can reach a few dozen people through Bcc. It still adds no unsubscribe link, keeps no consent record and shows nothing about who opened the issue.

Starting a newsletter in MailGraf

In MailGraf the subscription form, the issue and the send day each have their own screen.

To collect subscribers, open Forms under Growth and click New form. Choose the list new subscribers will join, then pick Newsletter under MailGraf templates. If the form shows its consent box, people tick it, get a confirmation email and join once they click its link. MailGraf records the time and IP address of that click.

Hide the box with Show consent checkbox and people join straight away, with no confirmation email (Create a form).

To build the issue, open Rows in the email editor. Its Pre-made rows cover the body of the format above, in this order:

1. Logo with issue line (Header) for the masthead: the logo on the left, the issue number and month on the right.
2. Heading and text (Text) for the lead item.
3. Image left and then Image right (Image and text) for two short items, so the pictures alternate down the page.
4. Date and place (Event) for what is coming up. Its Add to calendar button gives readers a calendar file for Google, Apple or Outlook.
5. Nothing for the footer: it is locked in place and already carries the sender's address, the link to update details and the way out.

Pre-made rows take their fonts and colours from Global settings, so you replace only the sample text and pictures (Use rows in the email editor).

To keep the send day, choose Schedule on the Review step and set the date and time.

Bread Notes needs a form, a template and one scheduled send a month. That monthly total, rather than the number of subscribers, sets its plan on the pricing page.