A personalized internal newsletter gives your employees relevant, engaging updates that cut through the noise. By using personalization, translation, and scheduled emails, employees are more likely to open emails that address them by name and contain content relevant to them. Tailored, multilingual content and timely delivery ensure important news is read. The use case below will help you understand how to combine a specific set of Staffbase Email features to increase the reach of your newsletters.

In this article:

Key Facts  | Steps  | Measure Success |  Best Practices  | Customer Stories | Additional Resources 

Problem Statement: Generic and badly timed internal emails lead to low engagement and missed critical updates, especially for dispersed teams, creating communication gaps.

Business Objective: Increase employee open rates and engagement by implementing a personalized newsletter strategy with Staffbase Email's features to nurture an informed and connected workforce.

Staffbase Features: 

• Personalization tags: Automatically include each recipient's name in the email body, subject line, or preview text for a direct, personal touch.
• Block targeting: Assign targeting rules to content blocks, defining which user groups or users each block is intended for.
• Multi-Language: Create and send one newsletter in multiple languages so employees receive the email in their preferred language.
• Scheduling: Plan delivery for the optimal time using the scheduling feature. You can coordinate sends in advance, and schedule newsletters to hit inboxes when employees are most likely to read them.
• Follow-Ups: Send follow-up emails to those who didn’t open the first send, reinforcing key messages without manual effort.

Audience: Employees who are overwhelmed with information and global teams, who require emails tailored to their languages and time zones.

Outcome: Personalized newsletters boost reach and engagement, resulting in higher open and click-through rates. Key communications, such as strategic announcements, policy changes, or urgent alerts, achieve greater impact and strengthen employee alignment with organizational goals.

You can use this step-by-step guide to set up this use case in Staffbase.

Create an Email

1. In the Studio, navigate to Email > Overview > Create Email.
2. Edit the internal title and the target audience.
3. Click Next.
4. Select Email Designer.
5. Drag and drop block layouts, elements, and quick blocks from the designer panel into the editor and preview area.
6. Click Save

Learn more about creating an email in Staffbase Email.

Personalize Emails with Names

1. In the Studio, navigate to Email > the email you created.
2. Click on a text element such as a greeting or opening line in your newsletter draft.
3. From the toolbar, click Personalize and select {{firstName}}, {{lastName}}.
4. In the Text Settings panel under Fallback Text, provide the fallback value for the tags.
5. Click Next.
6. Under Content, click Personalize to add personalization tags to your Subject Line or Preview Text.

Learn more about personalizing emails with names in Staffbase Email.

Define the Block Visibility for your Audience

1. In the Studio, navigate to Email > the email you created.
2. Select the block you want to target.
3. In the block's actions menu, click Block Visibility. The Block Visibility dialog opens.
4. Select Specific users and groups. The dialog expands.
5. From the dropdown, select all users and user groups you want to target.
6. Click Apply.
7. Click Save.

Learn more about targeting blocks for specific users and user groups in Staffbase Email.

Add a Language with Automatic Translation

1. In the email you just created, click the + button.
2. From the dropdown menu, select one or more languages.
3. Click Apply.
4. Select Copy and translate automatically.
5. From the Copy content from dropdown, select the language from which the content should be copied.
6. Click Add.
7. Check the translation of the new emails and edit, if necessary.
8. Click Next.
9. In the Content section, select an option from the Fallback Language dropdown menu.
10. Add the Subject, Preview Text, and Attachments for each language version of your email.

Learn more about the different ways of Creating Multi-Language Emails with Staffbase Email.

Select Target Audience and Schedule Delivery

1. In the email you want to schedule, click Next.
2. In the Settings section, select the Target Audience.
3. Verify the following fields have accurate information: 
   - Sender Address
   - Sender Name
   - Reply Option
   - Campaign
   - Subject
   - Preview Text
   - Attachments
4. In Sending options, select Schedule for later.
5. Select the Date and Time you want to schedule the email.
6. Click Schedule and confirm the dialog with Schedule.

Learn more about Scheduling with Staffbase Email.

Refine and Improve Your Sending Setup

1. Send Follow-Up Emails to boost your open rates even further.
   Resend messages to non-openers or the original audience directly from the email analytics tab.
2. Send from Multiple Domains to ensure clear and consistent branding and personalize even more.
   Manage communications for different brands, departments, or regions from a single account.
3. Learn from the data and identify good sending time slots. 
   Track your emails and look at your open rates to see if there are any correlations between opens during certain times of day or days of the week

These are different ways you can track the success of this use case.

Open Rate and Reach

• Monitor Unique Open Rate in Staffbase Email analytics and compare open rates before and after making changes.

• Analyze total opens and group-specific opens, and adjust send times or content for segments with low engagement.

Click-Throughs and Content Engagement

• A high click-through rate signifies that your content was compelling and drove action.

• Track the Click Rate and which links were most popular, or check the Email Funnel graph to see what percentage of those who opened the email went on to click a link. 

Employee Feedback & Sentiment

• Embed a survey in your newsletter, app, or intranet to measure satisfaction. 

• Positive feedback, anecdotes, or even leadership praise signal a growing impact.

Staffbase has a few recommendations to ensure the best experience for your users.

 

Tailor Content to Your Audience

• Target your newsletters and use roles, departments, and locations to personalize content to each group.
• Build trust and readership by using a conversational, inclusive tone and avoiding heavy corporate jargon.

 

Optimize Timing and Frequency

• Respect employees' time and account for shift workers by delivering emails based on metrics when employees read most emails.
• Set and stick to a realistic cadence (weekly, bi‑weekly, or monthly) by using the Editorial Calendar to set expectations, build a habit, and deliver value.

 

Design for Engagement

• Write short, specific, benefit‑led subject lines and informative preview text to make a compelling first impression.
• Increase participation by adding simple interactive elements like surveys or one‑click feedback.

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Customer Stories

Learn how other Staffbase customers successfully use this use case.

• Cosentino's small internal comms team used Staffbase Email to send tailored newsletters efficiently and consistently to their entire workforce, utilizing a content calendar and over 50 branded templates. By targeting messages, they achieved an average 70% open rate, reflecting highly relevant content for employees. In just the first month, the team was able to reach all 5,900 employees effectively – a huge improvement in engagement. As Maria Luisa Garcia Perez, Global Internal Communications GM, noted: “Thanks to structured planning and tailored messages, we’ve reached an average open rate of 70%. That’s how we ensure our communication actually resonates with employees.”
• Toyota Finance Australia: With just one person managing internal comms, Toyota Finance used Staffbase Email and Staffbase design services to create a streamlined, on-brand newsletter. Detailed analytics like click-through rates and heat maps provided data-driven insights, helping refine content and boost engagement. The redesigned process significantly reduced production time, enabling efficient weekly sends, while employees became more likely to read and interact with updates, a clear improvement in engagement and communication impact.

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Additional Resources

• Staffbase Email eLearning Path
  Registration is required — sign up here to get access.
• Foundations for Effective Email Design eLearning Course
  Registration is required — sign up here to get access.
• 4 Ways to Get More Employees to Open Your Internal Emails

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Additional Helpful Information

• Personalizing Emails With Names in Staffbase Email
• Targeting Blocks for Specific Users and User Groups in Staffbase Email
• Creating an Interactive News Channel
• Scheduling with Staffbase Email
• Sending Follow-Up Emails in Staffbase Email
• Overview of Staffbase Email Analytics