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Plan, write and send the monthly newsletter

growth.newsletter·version 1.0.0·draft1 to verify

Plan, write and send the monthly newsletter

The monthly newsletter is planned, written, proofread, approved and sent, and its results are recorded.

LauraMarketerruns itProfile ›
Whenscheduled · monthly — monthly — a fixed send day agreed with the owner
Who actsthe agent acts after approval
Time60–90 min active over 1–2 days; sending itself minutes
Countryany country
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When to use

The monthly send date is coming up and the newsletter has not been sent. Not for a one-off campaign mail to a segment — that is growth.run-experiment territory if it is a test, or a one-time send the owner approves separately. Not for social posts — use growth.social-post-weekly. If the list itself is suspect (bought, scraped, stale), fix that first; do not send over it.

Before you start

  • The send day and the sender identity are decided (a role address such as news@company, never a person's mailbox).
  • The list is opt-in only, and the company can show when each address opted in. ⚠ verify consent and unsubscribe rules for electronic marketing in each recipient country — GDPR and national ePrivacy rules; check eur-lex.europa.eu and the national authority.
  • Last month's numbers are known (opens, clicks, unsubscribes) so this issue can be compared.

What a run requires2

  • Approval · S2 · ownerthe run stops until a named person records the decision
  • Approval · S6 · ownerthe run stops until a named person records the decision

Any step can wait until a date and reopens by itself; every closed step leaves evidence (a note, a link, a number).

The trail8 steps

  1. Collect the materialagent

    Pull from the growth log, the tasks and goals, and the owner's notes: what shipped, what is coming, any offer or event with a date.

    Done when a short list of 3–5 candidate items exists with dates and facts.

  2. Pick the angleownerneeds approval · owner

    Approval · S2 · owner — the run stops until a named person records the decision

    Present the candidates with a proposed subject line and one-sentence angle for each. The owner names one lead item and approves the subject line direction.

    Done when the owner has picked the lead and the send date is confirmed.

  3. Draftagent

    Write the issue: subject line, lead item first, one clear call to action, plain language, under ~300 words of body. Every link gets its final destination now, not later.

    Done when a full draft exists with all links pointing at real pages.

  4. Check before anyone reads itagent

    Open every link and confirm each lands on the right page; check the mail renders with images off; spell-check the subject line; confirm the sender address and reply-to; confirm the unsubscribe link works.

    Done when every link, address and the unsubscribe link have been verified by opening them.

    ⛔ A dead link found here costs a minute; found after sending it costs an apology.

  5. Proofreadagent

    Read the whole text aloud once — catches broken sentences and missing words. If the company has a second person, they read it too.

    Done when the text has been read end to end and corrections applied.

  6. Approve the sendownerneeds approval · owner

    Approval · S6 · owner — the run stops until a named person records the decision

    Show the final draft, the recipient list size and the source of the list. The owner approves sending to this list on this date.

    Done when the owner has said yes, in writing (a message or a task comment).

  7. Sendagent

    Send from the approved sender identity to the approved list, at the agreed time of day.

    Done when the send is complete and the sent copy is archived in the mail module.

  8. Recordagent

    After 3–5 days, read back the numbers: delivered, opens, clicks, unsubscribes, replies. Write them into the growth log next to the issue, compare with the previous month, and note one thing to try next issue.

    Done when the numbers and the note are in the log and the owner has a two-line summary.

Checks — how we know it worked

  • The sent copy in the archive matches the approved draft (subject, links, sender).
  • The unsubscribe link in the sent mail works — tested on the sent copy, not only the draft.
  • Unsubscribes from this send are processed: the addresses are off the list for the next send.
  • The list size sent to equals the list size approved in S6.

If it goes wrong

SymptomResponse
A wrong or dead link was sentSend a short correction mail the same day with the right link; note it in the log.
Spam complaints or a spam-folder landingCheck the sender identity, SPF/DKIM/DMARC of the sending domain (see tech.dmarc-review); pause further sends until fixed.
The list contains addresses with no consent recordDo not send to them; remove or re-permission them; tell the owner before the next send.
Open rate collapses versus last monthCheck deliverability first (bounces, complaints), then subject line and send time; do not change two things at once.
The send date slipsSend late rather than skipping — an unbroken streak matters more than the exact day; note the reason in the log.

What each step leaves behind

  1. S1a short list of 3–5 candidate items exists with dates and facts.
  2. S2the owner has picked the lead and the send date is confirmed.
  3. S3a full draft exists with all links pointing at real pages.
  4. S4every link, address and the unsubscribe link have been verified by opening them.
  5. S5the text has been read end to end and corrections applied.
  6. S6the owner has said yes, in writing (a message or a task comment).
  7. S7the send is complete and the sent copy is archived in the mail module.
  8. S8the numbers and the note are in the log and the owner has a two-line summary.

Evidence to keep

The approved draft and the owner's approval (who, when) · the sent copy · the recipient count and list source · open/click/unsubscribe numbers with the read-back date · the growth log entry.

How this playbook improves

After every 6 sends ask: are opens and clicks flat, rising or falling, and did the one change noted in S8 move them? Did any send go out with a broken link or to a wrong list? Was any issue late, and why? A new version changes the step that caused the slip or the miss, and says so in its change note.