I believe newsletters are a strong engagement opportunity for newsrooms and should be treated with love. Newsletters can be a major traffic driver, they can turn casual users into fanatics, they can turn readers into subscribers and they can create an avenue for readers and newsrooms to talk with each other.
I have experience reviving dead newsletters, revamping existing ones and creating new ones from scratch. I’ve also been called in to consult on other newsletters in our newsroom, offering advice on what they can do to improve. The newsletters I manage all have open rates between 44%-52%, click-thru rates between 19-24% and are some of the highest in the newsroom for converting subscribers.
What I’ve learned from my experience is that every newsletter should be designed for the end goal of a newsroom, whether it’s increase pageviews, build brand awareness or convert subscribers. I take my time to survey our audiences, making sure we are delivering a product they want. I analyze our analytics to see what is working — and what’s not. When necessary, I’ve changed newsletters’ names, logos and designs to better connect with the audiences we are trying to serve and to better meet our goals.
I’ve also worked extensively to create promotional plans to build audiences for newsletters and re-engagement campaigns to make sure we don’t lose them along the way.
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