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How do you make your internal newsletter something employees choose to open?
Your newsletter lands in an inbox where readers already receive 117 emails a day, most of them skimmed in under a minute (Microsoft, 2025). Without a clear promise and a stable format, it quickly loses their trust.
Measurement is another difficulty. Seven in ten internal communicators stop at opens, clicks and views, and only 16% measure outcomes (Gallagher, 2026). This guide sets out a complete method, from diagnosis to a first measured quarter.
What's inside this guide:
- From diagnosis to reading contract: a twelve-question self-assessment across four areas, then a six-line reading contract for leadership to approve.
- One issue, three levels of readers: a common core plus audience or site variants drawn from the Microsoft 365 directory, and the relays for employees without a mailbox.
- Eight sections, each in its place: two fixed sections, rotating sections and variants, each with a goal, a format and an indicator.
- Six indicators, each with its limit: why the open rate is misleading, and the six-line dashboard to present to leadership.
- Sending from Microsoft 365: the SharePoint news digest, Outlook Newsletters and Viva Amplify compared, along with Exchange Online sending limits.
- Relaunch your newsletter in 90 days: three steps with their exit criteria, and the three figures to present to leadership on day 90.
- Two tools to print: the calendar for the seven issues of the quarter, with the editorial committee agenda, and the 16-point pre-send checklist.
Why download it:
A reading contract kept issue after issue. The guide sets the name, readers, sections, rhythm, sender and exclusions in six lines. Readers know what they will receive and when.
Templates ready to fill in. Each of the eight sections specifies its goal, format and indicator. The calendar then spreads the seven issues across the quarter.
Indicators whose limits you understand. Each indicator comes with what it measures and what it does not tell you. You compare an issue with the previous one rather than with a market average.
An informed choice within Microsoft 365. The guide compares the available building blocks and sets out Exchange Online sending limits, to check with IT before the first issue.
