Content standards for email newsletters

Date adopted: 
October 24, 2024
Last update: 
December 10, 2024

This page contains content standards specific to email newsletters and links to existing content standards to apply.

Email newsletters are great for:

  • sharing information directly to your clients and the public;
  • promoting goverment programs or initiatives; and
  • keeping the public informed. 

Email newsletters are not for: 

  • duplicating content that exists elsewhere; or
  • replacing emergency communications, which follow different protocols for urgent or time-sensitive updates. 

General guidance

Newsletter content should:

  • be easy to scan - use bullets and short sentences;
  • be written and owned by the Government of Yukon;
  • be focused on the subject/topic of the newsletter;
  • be timely - news, events, seasonal information;
  • use words and phrases your subscribers will recognize; and
  • give users enough information to get an idea of the topic and link to detailed information housed elsewhere.

Article headings

Aim for headings that are no more than 10 words and state the key point of the article - minimize text wraping as much as possible.

Email newsletter or blog - which one will work best for you?

E-newsletters are a great way to give a quick overview of important information. You can use them to provide key updates and link to blogs or other detailed content for people who want to learn more. This combination allows departments to engage their audience regularly while also offering more in-depth information in other formats.

Tone of voice

The tone of voice for each newsletter should be consistent, clear and appropriate for the audiences who will subscribe to it.

Make content scannable

  • Just like the web – front load headlines, paragraphs and bulleted lists with information carrying words
  • Keep content as short as possible – short lines of text, short, clear headings, etc.
  • Focus on one key point and provide supporting details.
  • People should be able to scan and get an immediate idea of what the blurb or paragraph is about. They can then decide if they want to read it, or move on.
  • Headlines should be no more than 10 words and state the content’s key point.

Prioritize content

  • Avoid a lengthy newsletter definition or introduction in every edition. People want to see content without having to scroll.
  • Content at the top of a newsletter should be valuable to most users.
  • Most important content at the top – putting it in the middle or bottom as a lure for users to get them to consume more content does not work – many will not get to it.

Images

Use fewer, high quality images that support your newsletter content. Images should be:

  • relevant, informational and help people understand the content;
  • high quality;
  • optimized for mobile;
  • apply the brand standards;
  • used with the applicable copyright and permission; and
  • accessible – alt text, image descriptions.

Test your newsletter before sending

  • What does it look like on desktop?
  • How is the experience on mobile?
  • How long does it take for images to load?

Social media

Within the templates you can add social media links to each article or in the footer. if you add a link within an article - the call to action is to "share" on the platforms you specify. The social media links in the footer are where the call to action is to "follow" your account(s).

Video

  • Use to provide supplemental information – essential information should be in text.
  • Link to videos and describe the content of the video in text. Avoid linking to videos that are longer than one minute. People are often looking for snippets of content.
  • Accurately describe video content and duration.
  • Clearly indicate which content is a video – avoid an image that looks like a video still (people will expect it to play within the newsletter) and use the word video in the text link.
  • Users expect clicking on a video to open it in a new browser window.
  • Best practice – exclude video controls from all stills so you don’t set incorrect expectations.
  • If you must use a still – make sure it communicates the message conveyed in the video.

Proofreading content before publishing

  • Email newsletter content should be concise and to the point. Use strict editing to reduce the length of articles and make them easier to scan.
  • Content must:

 

Categories: 
Creating content
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