Connecting Business, Community, and Opportunity: SLEP Monthly Newsletter
In July 2024, the Sarnia-Lambton Economic Partnership (SLEP) launched a revitalized monthly newsletter as part of a broader strategy to increase awareness, engagement, and impact across the region. Prior to this initiative, SLEP’s last scheduled and structured newsletter efforts concluded in December 2021. While the organization has long served as the area’s lead economic development agency, past communications were inconsistent and lacked strategic focus. Despite brand recognition, there was no sustained effort to regularly engage stakeholders or tell Sarnia-Lambton’s evolving economic story.
The relaunch was a deliberate initiative tied to our strategic plan, which includes the goal of developing a strong brand and story to attract investment, talent, and population, while leveraging our position to advocate on key regional issues. This followed an internal branding exercise that clearly defined our core audiences: potential investors, existing businesses, entrepreneurs and startups, and the broader community. The newsletter became a key communications tool, designed to serve these groups with timely, relevant, and actionable content. It also includes stories and updates from key stakeholders across Sarnia-Lambton’s economic development ecosystem, such as local municipalities, regional, provincial and federal partners, offering readers a more complete picture of the region’s momentum.
The results have been both measurable and meaningful. Between July 1, 2024 and July 3, 2025, we sent 17 newsletters and achieved:
- Open Rate: 32.5%
- Click Rate: 6%
- Click-to-Open Rate (CTOR): 18.7%
According to Campaign Monitor’s Email Marketing Benchmarks, the average open rate for Government & Politics emails is 19.4%, the average click rate is 2.8%, and the average CTOR is 14.3%. Our results significantly exceed these benchmarks, showing that our content is not only reaching our audience but also resonating with them and driving meaningful engagement.
Beyond email metrics, the newsletter’s impact is reflected in increased participation across a range of our initiatives. For example, our Annual General Meeting in June, promoted primarily through the newsletter, saw 106 registrations, up from 71 the year before. Applications to our Summer Company Program also rose sharply, with 34 Expressions of Interest submitted this year, compared to just 11 last year. These outcomes highlight how the newsletter has become a timely and trusted channel for communicating opportunities across the business ecosystem.
While each newsletter is distributed mainly via Campaign Monitor to our subscriber list, it is also posted publicly on the Sarnia-Lambton Economic Partnership website and promoted through SLEP’s social media channels as part of our integrated marketing strategy. From January 1 to July 3, 2025, we gained 250 new subscribers, surpassing the 225 gained throughout all of 2024. This reinforces our audience’s preference for receiving direct, timely updates in their inbox.
These improvements stem from a focused, intentional approach. We developed a monthly content calendar aligned with local events, business milestones, and funding opportunities. The layout was optimized for mobile viewing, with clear calls to action and consistent performance monitoring. Each issue delivers a curated mix of economic development updates, investment opportunities, business resources, success stories, and regional news from partners, positioning SLEP as both a trusted source and a collaborative leader.
The newsletter’s sustainability lies not just in its digital format, but in its value as a long-term communications tool. Created entirely in-house, it is cost-effective, adaptable, and aligned with our community-first mindset, connecting people to opportunities, celebrating local progress, and advancing inclusive, region-wide growth.
