6 Steps for Starting a Newsletter People Want to Read
Email newsletters are back in a big way. This old-school form of communication is reshaping how everyone from traditional media outlets to social media influencers engage with audiences.
The pandemic helped speed up newsletter adoption as businesses sought new ways to connect with customers in the absence of in-person retail experiences. But other factors have played a role. Notably, the phaseout of third-party cookies and identifiers, which has marketers scrambling to collect first-party data (like email addresses) so they can continue to advertise to target audiences.
On the media side, cuts to newsroom staffs have led some journalists to start their own subscription newsletters. It’s a breath of fresh air for a public that has diminishing trust in traditional news outlets. As a result, sites like Substack, which make it easy for writers to send and monetize digital newsletters behind a paywall, are on the rise. Even Twitter is betting on newsletters. It acquired Revue, a competitor to Substack, earlier this year.
And then there’s the newsletter “special sauce.” A trio of things newsletters can deliver that social feeds and traditional ads can’t: personalization, control and loyalty.
All of this to say: Now is an ideal time to assess if a newsletter is a fit for your business. To help you get started, here are six steps to take:
Step 1: Decide if a newsletter really makes sense for your brand or business.
Benefits aside, newsletters aren’t a fit for everyone. Start by looking at your industry. Is there interest in email newsletters? What kind of content would subscribers want to read? Is it realistic to expect that your team could deliver this type of content?
Then, assess your business goals. Do they align with what a newsletter can help you accomplish? For example, if the goal is to improve sales close rates, a newsletter may not get you there as quickly as, say, a lead nurturing email campaign.
And thirdly, consider your team. Do you have the internal skillsets and bandwidth to tackle an ongoing newsletter? If not, do you have the budget to outsource this?
If starting a newsletter gets a greenlight, read on for what to do next.
Step 2: Give your newsletter a purpose.
We recently put this into practice at Approach when we revamped the agency’s monthly newsletter. Titled “The Marketing Minute,” each issue rounds up top marketing industry news in a simple format that you can read in 60 seconds or less.
No matter your industry or audience, identify what value you can create for readers. At Approach, we know that subscribers—mostly marketing professionals and business leaders—are inundated with industry news. To help them save time and stay informed, we boil the news down to the top headlines of the month, add our “so what” perspective, package it up in an easy-to-digest email and hit send.
Step 3: Create a content strategy.
The goal is to create compelling content that drives readers to open, read and click through your newsletter. Here are some best practices to follow:
Earn that “open” with a strong subject line. Check out our favorite tried-and-true tips for winning subject lines here.
Follow the 90/10 rule. Ninety-percent of newsletter content should be informative, educational or entertaining, while only 10 percent is promotional.
Keep it short. Twenty lines of copy or 200 words is the sweet spot for keeping reader interest.
Make it personal. Include the subscriber’s first name in the newsletter subject line or greeting. Or, create unique newsletters for specific audience segments.
Use thoughtful calls to action. “Read More” or “Schedule Now” buttons get the job done, but consider CTAs that reflect your brand voice.
Step 4: Prep your newsletter toolkit.
The vision for your newsletter is coming together. Now it’s time to think about the backend tools that will bring it to life—and deliver it to inboxes. You’ll need to:
Choose an email marketing platform (if you don’t already have one). You’ll want to select one that integrates with the platform your website is built on (e.g., WooCommerce, Squarespace, WordPress) and offers relevant workflows and forms that meet your business’s needs.
Connect your website to your email marketing platform. Depending on your website, this integration may require some coding work.
Add a subscriber form to your website. Most email marketing platforms offer customizable signup forms that you can embed anywhere on your website. Once live, new signups will automatically be added to your email subscriber list.
Make it easy to unsubscribe. While you hope that readers will love you forever, don’t make them jump through hoops if they decide to part ways. You can even personalize the unsubscribe confirmation to leave the door open for future reconnects.
Step 5: Build your subscriber list.
If you have an existing database of subscribers who have opted in to receive emails from you that’s great. If you’re starting from scratch, consider:
Asking existing customers, peers, and partners to subscribe. You can include this ask—along with a link to the signup form on your website—in an email or social post.
If you’re an e-commerce business, asking new customers to opt-in to your newsletter during the checkout process.
Running lead generation ads on social media targeting the audiences you want to reach.
Hosting a giveaway on social media that requires an email address to participate.
Making it easy to forward and share your newsletter. Asking current subscribers to post on social media or forward to a friend is an effective way to grow your list organically.
Step 6: Test and measure the effectiveness of your newsletter.
While the above steps are a helpful guide for getting a newsletter up and running, testing is how you learn what works best for your business. Top considerations include:
Subject lines: About half of email recipients will decide whether or not to open an email based solely on its subject line. A/B test this element to learn the length, tone and keywords that resonate.
Copy: Test personalization, copy length and calls to action.
Send name: Are subscribers more likely to open an email sent by the business, the CEO or a day-to-day contact? Test various senders to see which one earns the most opens.
Send time: Test different dayparts and days of the week to learn when subscribers are most likely to open and read your newsletter.
A digital newsletter can be a powerful tool in your overall email marketing strategy. If you're considering a newsletter for your business we'd love to help bring it to life. Request a free consultation today.