November Newsletter Ideas: 21 Ideas for What to Send Your List This Month

November is a time for joy: the holiday season is upon us, and for many, it’s a time of gathering and sharing together. It’s also a time of consumerism, marked by the biggest shopping day(s) of the year – which now tends to seep into the Thanksgiving holiday itself, souring the taste of an otherwise delicious day.

As a small business owner (yes, that’s what you are as a blogger), it’s up to you whether or not to engage in the madness that is Black Friday. If you choose to, you need your list to be warm and ready for your emails; if you decide to opt out (or opt outside!), it doesn’t hurt to email your list during the rest of the month to let them know how much you care and why you won’t be blasting their inbox.

In either case, it’s important to stick to a regular schedule of newsletters; I’ve been recommending weekly emails – and suggesting weekly newsletter ideas – all year long at this point! Below you’ll find a bunch of November newsletter ideas to help you fill the weeks between now and Black Friday, whether you choose to participate or not.

Ready to fill in your newsletter calendar with ideas for the whole month? Let’s do it!

Month-Long Newsletter Ideas for November

I don’t normally have a separate section for “month of” topics, but November is one of the biggest month for such things, and it didn’t make sense to leave it all the way to the end to mention them, especially as the end of the month is dominated by Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and more.

So if you’re looking for general ideas for November newsletter topics, here are the big ones:

• November is Noshavember, or as I always remember calling it, No Shave November.
• National Native American Heritage Month is also observed in November; this is a topic I’m planning to focus on for my social media content during the month.
• Speaking of raising awareness of issues that might matter to you, November’s also National Alzheimer’s Disease Month and National Adoption Month.

The best way to use these prompts is by filling in gaps for weeks where you don’t like any of the other ideas I’ve shared. Speaking of…

Ideas for Week 1 – November 1-7

The first week of November one is chock full of ideas, not the least of which is the end of Daylight Savings Time on the first Sunday (the 2nd, this year). I’m sure we can all agree that DST is stupid and needs to end – your subscribers probably feel the same!

This week is also host to Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos), All Saints Day, and All Souls Day, which may make sense in a variety of niches, or just for sharing some of your personal beliefs to connect more deeply with your community; I’ve found that even when people don’t agree with me personally, they appreciate learning more about me and what I stand for.

For something a bit lighter, November 5th is also National Donut Day – yum – the first week of November is also National Fig Week – double yum. These are much safer topics than politics, unless that’s your niche!

Ideas for Week 2 – November 8-14

After the first week of November, it quiets down a bit until the end of the month, but I do have a few ideas…

November 11th is either Veteran’s Day (in the U.S.) or Remembrance Day (in the Commonwealth); this is usually an observed holiday so you may want to delay emailing on that Monday, even if you don’t use this topic for your weekly newsletter.

World Kindness Week kicks off on November 13th, which is may be a very appropriate topic depending on the outcome of the U.S. presidential election, its outcome, and the high tensions that are sure to follow!

Ideas for Week 3 – November 15-21

In this third week of November, I actually don’t have any specific topics to recommend, so I think it’s a good time to do something very low lift for your audience: send them something great for free.

This could be a super-helpful blog post or a freebie/ebook that you can offer them. The next few weeks are going to bombard everyone with sales emails, so doing something kind (maybe as part of World Kindness Week, which mostly takes place in this week, not the previous one!) can go a long way to earn good will with your email community before the barrage begins.

Ideas for Week 4 – November 22-27

As we move into the U.S. Thanksgiving week, there’s only one topic on everyone’s minds when it comes to email: Black Friday. As such, I recommend sharing your Black Friday deal now, if you have one planned. Tell people all the details – or maybe even let them buy it early, so they don’t forget – so that they can budget for your offer when the time comes.

If you’re not doing a Black Friday offer/deal this year, I recommend using this week’s email to just say how much you appreciate your email community, then take the rest of the month off. People will appreciate a break from the email!

Thanksgiving, Black Friday & Beyond (November 27-30)

Okay, here we go: the last three days of November are big email days, so it’s up to you whether you want to join the fray. If so, it’s important to be strategic.

• The 27th is American Thanksgiving, so most people won’t be on their emails until after dinner that day.
• The 28th is Black Friday; if you have an offer or try to email on this day, you’ll be competing with, well, everyone! This is why it’s important to share your offer early, so people can plan ahead and look for your email specifically.
• You could also choose to highlight Buy Nothing Day or the Opt Outside movement for Black Friday, rather than trying to sell something.
• The 29th is Small Business Saturday, which is another opportunity to promote or sell, if you have an idea for that.

There’s no hack to get around the fact that this is the busiest three days of emailing in November – and some of the busiest days of the whole year. If you choose to join in the fun/craziness, come up with a plan ahead of time, schedule your emails in advance, and be prepared to send reminders/follow-ups so that you ensure the people who want your deal actually see (at least) one of your emails.

Have any other questions about coming up with November newsletter ideas? Let me know in the comments below!