Are newsletters still relevant in 2025 for lead generation? Shocking stats coming up!

Every website wants you to smash the subscribe button so that they can send you email newsletters. The average open rate for newsletters across all industries is 32.55% as of August 2024. 

But as a business owner, do you truly need newsletter marketing? Because this strategy drains vast resources and time. Yet again, almost every business wants to do it because it has been a reliable marketing tool for decades.  

Before we jump into the stats, we need to break down the basics of our subject today:

What are newsletters?

Newsletters refer to the emails that you receive from websites and apps that you have subscribed to. It is used by businesses and individuals alike to promote their services and talk directly to their audience. Newsletters may contain various offerings such as guidebooks, templates, festive discount updates, and reports that align with your interests. Explore this blog by us: What is Guest Posting in SEO? 

For businesses, this is a great marketing channel because they can stay connected with all sorts of leads on a personal level and provide them with a way to visit your website again. 

Newsletters can be automated through several tools, and in 2025, you can get email marketing tools easily so that you don’t need to sacrifice your resources any more than required.

How to create a newsletter from scratch?

Explore some popular newsletters in your target niche for a start. It helps you to prepare for the competition and use your strengths accordingly. Before creating the newsletter, try to define and identify exceptional content that you can curate for your subscribers. Once you have brainstormed ideas, you are good to start building with this step-by-step guide: 

1.  Clarify the purpose of your newsletter

Now a purpose or a goal could be any of the following: 

A. You want to provide interesting content

B. You want to send weekly updates

C. Inform your audience about new products

D. Promote your existing products

E. Share the latest insights

F. Run festive discount campaigns

And so much more! Once you know what sort of content aligns with your resources, move over to the next step. 

2. Create a schedule to deliver the emails

Yes, many businesses send emails more than once a day. And that’s annoying, isn’t it? So instead, create a biweekly or daily newsletter for your leads. Be mindful of the frequency of newsletters that you can create before finalising the schedule for the newsletter. A complete guide to improve your website's health: How to do a complete SEO audit? 

If you already have a tool that can be automated to deliver these newsletters to your subscribers, prioritise scheduling. 

 

3. Find a newsletter service or use an online tool

Declutter your ideas by using a paid service or an online tool to design and publish your campaign. You can find several tools and services that provide fantastic business automation and integrations that can reach thousands of your subscribers. 

Later in this blog, we have compiled a list of some free tools that you can use to create, schedule, and maintain your newsletter like a pro! 

 

4. Write your first newsletter

Include eye-catching designs and headlines that hook your readers. Whatever your goal is, make sure you stick around that and urge them to consume your content, visit your website, or make a purchase. 

Your first newsletter is going to put a lasting emphasis on your readers. Ensure that this newsletter is syncing with your brand colours and tone.
 

5. Begin the trial run

With a short list of your colleagues, family, and friends, roll out your newsletter and seek feedback about its working conditions. Fix any issues that they report to you about design changes, image modifications, typos, and broken links. 

Fix these changes and do the next round of trial runs if need be. Once you ensure that everything meets your audience’s expectations, schedule it for all the subscribers. 

6. Track Analytics and Responses

Now, using the dashboard of your newsletter tool, track crucial analytics such as open rate, external link taps, unsubscribe rate, etc. These metrics will help you to read between the lines and understand what works and what doesn’t. 

Through this newsletter, you not only communicate with the audience but also inform them about the freebies and offers that you may end up providing to them on special occasions. Additionally, your audience can know more about your services and communicate their queries or appreciation for the same. 

Advantages of Creating Newsletters

According to studies, email marketing delivers an impressive ROI, with businesses earning an average of $36 for every dollar spent. For businesses, entrepreneurs, and solopreneurs, here are the most prominent advantages of creating newsletters: 

1. Enhanced Brand Visibility

Users often surf a website and sign up for the newsletter because it offers a free guide. And then, forget about that the website ever existed. Using this email address, businesses can say hello to the visitors again and remind them about the benefits of visiting again. That way, no lead ends up in the dead zone. 

 

2. Get more traffic on your website

With embedded links attached to the email, you can drive more traffic to your website. These users are more likely to purchase from you because they are already a part of your subscriber list. Hence, it is not difficult to indulge and invite them towards your business. Check out 5 Viral Marketing Campaigns of 2024

3. Regular engagement with potential leads 

For solopreneurs, engaging and creating content regularly can be a dreary task. Hence, with the power of words and the weapons of automation, regular newsletters can be rolled out to engage with their audience regularly. 

 

4. Builds Relationships With Customers

Informing the leads about potential discounts or sales on your platform builds a better relationship with them. It is equally important to provide them with valuable content in your newsletters that can help them out on a day-to-day basis. By providing resources such as guides, helpbooks, or blogs, you are seeking to ease their pain points. At this moment, you are building connections with your readers and helping them. There is no better way to nurture this bond than to be in their shoes and solve their problems for them.  

 

5. Increased interaction on social media handles

Readers who open your email are likely to explore your social media handles if you want them to. Through appealing designs and catchy words, you can motivate them to follow your stuff on social media. This adds another layer of an everlasting bond with your customers. 

 

6. Economical Marketing that Doesn’t Break Your Bank

If you want to subscribe to a premium newsletter tool, you are going to be lucky about it. Because newsletter services are affordable and economical compared to other channels of digital marketing. 

These advantages compel us to conclude that every website must have a newsletter and should communicate with its readers by solving their problems. Yet, with the marketing overly saturated, is email marketing still effective in 2025? Let's find out: 

Are Newsletters Relevant in 2025? 

We have compiled a list of stats from 2024 that throw light on the usage of email newsletters and how subscribers interact with them. Have a look at them: 

1. Global Email Users: In 2024, over 4.5 billion people are expected to use email globally, with this number predicted to grow to 4.8 billion by 2027. (OptinMonster)

2. Open Rates: As of August 2024, the average email open rate across various industries is 32.55%. (Constant Contact)

3. Click-Through Rates (CTR): Newsletters have an average click-through rate of 3.84%, while triggered emails perform better with a 5.02% CTR. (GetResponse)

4. Return on Investment (ROI): Email marketing stands out as the leading marketing strategy, with 30% of marketers naming it the top method for ROI. (OnTheMap)

5. Revenue Projections: By 2027, global email marketing revenue is projected to hit $17.9 billion. (Sixth City Marketing)

6. Content Distribution: With 69% of marketers relying on email marketing to distribute content, it ranks as the third most preferred channel for content sharing. (Mailchimp)

7. 2020 Revenue: Email marketing generated $7.5 billion in revenue in 2020. (Mailchimp)

These stats indicate that though newsletters have suffered some setbacks in recent years, they will remain relevant as they always have been. Natively English-speaking countries indeed have the highest interaction with emails, but efforts in localised languages to reach the right audience have shown tremendous results. 

 

So, yes, you can feel free to start building an email marketing strategy for your business. Also, it is important to consider that email marketing is effective for the regions and the audience interests that are habitual of checking their emails and exploring them regularly. 

Conclusively, newsletters are one of the best ways to promote your business, but you must filter out your audience’s interests and comfort with exploring emails. If they are incompatible, do not rush to opt for an email marketing service or build a newsletter right away. 

5 Free Newsletter Sopt Services to Start Email Marketing

Nobody wants to drain their money without knowing how the whole process actually works. Plus, it is not advisable to start with an expensive email marketing service if you are a solopreneur or a small business that’s getting their hands on this stuff for the first time. 

Hence, let's explore the offerings of these 5 free newsletter services that can help you reach a limited audience for free and understand the process in detail. 

 

1. Plunk

For the ones who are restricted by strict schedules, Plunk is the perfect email tool. Even non-coders can start building email campaigns for free and track multiple metrics for free. 

The interface of Plunk is super-smooth and minimalist, even when you are on the free plan. 

And when you want to get more features to your email campaigns, such as more bandwidth or advanced analytics, you can reduce this to $0.001/email. Honestly, this is one of the most economical prices in the market. Yes, the free plan does not include amazing templates and has limited customisation options, yet it is one of the most apt tools for newsletter marketing in 2025. 

 

2. Brevo

It's not as simple as Plunk, but almost as powerful. Brevo allows you to send 300 free emails every day. Which makes it 9000 emails per month. Yes, it is a good number to boast as a free service, but if you have a large email list, you will be able to schedule a campaign, and you’ll be able to communicate with them only once per month. 

Although if you are just starting, you can truly start experimenting with Brevo and its transactional features such as API, SMTP,  and Webhooks

3. MailerLite

Another free newsletter tool, but this one is apt for individuals who are well-versed in email marketing tactics and need to automate their website with SaaS tools. Plus, the built-in template library makes it easy to design eye-catching emails that resonate with your brand colours. 

On the free plan, you can send 12,000 monthly emails along with 24/7 email and chat support with their team for 30 days. 

The premium features of MailerLite are great considerations, too. 

4. Sender

This free newsletter tool allows you to have 2500 subscribers on the list and a 15,000 monthly email-sending limit. Under their Free Plan, they highlight “Free Forever! For Businesses Who are Just Starting," and I guess that’s a green light. 

Honestly, it is relieving for brands who are just starting to reach out to their audience and want to test the waters before pouring too much out of their bucket.  

To send signup and feedback forms embedded in your feedback form, you can try out this tool. It has multiple template selection choices even when you are on the free plan. 

5. SendPulse

With SendPulse, you get access to 3 free chatbots and 15,000 free emails without providing any credit card information. Email marketing is just the surface. SendPulse has many digital marketing services and tools available on its website that make your marketing tactics worthwhile. 

 

Conclusion

Newsletters are still a vital marketing tool for consumers who are habitual in checking their emails. Because newsletters are sent right into their inbox, users feel connected and secure while connecting with the individual on the other side of the screen. 

 

For entrepreneurs and solopreneurs, free email marketing tools are a constructive cycle of getting quality leads to convert again and again. And like any other craft, newsletter creation needs to be polished and upskilled consistently using a variety of tools and studying the competitors. 

Pick any of the five tools mentioned above and start building your email newsletter today!