Create a Newsletter and a Company Blog: Content That Gets Found and Read

The same question comes up every week, on the phone and at the counter. Everyone in the business knows the answer; nobody has written it down. The last blog post is two winters old, and the newsletter list is a spreadsheet where nobody remembers who actually agreed to be on it.

Anyone who wants to create a newsletter often starts with the software. That is the easiest decision. The harder questions come before it: what you write about, who is allowed to receive it and how the content also finds readers on your website. That last part is what the company blog is for. The blog gets found, the newsletter gets read.

Blog and newsletter: which does what?

A blog article waits on your website. Anyone who types a question into search will, at best, land with you, even long after it was written. A newsletter doesn't wait. It lands with people who already know you.

You answer a customer question thoroughly on the blog and announce the same article briefly in the newsletter. That way one piece of content reaches readers by two routes.

Create a newsletter: the first steps

According to the Austrian Economic Chamber (WKO), you create a newsletter in four phases: planning, creation, sending and evaluation. Planning deserves the most attention. Which content fits depends on the industry, the company, the customer base and the goal.

Set a goal

What should happen after reading? A call, a visit to the shop, a click on the new article? Write the goal down in one sentence before you choose a template.

Target group and industry

A joiner who works for property managers writes differently from a pastry shop. Work out whether your target group consists of companies or private individuals and what these people want to know from you. The yardstick is your customers' questions.

Content and subject line

One topic per issue is often enough. Your recipients read the subject line first. Say briefly what it is about. Promotional newsletters must also be recognisable as advertising, for example in the subject line (§ 6 of the Austrian E-Commerce Act, ECG, which § 174 (5) of the Austrian Telecommunications Act 2021, TKG 2021, refers to).

Newsletter design: template, layout, fonts

Many programs offer newsletter templates and a drag-and-drop editor where you move building blocks such as text, image and button into place with the mouse. Take a simple template and adapt it once to your corporate design: logo, brand colours, fonts. After that, every issue looks like you. How to define colours and fonts is covered in our corporate design tips.

A calm single-column layout with plenty of white space is easy to read. What looks elegant on a big screen is often a wall of grey text on a phone.

One clear call to action

Every issue needs a single, clearly visible CTA (call to action), such as “Read the full article”. The clicks on it will later show you whether the content sparked interest.

Sending and frequency

Before you send your first newsletter, send it to yourself and read it on different devices, above all on your phone. A typo in the subject line or a broken link stands out now. Once it has gone out, you can't get anything back. When it comes to frequency, be honest with yourself: how often can you manage an issue with real content?

Measure the effect

The usual metrics are delivery rate and bounces (undeliverable emails), open rate, click rate, the ratio of clicks to opens, unsubscribe rate and conversions, meaning enquiries or purchases. Since Apple's “Mail Privacy Protection”, the open rate has only limited value, because automatic fetches can count as opens. Clicks and enquiries are more reliable.

Published averages vary widely depending on provider, region and counting method. So compare yourself above all with your own previous issues.

The legal framework in Austria, in brief

These points are for orientation; this is not legal advice. If in doubt, ask your chamber of commerce (WKO) or a law firm.

• Consent first: Promotional emails and newsletters with an advertising purpose may only be sent with prior consent (§ 174 (3) TKG 2021). This also applies to companies. An address in a website's imprint is not consent. According to the WKO, even sending an email to ask whether you may send advertising in future is not permitted.
• How consent is given: freely, specifically, informed and actively, so without pre-ticked boxes. You must be able to prove consent (Art. 7 GDPR) and point out the right to withdraw it when people sign up. Double opt-in, meaning confirmation by clicking a link in an email, is not required by law. The WKO recommends it as proof. For sign-ups on paper, it advises getting a signature.
• Existing customers: The exception only applies if all the conditions of § 174 (4) TKG 2021 are met: you received the address in connection with a sale or a service, you are advertising your own similar products or services, the customer was able to refuse free of charge and without difficulty when the address was collected and with every mailing, and they haven't refused beforehand. Anyone on the ECG list kept by RTR, the Austrian regulator's opt-out register, may not be emailed without consent, even as an existing customer.
• Unsubscribing and sender: The sender must not be disguised, and recipients must always be able to opt out of further mailings. In practice, every newsletter contains an unsubscribe link for this.
• Imprint: If the newsletter appears at least four times a year in a similar format, then according to the WKO the imprint belongs directly in it, while the disclosure may be reachable via a link. Depending on the legal form, the company details under § 14 of the Austrian Commercial Code, UGB (for companies in the commercial register) and § 63 of the Austrian Trade Regulation Act, GewO, are added.
• Software: You will usually conclude a data processing agreement with the provider of the newsletter tool.

Unlawful promotional emails can be punished with an administrative fine of up to EUR 50,000 (§ 188 (4) no. 28 TKG 2021).

Company blog: content that gets found

In its guidance on helpful content, Google describes what its ranking systems aim to look for: reliable content written for people, not for search engines. Google asks, for example, whether a text offers original information or analysis. Merely rewriting other sources isn't enough.

That includes E-E-A-T: experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. Google's quality raters use this framework to assess content, and according to Google trust is the most important part. E-E-A-T is not a ranking factor in itself. For your blog, that means:

• Answer the questions your customers really ask, with the knowledge from your trade.
• Show your own experience, including what you advise against.
• Make it clear who is behind the content. Google also advises being open about how content was created, for example when automation or AI was involved. Google doesn't prohibit AI assistance. But lots of pages without added value can breach the spam policies.

For AI search features, Google recommends unique content with its own perspective. Where your article appears is decided by Google and the AI providers themselves. You can find our specialist blog here.

Write once, use many times, right up to your door

An article on the most common customer question becomes the lead story in your newsletter. Then it carries on working where your customers are anyway: at the counter and in front of the shop window.

A QR code on the counter display, on the business card or as a sticker on the glass door leads to the sign-up form on your website. Stickers applied to the inside of the glass need mirror-image printing and suitable material. Mention in your enquiry that it will be mounted on the inside. For the online form, double opt-in is considered the recommended proof. If you prefer to put out a paper form, have people sign it, use single sheets instead of a shared list so nobody sees other people's addresses, and keep them locked away. Online and on paper alike, state what the address will be used for and that consent can be withdrawn at any time. According to the WKO, emailing addresses without consent afterwards to ask for permission is not allowed.

When your newsletter, sign and shop window share the same handwriting, people recognise you. More on this in Corporate design: goals, impact and benefits. Why one contact for concept and implementation saves coordination is explained in Why full service saves time and money.

From the showroom to the newsletter

Made up, but typical: a flooring specialist keeps hearing the same question, namely which floor suits a household with a dog. The business answers it in a blog article, with photos from the showroom and a clear recommendation on what it advises against.

In the next newsletter, the article is at the top, with a short subject line and a single link. On the sales counter there is a display with a QR code for signing up, next to single sheets to sign for anyone who prefers to put their name down on paper. Nobody gets on the list without a confirmed sign-up by email or a signature.

What comes of it can't be said in advance. What is certain: the answer is now on the blog and in the newsletter, and the display on the counter leads there.

It's not the software that stalls you, it's the second issue

The hardest issue is the second one. You write the first full of energy; by the second, you've run out of topics. So before you start, make a list of customer questions. With ten questions noted down, you'll get by for quite a while.

Choose the software you will actually use regularly, and look for sign-up with confirmation, an unsubscribe link, templates in your own design and reporting.

Not every business needs both. If you have few regular customers, you are better off starting with the blog.

Conclusion: before the first newsletter goes out

Technically, a newsletter is quickly created. Whether anyone still reads it in the long run is decided beforehand. Do you know which customer questions you will answer in the blog and newsletter? Has everyone on your list given consent you can prove? And which frequency can you keep up for a whole year? Once those answers are in place, it is worth looking for the right software.

Do you already publish content regularly? That is exactly what the 60-second test on our marketing page asks. For more detail, there is the Visibility Check: free and with no obligation, with three to five prioritised recommendations. Specific questions about a blog or newsletter? Write to us via our contact page.

Frequently asked questions

Which software is suitable for creating a newsletter?

The software you will use regularly. Make sure it supports sign-up with confirmation by email (double opt-in), puts an unsubscribe link in every issue, allows templates in your brand colours and fonts, and reports on clicks. You will usually conclude a data processing agreement with the provider.

Can I simply send my customers a newsletter?

In Austria, promotional newsletters generally require prior consent, including towards companies (§ 174 (3) of the Austrian Telecommunications Act 2021, TKG 2021). You may only email existing customers without consent if all the conditions of § 174 (4) are met and they are not on the ECG list. This is not legal advice.

How often should a company blog or newsletter appear?

There is no fixed rule. Our view: a frequency you can keep up for a whole year is worth more than an ambitious plan that fizzles out after three issues. Better less often, and with an answer to a real customer question each time.