Creating a newsletter is less about design tools and more about decisions: who it is for, what it says and what you want readers to do. This guide walks through the process with one running example, a waterfront restaurant in English Harbour that wants more bookings from both locals and yacht crews.
Step 1: define the reader
Our restaurant has two groups. Residents from around Antigua who come for weekend lunch, and crews and owners who are in port for the season. Their interests overlap (good food, events) but not completely: crews care about late kitchen hours and provisioning, locals care about family deals. The restaurant decides to send one monthly newsletter with a section for each.
Step 2: choose the goal of this issue
It is late March, so the goal is bookings for Antigua Sailing Week, which in 2026 runs from 22 to 26 April. Every block in the newsletter should support that goal.
Step 3: plan the content
- A header photo of the terrace at sunset.
- A short intro from the chef about the regatta menu.
- Opening hours for race week, including late service.
- A “book your crew table” button.
- A smaller section for residents: a Sunday family lunch offer after the regatta crowds leave.
- A footer with the restaurant’s address, phone number in +1 268 format, and an unsubscribe link.
Step 4: build it
Log in to Mailpro and pick a restaurant layout from the template gallery, or start from a blank canvas in the drag-and-drop builder. Replace the sample images with your own, keeping file sizes small for mobile readers. Use the button builder for the booking link so it stands out.
Step 5: write the subject line and preheader
“Race week at the Dockyard: late kitchen and crew tables” tells both audiences what is in it. The preheader can add “Book now for 22 to 26 April”.
Step 6: personalise
Insert the subscriber’s first name in the greeting with personalisation fields. If you record whether a contact is a resident or a visiting crew member, you can show each group only its section.
Step 7: check the list
Send only to people who opted in. Under Antigua and Barbuda’s Data Protection Act, 2013, consent is the general basis for using personal data. Crew members who left a card at the bar without ticking a box should not be on the list. The page on permission to send email campaigns explains how to collect it properly next time.
Step 8: test and schedule
Send a test to yourself and view it on a phone. Then schedule it for a weekday morning in Atlantic Standard Time, three weeks before race week, with a short reminder closer to the date.
Step 9: read the results
A few days later, check opens and clicks in the campaign report. If the crew section got the clicks, lead with it next year.
Common first-newsletter mistakes
- Too many messages at once. A newsletter that promotes the regatta menu, a wedding package, a new spa and a job vacancy leaves readers unsure what to do. Keep one main action.
- Images without text. If the whole message is a single flyer image, it will not display in some mail apps and cannot be read by screen readers.
- No reason to open. “April newsletter” tells readers nothing. Name the benefit or the event.
- Forgetting the footer. Your business name, physical address in Antigua and Barbuda and an unsubscribe link belong in every issue.
- Sending to everyone you have ever emailed. Old contacts who never opted in hurt deliverability and fall outside the consent the Data Protection Act expects.
Adapting the method to other businesses
A retailer in St. John’s might aim the same nine steps at a pre-Christmas sale; a CIP agent at a quarterly update on programme news for applicants; a guesthouse on Barbuda at bookings for Caribana weekend. The steps do not change. Only the reader, the goal and the content do.
Want more control over the code? See HTML newsletters.