Email newsletter prompt: free ChatGPT template
Updated · By Robert Breen
Use this for a regular customer newsletter, monthly or seasonal, when you have a handful of real updates and don't want to write the connecting text. Left alone, the AI pads a newsletter with "We hope this finds you well," a made-up customer story and a tip it can't stand behind. This prompt hands it your updates as a numbered list and asks for short sections, one per update, with a single main call to action.
The prompt
Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every [BLANK] with your own details. It uses the four parts from Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task and Format.
Role: You are writing the [FREQUENCY] newsletter for [BUSINESS], going to customers who signed up to hear from us. Context: Readers are [READERS]. This issue's updates, the only facts you may use: [UPDATES]. Don't add events, offers, prices, quotes or customer stories that aren't in the list. Task: Write the newsletter with one short section per update, most important first. Make [MAIN ACTION] the one main call to action; the other sections just inform. Format: A subject line under 8 words, a preview line under 12 words, then a two-sentence opening and the sections, each with a plain heading. Under 250 words in total. Friendly and plain, no emoji. Sign off with [SIGNATURE].
Fill in the blanks
[FREQUENCY]- Monthly, seasonal or whatever rhythm you keep.
[BUSINESS]- Your business name and what you do.
[READERS]- Who's on the list and what they already buy from you.
[UPDATES]- A numbered list of this issue's news with every detail: dates, days, prices, limits. Numbering them lets you tick each one off in the draft.
[MAIN ACTION]- The one thing you most want readers to do, and how (reply, call, order online).
[SIGNATURE]- The name and business the email is signed from.
Example, filled in
A made-up example from the free lesson Reply Faster: Turn a Messy Customer Email Thread into a Clear, Friendly Reply. Cedar Lane Bakery is the made-up neighborhood bakery in the Reply Faster lesson. Its October newsletter has four updates, and Jess wants readers to order a fall layer cake.
Role: You are writing the monthly newsletter for Cedar Lane Bakery, a small neighborhood bakery, going to customers who signed up to hear from us. Context: Readers are local regulars who buy bread, pastries and custom cakes from us. This issue's updates, the only facts you may use: 1. Apple cider donuts are back, Saturdays and Sundays only, $2 each. 2. Custom cakes now need 7 days' notice so we can get every order right. 3. We're closed Monday, October 12, for an oven repair. 4. Fall layer cakes in lemon or spiced apple can be ordered for pickup any day we're open. Don't add events, offers, prices, quotes or customer stories that aren't in the list. Task: Write the newsletter with one short section per update, most important first. Make ordering a fall layer cake, by replying to this email or calling the shop, the one main call to action; the other sections just inform. Format: A subject line under 8 words, a preview line under 12 words, then a two-sentence opening and the sections, each with a plain heading. Under 250 words in total. Friendly and plain, no emoji. Sign off with Jess, Cedar Lane Bakery.
What a good answer looks like
- A subject line about the content ("Cider donuts are back, plus a cake note"), not "October Newsletter."
- Four short sections that each carry one update, with the details exactly as you wrote them.
- One clear main action; the other updates inform without competing for the click.
- No filler opener and no invented story about a happy customer.
How to check it before you use it
An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the Reply Faster lesson: check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out.
- Check every promise: each date, price and day of the week must match your list. Check closures twice, since a wrong date goes to everyone at once.
- Look for added extras: "while supplies last," "our famous," a flavor you don't make. If it isn't on your list, cut it.
- Make sure the main call to action says how to do it and doesn't get repeated in every section.
- Send a test to yourself and read it on your phone before it goes to the whole list.
Why this prompt works
Numbering the updates makes the newsletter checkable: you can tick off 1 to 4 against the draft. It's the facts-list habit from the Reply Faster lesson applied to a message that goes to your whole list, where a wrong date costs more than in a single reply.
Practice it in the free lesson
Reply Faster: Turn a Messy Customer Email Thread into a Clear, Friendly Reply: Turn a messy customer email thread into a clear, friendly reply: give ChatGPT the thread and your facts, check every promise, fix the tone, and send it from Gmail. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Also useful: Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format
Terms used here
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Frequently asked questions
- Will this paste cleanly into my email tool?
- Usually. If asterisks or pound signs show up, that's Markdown formatting; ask for "plain text only, no formatting symbols" and add headings and buttons with your email tool's editor instead.