There are so many awareness dates in each month that it’s impossible not to piggy back off one of those and craft content around that. If you’ve wondered, for example, why so many people last month were talking about mental health and autism, it’s because there was a mental health awareness week and autism months. These dates trigger conversation, so why not get on board with that and see how it can fit into your business. If you’re a university, talk about the trend of accommodating special needs into your curriculum. If you’re a retailer, maybe have a campaign where either during the month or on a certain weekend a set % of proceeds will go to a related charity.

Try including a video in your email campaign rather than just another round of copy. Talk about your services, client testimonials, or just a “behind the scenes” look at your day to day life.

Rather than have the holidays be about the holidays or your products, try thinking outside the box. For February, embrace a different way of thinking about love for example. Are you offering a gift certificate for a loved one or partnering with other businesses to host a special Valentine’s Day contest? The idea is to get creative so people start talking about you and know that you’re sending more than just self-serving campaigns.

Because people love giving their opinions and you need to know what your customers are thinking. Be sure to offer an incentive for taking the survey.

If you’re doing weekly newsletters, try having the last week of the month be about some ongoing series. If you’re a retailer, have it be about vignettes on the history of retail. But make it fun. Use a lot of pictures and go with stories you know your audience will love, like “What did Coco Chanel Have for Breakfast?” or “What was a woman’s go-to makeup in the 1910s?

What makes your email campaign stand out? Why should your consumers always be checking your emails or even subscribe to them? The answer is simple if you use email to send exclusive discounts.

Instead of talking about yourself, how about profiling your favorite customer or vendor? It doesn’t have to be someone who does business with you. If you’re a patriotic company, you can take the opportunity to profile a veteran each month.

Some companies have begun opting for quarterly email newsletters in order to make it easier on the backend in gathering ideas and crafting content. Others might opt for this because they don’t want to inundate inboxes. However, it’s important to stay active with your audience and opt for weekly and even monthly newsletters rather than quarterly ones. If you’ve got something important or even interesting to say, you need to say it on a regular basis to stay at the forefront of everyone’s mind. Quarterly newsletters should be reserved for print publication.