email newsletters

June 7, 2021 Content Chat Recap: How To Build A Loyal Community Around Your Email Newsletter

June 13, 2021 by Alek Irvin Leave a Comment

Email marketing strategies can support a range of content marketing and business goals, but marketers often face a variety of hurdles when starting and growing an email newsletter community. In this #ContentChat, we’re joined by Josh Spector (@JSpector) to discuss how to provide value for your email newsletter subscribers and ways to turn that audience into a genuine community.

Josh creates three newsletters that help creators produce, publish, promote, and profit from their creations, and he also runs the Newsletter Creators Facebook community with 3.8K+ members. He shares his tried-and-true tips in the below recap, including his advice for how to start an email newsletter, ways to boost your newsletter open rate, and whether marketers should include ads in their email newsletters.

If you’re interested in learning more from Josh, check out and subscribe to his newsletters here:

For The Interested is a weekly newsletter that has four secrets of successful creators and an original blog post
The Daily Graph is a one-paragraph newsletter that comes out every weekday and features a useful or inspiring idea for creators
This Is How I Do It is a paid weekly newsletter and collection of resources featuring a behind-the-scenes look at how Josh grows his audience and business

Q1: I’m interested in starting an email newsletter, but don’t know where to start. What are the foundational planning elements for an email newsletter?

When planning an email newsletter, start by picking a goal and an audience. What do you want to accomplish? Who are you trying to reach (be specific)? Why are you doing this?

A1a:
• Choose a goal – what do you want to accomplish? Why are you doing this?
• Pick a specific audience to help make a specific transformation
“My newsletter will help THIS AUDIENCE get from POINT A to POINT B”#contentchat
— Josh Spector (@jspector) June 7, 2021

A1: Figure out what the goal is of your newsletter and which metrics you’ll track to see if you’re hitting that goal.
You’ll also want to determine the audience for the newsletter. And if you don’t have an audience yet, what steps do you need to do to build one? #ContentChat
— Melanie Graham (@WriterGirlMel) June 7, 2021

A1:
🔹Me, and many wordnerds like me, are suckers for a poll or listicle.
🔸 A solid template is a must to attract your audience.
But, may the ghost of Bill Gates help you if you don’t have a goal. Without a purpose, it’s just writing vanity. #ContentChat
— SPW ✍️🤓 (@ShawnPaulWood) June 7, 2021

A1 Probably a good start would be defining
Your audience
Which of their problems you are going to solve
Your ultimate goal for the email newsletter
-Alyx #ContentChat https://t.co/kvoW44TR5O
— Charlie & Alyx – Charlie Appel Agency (@ColfaxInsurance) June 7, 2021

Create your newsletter content with your audience needs and your newsletter goal in mind. How can you best help your readers overcome challenges, explore new ideas, or simply delight them in other ways? We share some valuable email newsletter additions in Q4.

A1b:
Figure out what you can provide in your newsletter to make that happen.
Don’t get bogged down in what email platform to use or any technical stuff – most platforms are roughly the same.
Figure out the value you want to provide and to who and start writing.#contentchat
— Josh Spector (@jspector) June 7, 2021

Re: newsletter intros, a common mistake I see is people use the intro to just tell people what they’re about to see in the newsletter.
Doesn’t add value – just is repetitive and lengthens the newsletter.
Just get right into the value as quick as possible.#contentchat https://t.co/ARxHsmziXX
— Josh Spector (@jspector) June 7, 2021

A1. (a) Identify 1 to 10 sub-audiences and their specific needs; (b) begin curating relevant content [original and partner, with attribution ] (c) consider seasonal and cyclical factors that could influence your content calendar and publication dates. https://t.co/RqJoJG8i3O
— Ed Alexander (@fanfoundry) June 7, 2021

A1: A good newsletter is about categorizing. Think of it like an outline.
Intro: Why am I reading this newsletter?
Relevant Example & Story: Give me something to grab onto.
Your Topic Take: Your spot for your spice!
End: Takeaways + next time.
Bonus: Links#ContentChat
— Rachel Wendte (@rkwendte) June 7, 2021

A1: In my mind, it’s 3 majors – design, distribution, and content.
What’s it gonna look like?
Who’s gonna get it?
What’s gonna be in it?
RE: the 3rd question, I like to see 6 weeks of content before we publish the first newsletter. #ContentChat
— John Cloonan (@johncloonan) June 7, 2021

Ensure you can commit to a consistent content cadence. Without consistency, your newsletter community will likely dwindle.

A1c:
Be consistent. Be patient.
It’s a long game. Your newsletter will evolve over time.
My Newsletter Accelerator course can also help👇https://t.co/L0jlieBTw9 #contentchat
— Josh Spector (@jspector) June 7, 2021

A1. Make sure you have answers to a few of these Qs;
– Who is it for?
– What do you want it to achieve?
– Can you put out consistent content to keep it alive?
– Do you have a content plan?
– How do you intend to keep the ‘interest’ high?#ContentChat -🚀📩
— Shruti Deshpande (@shruti12d) June 7, 2021

So so important to be sure you’ll be able to push out content consistently. There’s nothing like marketing your newsletter and growing it too, only to be irregular with the sending schedule and, with it, your audience’s expectations. #ContentChat
— Masooma | Content Writer (@inkandcopy) June 7, 2021

Research your audience and the content landscape in the space you hope to address.

A1. Settle on an engaging format + newsletter frequency backed by audience research — that’s where I’m currently at. You might assume an idea is good, but it’s only good if your audience thinks it’s good. #ContentChat
— Masooma | Content Writer (@inkandcopy) June 7, 2021

True, but…you’ll never know if it’s good until you launch and you won’t really even know what it is (or can become) until you launch and allow it to evolve.
— Josh Spector (@jspector) June 7, 2021

Q2: How can content marketers grow their newsletter subscriber list? How quickly should they expect this list to grow?

14+ Best Email Newsletters For Marketers and Content Creators

May 17, 2021 by Alek Irvin Leave a Comment

Brands consistently use email newsletters to support their content marketing goals, and email newsletters may be essential for companies to futureproof their communities following this pandemic.

Email newsletters are the third most commonly used content type for B2B marketers, surpassed only by blog posts and social media content. One in three B2B marketers also says that email newsletters are the best way to nurture leads, meaning that email newsletters can drive significant results for your business if approached from an audience-first perspective.

To demonstrate how you can delight your community through email newsletters, we’ve partnered with the #ContentChat community to explore how to provide value through your email newsletters and share our favorite email newsletters for content marketers.

How To Provide Value Through Email Newsletters

As many marketers can agree, we are a tricky audience to target. We often have a high standard of what we expect from marketing communications that target us. And this especially stands for email newsletters, where marketers require personalization and clear value to keep their subscription.

When building and refining your team’s email newsletter strategy, consider these seven essential value-add elements:

Before-and-after examples/case studies: Showcase any before-and-after examples, with specific details on what the initial goal was, how the team developed its plan, and the achieved results. Provide as many behind-the-scenes details as possible, including the main hurdles you overcame. The goal is to explain how your community can accomplish similar results or how you can partner with them to conduct similar work.
Checklists: Distill key topics or a process into clear steps or elements to consider as a checklist. These are incredibly easy to make and should directly guide your ideal reader through completing a process or ensuring they don’t forget any key details when completing specific recurring tasks.
Goodies and freebies: Email newsletter subscribers appreciate being rewarded for their loyalty. Provide high-value content, discount codes, event invitations, or other exclusive content or opportunities.
Personality: One of the most challenging things to develop in an email newsletter is a personality and voice that matches your audience’s expectations. This will, in part, rely on your team documenting its ideal brand voice. However, it also challenges the email newsletter writer to cut the jargon, sprinkle in personality when possible, and truly understanding what your community wants.
Relevant links: The average click-through rate for email is 2.62%, meaning there is an excellent opportunity for brands to focus on providing high-value and relevant links. For every link you include, explain why that resource or asset is important and how it will benefit the reader. If your email newsletter serves more as a blog subscription or news aggregator, it may be difficult to achieve a strong click-through rate.
Templates: Include free-to-download templates that help make your communitys’ work easier. These can include any range of templates that complement your priority topics, including social media content planning grids, annual blog content audits, thought leadership development worksheets, and more.
Visuals: Provide visuals that back up a key point of your email newsletter. Not only do visuals help improve the reading experience and reinforce your key points, but these visuals are also perfect for sharing on social media.

Examples of Great Email Newsletters For Marketers and Communicators

April 5, 2021 Content Chat Recap—Community Conversation: What Marketers Want From Email Newsletters

April 7, 2021 by Alek Irvin Leave a Comment

Marketing to consumers and business decision-makers is certainly a challenge, but marketing to marketers is a uniquely difficult task that may leave even less room for error. Increasingly since the pandemic, brands have used email newsletters to convey empathy, provide value and support to their audiences, and reinforce their brand voice through consistent newsletters. But how should brands approach email newsletter marketing to marketers?

In this #ContentChat community conversation, we discuss what marketers want from email newsletters. Read the full recap below, where we share what type of subject lines compel marketers to click on an email newsletter, why marketers unsubscribe from email newsletters, our advice for marketers looking to launch a new email newsletter, and more.

Q1: As both a marketer and a consumer, how do you feel about email newsletters? Are you actively looking for more? Trying to whittle your list down?

Several of our community members are actively looking for valuable newsletters. They want unique perspectives, well-curated resources, and content that sparks conversation.

A1a: I won’t say “it depends” (b/c we all hate that answer!) BUT, I am always looking for new email newsletters while, at the same time, trying to cut back the ones that no longer grab my interest. #ContentChat https://t.co/LZTu4IgLQJ
— Erika Heald | Founder @ErikaHeald (@SFerika) April 5, 2021

A1b: I am always looking for more email newsletters that give me an interesting marketer’s unique POV on a marketing topic, point me to things I’d otherwise never see/read/do, and that inspire me to share the email with someone I’ve been meaning to catch up with. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Founder @ErikaHeald (@SFerika) April 5, 2021

A1. I’m actively looking for more *good* ones so I can whittle down my list. Makes sense?
Some days, I tent to subscribe a lot thinking the stuff will be good, but the inbox overload + unread content leaves me feeling bad. So working on quality mostly. #ContentChat
— Masooma | Content Writer (@inkandcopy) April 5, 2021

A1: As a subscriber, I’m very selective about the newsletters I subscribe to, because I want to make sure I’m getting quality content. As a marketer, I’m always looking for interesting newsletters for inspiration and learn something new from #ContentChat
— Win Shi Wong 黄颖诗 (Win Shi, not Win) (@winshiwong) April 5, 2021

When approached well, newsletters are an incredibly powerful way to strengthen your community relationships.

#ContentChat Newsletters might be my favorite way to (give and) receive content. It’s versatile, great, for curation, and doesn’t require too much of me
— LaDonna LaGuerre 🇯🇲 🏳️‍🌈 (@ellellellag) April 5, 2021

Marketers are short on time and turn to email newsletters for interesting and useful content that they can’t get elsewhere.

A1: I’ll give almost any newsletter a trial run, but I’m not shy about unsubscribing if it doesn’t provide interesting or useful content. Give me something I’m not getting somewhere else and I’ll probably read what you send me (probably not a typical take tho). #ContentChat
— Derek Pillie 🎯 (@derekpillie) April 5, 2021

I was and have become very picky about the newsletters I subscribe and consume.
In fact, knowing how picky I am makes me nervous about starting my own newsletter—thinking about how people would be picky like I am lol. #ContentChat
— Masooma | Content Writer (@inkandcopy) April 5, 2021

A1 I rarely subscribe to newsletters, and when I do I rarely read them just because of time available #ContentChat
— Dan Goldberg (@Jonas419) April 5, 2021

A1. The problem with most email newsletters is that there’s no value in them for the reader.
They’re usually a list of things you’re selling.
However if we give value that helps people then we enjoy receiving them. #ContentChat
— Rob & Kennedy 🦸 Email Marketing Heroes (@RobandKennedy) April 5, 2021

If a marketer did not willingly sign up for your email newsletter, they are likely to unsubscribe.

A1 Here it is – it depends on where it’s coming from. If I signed up willingly, then I love them. If I was required to give up my email when I just wanted to browse or needed 1 answer and you keep sending them – no thanks
Currently, trying to cut down the list
-Alyx #ContentChat https://t.co/cgblINCsVz
— Charlie & Alyx – Charlie Appel Agency (@ColfaxInsurance) April 5, 2021

I can not begin to count how many times I have lost the argument against auto-subscribing people to email newsletters. The value of an opt-in email newsletter subscriber is so much more in addition to being the right thing to do. #ContentChat
— Erika Heald | Founder @ErikaHeald (@SFerika) April 5, 2021

Review your email newsletter subscriptions at least twice a year to keep your inbox streamlined.

A1: I really love a good newsletter, but I’ve had to be more judicious about how many I read and *when* I choose to read them.
Curiosity gets the best of me sometimes and I subscribe to a lot. But I do a review every 3 months. #ContentChat
— Rachel Wendte (@rkwendte) April 5, 2021

And Derek shares a few guiding principles for email newsletter content:

I’ll share the golden rule of newsletter writing from a webinar whose source I can’t remember (wish I could so I could give them credit). Don’t hit publish until you:
1) Laugh at your content (because it’s funny)
2) Learn from your content
3) Love your content #ContentChat
— Derek Pillie 🎯 (@derekpillie) April 5, 2021