Let’s be honest – company newsletters and publications often end up being pretty dry reads. They’re filled with boring announcements, generic content, and corporate jargon that makes employees’ eyes glaze over. But it doesn’t have to be this way!

Internal communications play a huge role in engaging your workforce, strengthening culture, and aligning people around shared goals. Done right, they can be an amazing tool for informing and connecting with staff. A regular newsletter or publication is a great way to continuously share company news, stories, and resources that employees actually care about reading.

In this guide, we’ll explore practical tips and best practices for creating internal publications that engage and excite your staff. I’ll share real-world examples that bring these ideas to life. My goal is to provide a comprehensive playbook you can use to develop valuable, enjoyable internal content your people look forward to receiving. Let’s get started!

Why Internal Newsletters and Publications Matter

Before we dive into the details, it’s worth stepping back and looking at why investing time in internal newsletters and publications is so important:

– Increased employee engagement: An internal publication gives employees a reliable way to stay up-to-date on company news and feel part of a shared mission. Engaged employees are more productive, loyal, and likely to advocate for the organization.

– Reinforced company culture: Internal content can bring your organization’s values and culture to life while spotlighting employee wins and milestones. This strengthens cultural identity across locations and teams.

– Transparency and trust: Newsletters and publications promote transparency by keeping leaders and managers accountable in their communications with staff. Employees are more engaged when they feel informed and trust that they are getting the full story.

– Change management: Major initiatives like reorganizations, new systems rollouts, and evolving priorities are more easily communicated through recurring internal content. This ensures all employees get consistent messaging to support change.

– Improved internal brand alignment: An internal publication allows you to reinforce brand messaging and strategic priorities across the organization. Employees serve as brand ambassadors, so alignment is key.

– Increased connection and collaboration: Spotlighting people, teams, and initiatives facilitates connection and collaboration across the organization. Employees feel more united and invested in shared objectives.

The benefits are substantial, but simply creating any internal newsletter won’t get results. You must invest thought and planning into developing truly valuable, engaging internal content employees look forward to receiving. 

Elements of an Effective Internal Newsletter or Publication

What makes for a worthwhile internal newsletter or magazine that engages employees across the organization? There are several key elements to focus on:

Relevant, Interesting Content

Above all, the content must add value for employees by informing them about topics they care about. Each article or segment must have a meaningful connection to readers’ interests or needs. Stale, generic content won’t hold attention or inspire action.

Aim for a range of content types that provide something for everyone:

– Leadership updates and strategy announcements

– Q&As and interviews with executives, managers, and staff 

– Previews of new initiatives, products, or events

– Recognition of employee milestones, anniversaries, and achievements

– Department spotlights or employee features 

– Behind-the-scenes news and updates from teams

– Guest articles from leadership and subject matter experts

– Trends and best practices related to readers’ roles

– How-to guides, tips, and growth opportunities

– Flyers or inserts for upcoming events and programs

– Photos, videos, infographics, and visual content

Engaging Design and Layout

Even the most compelling content will fall flat if it isn’t presented in an appealing, easy-to-scan layout. Use the following design elements to maximize engagement:

– A clean, uncluttered format with ample white space 

– Short paragraphs and bulleted lists for skimmability

– Eye-catching headlines, subheads, and images

– Intuitive navigation, categorization, and menus

– Liberal use of fonts, colors, borders, icons, and graphics  

– Chunking content into clear sections or departments

– Interactive elements like polls, quizzes, or comment functionality

Consistent Cadence and Distribution

The newsletter or publication must be delivered reliably on a predictable schedule to have value. Choose a monthly, biweekly, or weekly cadence that aligns with the content velocity and readership needs. Make sure the format and length is consistent at each distribution.

Promote new editions across multiple channels like email, the intranet, digital displays, and manager cascades. Have manager re-share content with their teams. Make accessing and sharing each new issue as frictionless as possible.

Input and Contributions from Employees 

Content directly from staff will always be more authentic and engaging than top-down messaging alone. Solicit input, content submissions, highlights, and ideas from employees across the organization. This empowers employees and gives them a venue to share their perspectives. 

Make contributing easy by having forms or templates people can quickly complete to submit content like highlights, Q&As, photos, and articles. Promote each issue’s employee contributors to showcase their participation.

Metrics and Optimization

Treat your internal publication like any other business initiative, with clear goals, metrics, and accountability for results. Track readership, engagement, and sentiment metrics for each edition. Survey readers on content needs and preferences.

Continuously gather feedback on what content and features resonate and what could be improved. Optimize based on trends and leverage reader analytics to double down on what works.

Developing an Internal Communications Strategy

Before launching any recurring content initiative, it’s critical to develop an internal communications strategy aligned to business goals and audience needs.

Key steps for building your strategy include:

– Identify business objectives: What needs does the organization have that more effective internal communication can help address? Common goals include driving culture change, increasing retention, aligning behind new strategies, promoting cross-team collaboration, etc.

– Understand your audiences: Segment your internal audience into primary personas (e.g. executives, managers, new hires, cross-functional teams). Map their preferences, needs, communication gaps and desired outcomes.

– Perform a content audit: Analyze current internal content types, sources, cadence, metrics, and effectiveness. Look for gaps and opportunities to better inform and align employees.  

– Define content pillars: Group your content into categories or buckets that address audience needs, such as Executive Updates, Employee Features, Training & Development, Events, etc. These pillars form the recurring sections that organize each edition.

– Map content channels: Consider how recurring newsletters and publications fit and integrate across existing internal channels like email, intranet, digital displays, town halls, and manager cascades.

– Establish governance: Define what team or leader owns internal communication and how cross-functional parties like HR, marketing, and executives provide input and align on strategy.

– Set success metrics: Identify quantifiable metrics like readership, engagement, awareness, and satisfaction to gauge performance and optimization opportunities.

– Build an editorial calendar: Plot out content types, pillars, and themes on a monthly basis to establish a sustainable cadence aligned to business needs.  

Approaching internal newsletters and publications strategically will maximize their relevance and value to employees as part of a broader engagement ecosystem.

Best Practices for Creating Internal Content 

What steps can you take to ensure your internal publication reaches its full potential? Here are some proven best practices to incorporate:

Get Leadership Buy-In 

Make sure executives and stakeholders are fully on board to invest in internal content efforts. They must be willing to contribute content consistently and enthusiastically promote each new issue.

Understand Your Audience and Goals

Keep the newsletter or publication focused squarely on reader needs through audience research, surveys, and feedback. And tie content directly to business goals so relevance and ROI are clear.  

Establish an Editorial Calendar 

Plan content categories, topics, and themes in advance on a monthly editorial calendar. This supports consistency while allowing for flexibility to incorporate timely news.

Make it Visually Appealing

Heavily incorporate graphics, photos, videos, illustrations, colors, and visual elements to increase engagement and scannability.

Find Internal Content Contributors

Involve staff from different teams and levels to contribute content. This boosts authenticity while making employees feel valued.

Promote Reader Interaction and Feedback

Include polls, comments, sharing capabilities, contests, and other interactive elements to engage readers and facilitate useful feedback.

Measure Results and Continuously Improve 

Analyze readership metrics, feedback surveys, content performance, and goal progress to refine the publication over time for maximum effectiveness.

Tools and Technology for Internal Communications 

The right technology and tools can streamline and amplify your internal newsletter or publication. Here are some options to consider:

– Email marketing platforms: Tools like MailChimp, Constant Contact, and Campaign Monitor make it easy to create, distribute, and analyze email-based publications.

– Intranet software: Feature-rich employee intranets like Jostle and Speakap enable newsletters, announcements, discussions, and content sharing.

– Employee app: Apps like Workvivo and Staffbase let you reach employees via mobile with internal publications.

– Design software: Create visual, print-quality internal publications with tools like Canva, Adobe InDesign, and Lucidpress. 

– Digital signage: Display dynamic internal communications on TVs and kiosks via solutions like Visix and Rise Vision.

– Internal social networks: Yammer, Workplace by Facebook, and Slack enable content sharing, reactions, and discussions around internal publications.

– Surveys: Poll employees on content needs and feedback using Typeform, SurveyMonkey, or Google Forms.

– Analytics: Track performance and readership metrics using Google Analytics, distribution platform reports, and employee feedback surveys.

Choose solutions that integrate with existing tech stacks and that your team can sustain. The goal is to distribute and maximize impact, not just create internal content.

Examples of Effective Internal Newsletters and Publications

To make these concepts more concrete, let’s look at a few leading examples of engaging internal newsletters and publications from companies:

HubSpot – Spotlight

HubSpot’s weekly internal newsletter Spotlight masterfully employs video, photos, illustrations, and quotes to engage employees. Sections like “Employee Spotlight” and “Meet the Newbies” reinforce culture and connection.


MailChimp – Inside Chimp

MailChimp’s “Inside Chimp” newsletter has a clean, consistent, graphic-rich format full of company updates, culture content, and employee features that bring their vibrant brand to life.


Shopify – Shopifolk Newsletter

Shopify creates a personalized, magazine-style employee experience with their mobile-friendly “Shopifolk” newsletter, formatted like a friendly email from the CEO.


Microsoft – One Microsoft

Microsoft’s broad “One Microsoft” internal network uses bold imagery, minimal text, video, and simple navigation to engage employees across their diverse global organization.


These are just a sampling of companies creatively leveraging various mediums, formats, branding, content, and technology to drive ongoing, effective employee communications through recurring internal publications.

Key Takeaways and Next Steps

Done right, regular internal newsletters, magazines, and publications are an invaluable tool for engaging and aligning your workforce. As you consider creating one for your organization, keep the following takeaways in mind:

• Make content relevant, valuable and accessible for employees
• Maintain a consistent cadence and promotion
• Incorporate input and content from staff at all levels
• Prioritize visual design for high engagement
• Develop a communication strategy tied to business goals  
• Continuously optimize based on metrics and feedback
• Take advantage of reader analytics and digital tools
• Think beyond a basic newsletter to a true employee publication

Creating something employees genuinely look forward to reading takes care, planning, and resources. But the rewards of an informed, aligned workforce make the investment well worth it. Use the strategies and best practices in this guide as a playbook to launch your own internal content initiative. Your employees and organization will be better for it.