16 of the best free newsletters we recommend local marketers and business owners subscribe to for great marketing ideas delivered regularly to your inbox.
Digital marketers must stay up-to-date on current trends and insights. The problem is, we’re all (beyond) busy. It’s hard to find time in the workday to sift through swarms of news and knowledge. We need information fast - and don't have time to separate the decent from the great.
However, in solving one problem, we’ve created another. 81% of B2B marketers list email newsletters as their favored form of content marketing and, quite frankly, our inboxes are a popular place to be. Not surprisingly then, there are a litany of choices. We'd love to help you sift through the noise and get straight to the gems.
For efficiency, we’ve compiled our choice of the best marketing newsletters to help keep your skill saw sharp. The links below will take you to summaries and subscription pages for each selection.
Founder: Harry Dry
Frequency: Bi-weekly
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Marketing Examples keeps it simple, and as a result, has built quite the reputation for itself with over 50,000 subscribers. Harry’s content is smart, versatile, and aesthetically great to look at. Further, when it comes to marketing and communication, there’s nothing he doesn’t cover in his case studies. Aside from detailed guidelines and examples, each email consists of quick tips you can start using for your business today. As far as marketing newsletters go, this one’s too good to ignore.
Founder: Alex Lieberman
Frequency: 3x per week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)
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Marketing Brew is a marketing-specific sub-newsletter to the well-known Morning Brew brand. The sign-up process for Marketing Brew is more involved than some other newsletters. You are asked to include your company name, job title, industry, and even sub-industry. Luckily, the insights it offers are worth the hassle. Marketing Brew brings you the latest stories and trends from a news-centric perspective, keeping you up-to-date on current events while teaching you valuable lessons in marketing and advertising.
Founder: Jake Hughes
Frequency: Bi-weekly
Email Marketing Newsletter
“Bite-sized, to-the-point, trend-driven”: LMI speaks for itself. This local business marketing newsletter gets right down to the facts without bombarding you. It highlights specific ways for you to improve marketing strategies for your business. What we like best about LMI is its local focus. Everything is framed to be applicable to the single or multi-location local business owner or marketer. It provides readers with examples by making frequent references to real and thriving businesses, which succeeds in making the newsletter’s strategies feel familiar and attainable for local marketers everywhere.
Frequency: Weekly
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Buffer’s Social Media for Business newsletter is a must-read for marketers working to establish their online presence. It provides over 45,000 marketers and small business owners with access to blog posts, marketing content, and helpful social media tips. It even gives you a run-down of the week’s latest trends and news from Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. Buffer’s is essential for keeping your followers engaged with your business, and it only takes a couple of minutes to read.
Founder: Dave Gerhardt
Frequency: Weekly
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We like Dave Gerhardt’s email newsletter for its familiar, no-frills style. Dave, like all good marketers, knows his audience: B2B marketers. He sorts his content into brief yet versatile categories such as Thursday Thought, Job Updates, and End of Week Wisdom, each of which features valuable B2B marketing lessons that everyone, no matter how experienced, will find useful.
Founder: Brandon Anderson
Frequency: Weekly
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If you’re a visual learner, this is your sign to subscribe to Sketchalytics. One of the best, this newsletter updates you weekly in the form of a sketch. It breaks down complex content marketing topics into easy-to-follow “micro-lessons,” making it the perfect read for expert marketers and newbies alike. It’s informative, memorable, and entertaining - a different and more engaging take on the classic marketing newsletter.
Frequency: Daily
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ClickZ email newsletter is a one-stop shop for marketers. It features everything including local marketing, analytics, social media, and SEO. When you sign up for ClickZ, you can choose which content alerts you want to receive. I receive the daily newsletter, which does a great job of keeping me informed on the latest digital marketing trends and advertising strategies.
If you want a more involved subscription, with access to webinars, podcasts, research, and live events, you can opt-in at any time. Once you sign up, you have access to a multitude of resources including:
ClickZ gives you control over what’s in your inbox and a place to start when you have time to dig deeper.
Founder: Julian Shapiro
Frequency: Bi-weekly
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Growth Tactics by Demand Curve gathers current growth insights and tips to help you stay on top of your marketing game. It made our list because it’s easy to read on the go and reflective of what hundreds of Y Combinator (the incubator) Founders say is currently working for them - so you can trust it.
When you sign up for Growth Tactics, you receive an email asking you to confirm your subscription by replying “yes”. This introduces their first growth insight: when recipients reply, it tells mail servers that you shouldn’t go to spam, increasing your chances of staying in the main inbox. Brilliantly, Growth Tactics shows you how to maximize the visibility of your marketing emails by guaranteeing that of their own.
Frequency: Bi-weekly
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If you’re too busy to scroll through endless marketing speak and information, this next one’s among the best newsletters on offer. Please Advise features short and straightforward digital marketing tips and prides itself on being able to be “read in one swipe”. The newsletter itself is broken down into 3 parts - Look, Do, and Try. Typically, their emails feature:
Editorial Director: Kim Davis
Frequency: Daily (M-F)
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Next on our list of best marketing newsletters is Martech. Martech’s newsletter provides a daily rundown of the latest marketing news, intelligence, and analysis. It focuses explicitly on digital marketing and offers tips and lessons to develop your brand. Upon subscribing to the newsletter, you are met with an abundance of valuable information such as:
Martech’s newsletter covers a lot of ground on a daily basis and is a great resource if you’re looking to keep all of your marketing materials in one place.
Marketing Manager Insider
Frequency: Monthly
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Everyone loves a good recap. This newsletter is perfect for those who don’t have time to scan the web for the latest marketing news and information. Marketing Manager Insider compiles 10 must-read articles for marketing managers and delivers them straight to your inbox. Further, it operates on a monthly schedule - meaning it won’t take up too much valuable inbox real estate.
TL;DR
Curator: Saijo George
Frequency: Daily (M-F)
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Time is precious, and TL;DR respects that. This newsletter’s quick and simplified format gives you access to a summary of what is happening in the marketing world. It also features a variety of topics you can explore to help grow your local marketing strategy. Some include:
When you subscribe to TL;DR, you are sent an email asking you to confirm your subscription. Once confirmed, you’ll be granted access to a handpicked list of valuable marketing tools you can start implementing today.
Frequency: Daily or Monthly (you choose)
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SEJ is a great place to start when searching for a thorough marketing newsletter. It covers topics such as SEO, PPC (pay-per-click), social media, content and search marketing. Conveniently, SEJ gives you the option to tailor your subscription to your own personal interests - meaning you only receive the content you sign up for. This allows for more versatility and gives you the opportunity to take on more subjects as your marketing strategy grows and changes. Overall, SEJ is a valuable resource for the latest marketing news and insights.
*Bonus: Upon subscribing to SEJ, you get access to a library of content you can use to strengthen your marketing strategies and build your brand.
Founder: Matt Navarra
Frequency: Weekly
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While most of the newsletters included in this list offer insights and tips for marketing on a general scale, Geekout focuses solely on social media marketing. This newsletter is valuable in that it keeps readers up to date on the continuously changing social media landscape. Further, its short and to-the-point style makes it easy to read when you’re in a hurry.
Frequency: Weekly
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The Growth Hackers newsletter focuses mainly on growth marketing and business strategies. It features insights from a community of experienced marketers and entrepreneurs and a multitude of materials you can use to stay informed. We like this newsletter because it’s carefully curated by members of the Growth Hackers community. Further, it includes useful information such as Q&As, growth studies, events, and best marketing practices.
Founder: David Harris
Frequency: Daily (M-F)
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Marketing Dive is a comprehensive daily newsletter that covers everything from social media strategy to content marketing to advertising. With a specialization in marketing technology, this newsletter is a great way for local marketers to stay up to date on current trends and learn how to better employ digital marketing techniques.
*If you are looking to expand your expertise, Marketing Dive also offers more technical and industry-specific email newsletters. You have the option to subscribe to these when completing your profile.
Any combination of this collection of the best free marketing newsletters will give you the information you need to run a successful campaign. In the end, all that matters is what works best for you and your local business.
* Originally posted on October 6th, 2021 and updated on August 30, 2023.
What's Widewail?
Widewail is a reputation management software and services company based in Burlington, VT. We help hundreds of small local businesses and national brands like Lexus and BH Property Management generate and respond to reviews.
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