A weekly client update email template that clients actually read

The short answer

Send the update on the same day every week, to the same people, in the same shape: one line on overall status, what was done this week, what happens next week, what you need from the client with a date, and the next milestone. Keep it under 150 words. Put anything that needs a decision at the top, not in the middle. If the project is late, say so in the first line with the new date and the reason.

Why a weekly update saves time

A studio running five client jobs gets questions like "how is it going?", "when will we see something?" and "did you get our notes?" several times a week. Each one takes a few minutes to answer and breaks someone's concentration. A predictable update on a fixed day answers most of them in advance, and gives the client something to forward to their own manager, which is often the real reason they are asking.

It also protects you. A written record that you asked for the logo files on the 3rd, the 10th and the 17th is worth a lot when the client asks why the delivery moved.

The template

That is the whole thing. Every line has a job. The status line answers the question they would otherwise ask. The two lists show movement. The "needed from you" line is the only one that asks for action, and it says what it unblocks.

Writing each part

The status line uses one of three words: on track, at risk or late. "At risk" means you can still hit the date if something specific happens, and the next line says what. "Late" means the date has moved, and the line gives the new date. Avoid "progressing well" and similar phrases that say nothing.

"Done this week" lists outcomes the client can recognise, not tasks they cannot. "Kitchen and living room views lit, ready for your review on Monday" means something. "Lighting pass and render settings" does not. Two to four lines is enough; nobody needs the full list.

"Next week" is a promise, so keep it to what you are confident of. If you list five things and deliver three, the update starts to lose trust.

"Needed from you" is where updates earn their keep. Write the request, the date and the reason: "Approval of the animatic by Wednesday, so animation can start Thursday and the delivery stays on the 28th." A request without a consequence is easy to postpone.

When the project is late

Say it in the first line. Do not bury a slip in the third paragraph and hope it is read.

Status: late. Delivery moves from 14 Nov to 19 Nov.

The revised floor plans arrived on 6 Nov instead of 30 Oct, and
views 2 and 3 have to be re-modelled from them. Everything else
is on track.

State the cause as a fact, without blame, and say what is still on track. If the delay is on your side, say that too and what you are doing about it. Clients forgive late far more easily than surprised.

When you are waiting on the client

Projects on hold for the client are where updates matter most and are sent least. Keep sending them, shorter:

Status: on hold, waiting for the feedback on the rough cut sent 3 Nov.

Once the notes arrive we need 4 working days for the fine cut.
The delivery date moves day for day with the wait.

This is not a reminder email. It is the same weekly update, and it states the plan calmly. For a client who has gone silent on an unpaid invoice, use a payment reminder instead; mixing money chasers into project updates makes both less effective.

Who gets it and when

Send it to your main contact and copy only the people who asked to be on it. Pick a day and keep it: Friday afternoon works for a week's summary, Monday morning works for a week's plan. Changing the day every week makes clients wonder whether something is wrong.

For a project with several stakeholders, ask your contact at kickoff who should receive updates. Sending them to everyone invites notes from people who are not meant to give them.

Make it fast to write

A weekly update should take five minutes per project. It will if the information already exists: tasks with statuses and dates, notes stored against each deliverable, and a clear next milestone. If writing the update means digging through a chat thread to remember what happened, the problem is not the email. It is that the project lives in too many places. Using AI to write client updates covers drafting them from your task list, and how to manage multiple client projects covers the weekly review that feeds them.

A status page instead of an email

Some clients prefer to look rather than read. A shared page that shows each deliverable, its status and the next date answers the same question at any time of the week. It works best alongside a short weekly email, not instead of it: the page answers "where is it", the email answers "what do you need from me".

Doing this in OIO

In OIO each client job is a project with its tickets, statuses and dates on a kanban or a timeline, so the done and next lists come from the board rather than from memory. The client has a client space at a status link that shows their projects, the deadlines, the tickets you share with them and their statuses, and the updates you choose to show. Each status update on a project is Internal or Client, Internal by default, so a team note never reaches the client unless you switch it.

A ticket waiting on the client carries a Needs feedback marker, and the client gets one reminder email a day while it waits, which you can switch off. The weekly email itself you write and send from your own mail; on paid plans the assistant can read the project's tickets and draft it from what actually moved. More on what a client portal should do for a studio.

Questions