Newsletter copywriting: stop sounding like a press release

A few thoughts on newsletter copywriting, with an example and tips to use today.

I have a feeling you’ll relate to the story I’m about to tell you.

This happens to me a lot, so I reckon I’m not the only one who suffers through this.

It was one of those mornings when I opened my emails and found 437 unread…

Sigh…

But it’s got to be done, so with a freshly brewed tea next to me, I set off on my quest to have ZERO unread emails by the end of — realistically — the next hour.

My index finger was hovering over the ‘delete’ button. Anything remotely skippable got cut.

I must admit I was quite ruthless.

I was making good progress — the first 100 emails sorted within fifteen minutes, half a cup of tea gone too.

Email number 101 caught my eye, but for entirely the wrong reasons.

Subject line: New product launch. Pre-header: We are pleased to announce our new product…

WOW. How… official.

It got better (I mean worse). It was full of sentences like these:

• “Designed to meet the needs of…”

• “Addresses a critical market need…”

• “We believe this will fundamentally change…”

You know what it reminded me of?

A press release.

Someone put a press release into an email and called it a newsletter.

(I see you, and I see your CEO quote, too.)

In my opinion, this is one of the main reasons newsletters underperform. Not list size, not send frequency (though both matter). It’s how the thing was written.

The tell-tale signs of a press-release newsletter:

• Passive language: “it is designed” rather than “we designed it”

• Distance: “the market” rather than “you”

• Formality: “our CEO” rather than “I”

• Superlatives: “unprecedented” rather than “unique”

• No real emotion: “pleased” rather than “thrilled” or “worked hard”

None of this is wrong for a press release — it’s broadcasting from one to many, so a bit of formality is expected.

But in your inbox? Not so much. Today, email is personal; a conversation, not a bulletin.

I understand where the temptation to use the ‘press release’ style in emails comes from.

Depending on the industry you are in, the law and regulations might make you cautious with how you phrase certain claims and promises, and corporate email writing helps you adhere to the rules.

Or perhaps it’s simply a corporate habit that stayed with you. In the ‘olden days’, formality was part of the image, projecting authority and hierarchy was expected – admired even. Big words that sounded impressive were the style many had used. In 2026, however, things have changed.

So what’s the alternative?

Story-led newsletters, of course, but before you roll your eyes — hear me out.

A story-led newsletter isn’t just “the opposite” of everything we just listed for the press-release-style email — though, conveniently, it does undo each point one by one.

Storytelling – as the name implies – involves telling stories, but they don’t have to be real stories, or very long ones. It can be a short anecdote or a completely made-up scenario that helps the reader ‘see’ what you mean.

It also doesn’t have to be your story. It can be of your customers, business partners or employees. You can have multiple stories (though, personally, I don’t recommend it).

And finally, the story doesn’t have to be at the beginning of your newsletter. You can have a story in the middle, or even at the very end.

In a nutshell, it’s one idea, told through (or illustrated by) a story, one CTA, no “in other news” section competing for attention at the bottom.

Let me show you the difference.

Same product launch, told two ways.

Version one — the press release:

Company A is proud to announce the launch of Product B, the newest addition to our growing range.

Designed to meet the evolving needs of our customers, Product B combines industry-leading technology with a sleek, user-friendly design. This launch marks a significant milestone in our continued commitment to innovation and customer satisfaction.

“We are thrilled to bring Product B to market,” said Tom Smith, CEO, “This launch reflects our ongoing mission to deliver best-in-class solutions to our customers, and we believe it will set a new standard in the category.”

Key features include: Feature one is amazing. Feature two is even more amazing.

Etc., etc. — you get the idea.

Version two — the story:

It was 11:47 pm when the final test came back. We’d been staring at the same screen for hours, our eyes sore from forgetting to blink. Someone had made a coffee run two hours earlier; the cups were still there, untouched and cold.

This was the last test — the one that would put a stop to months of tweaking, scrapping versions that almost worked, late nights arguing over details so small you’d think we were being ridiculous (we were not being ridiculous — they mattered).

The results loaded. We all went quiet, holding our breath. Then someone said, “Wait. Run it again.” Same result. Then again, just to be sure.

It worked. Properly, exactly-as-it-should worked.

I wish I could describe the feeling without sounding cheesy, but there’s no other way — it was pure joy. We weren’t celebrating a product. We were celebrating finally getting to the version we know will perform for you, every time.

That product is Product B, and it’s now part of the range…

Pause for a second and consider the difference. Which version makes you want to check out the website? Which one tells you more about what this company is actually like? And last question to ponder over: which one has more personality and is more memorable?

The part that’s easy to miss is that the story-led version is about the team — their late nights, their coffee gone cold, their relief when the results loaded — and yet it’s somehow more focused on the reader. That’s the whole trick.

The story isn’t really about the team patting themselves on the back; it’s proof, lived out in real time, of exactly how much they cared about getting this right. The reader doesn’t walk away thinking “wow, what a dedicated team,” they walk away thinking “if they cared that much before I even bought it, imagine what I’m actually getting.” The story does the one thing a bullet-pointed feature list never could: it lets the reader feel the quality, instead of just being told about it.

And with that, I rest my case.

How to actually start doing this

Okay — so you’re sold on the idea. Where do you actually start?

Here’s my honest advice.

1. Don’t blow the whole thing up overnight.

As much as I’d love to tell you to rip up your newsletter format and rebuild it from scratch tomorrow, your deliverability won’t thank you for it. Email providers are funny about sudden change. If you go from press-release-stiff to full-blown story overnight, you risk looking like “suspicious activity” to the very algorithms deciding whether your emails deliver to the inbox or the spam folder. So, slow and steady wins this one.

2. Start small.

Pick one send. Trim it to a single CTA. Open with a short story or a relatable moment instead of a headline. Ease the tone down a notch, so it reads a little more like you talking, and a little less like a company announcing something. Small, deliberate tweaks — nothing your subscribers (or your email provider) will find jarring.

3. Test it.

Run that softened version against your usual format with a smaller segment of your list — an A/B test, in the simplest sense — and actually look at what happens. Did open rates hold up? Did people click the CTA you had? Did anyone reply (always a good sign. Replies usually mean someone felt something)? You’re not proving the theory with these tests. You run them to check you got the execution right, too, before you roll it out to everyone.

Small steps, tested properly, and you’ll have your answer, without putting your whole list or your sender reputation on the line to get it.

(And if “just write a story” feels easier said than done at 9 pm on a weekday, staring at a blank draft — that’s completely normal. Storytelling is its own skill; skills feel clumsy before they feel natural. If the blank page is winning, send me a message. Tell me what happened this month, and I’ll help you find the story in it.)

P.S.

Want the long version — with the full breakdown of press-release tell-signs, the stats behind why this matters, and the FAQ? Here’s the full guide.

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