Newsletter Is Dead. Long Live Newsletter!

3 Key Points for an engaging newsletter

The other day I was 'asked' by LinkedIn to write a newsletter. WHAAAT??? A #newsletter? On LinkedIn? After the first moment of surprise, I realised that I kind of liked the idea. Therefore I started jotting down a few lines and...here you have them.

The purpose of the Business Gym space is to share knowledge and experiences but most of all to RECEIVE others' experiences and feedback. Topics will vary and range around what surrounds me, my life and my job.

Let's roll this out then...!

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1. Newsletter is still alive!

What is the first thing you feel when I say newsletter? I feel (or rather I felt!) a sense of annoyance, a waste of time to always read the same things. What a beautiful product, a great project, an unmissable offer, etc.?

At least this was up to a few months ago. In the meantime, covid and the lockdowns shuffled the cards. But even after the pandemic habits are different i.e. working in hybrid mode (no commuting) gives us more time to read.

This is shown by #hubspot research which says that email marketing activities have increased by 27%. These data are supported by the fact that 88% of customers expect companies to accelerate digital initiatives as a result of the pandemic. We adapted to a new way to receive updates. New ways to discover the latest innovations, product upgrades, services, materials, etc. The newsletter is one of these ‘old-but-new’ ways.

So it seems that newsletters are back in the limelight. In a situation like today, the informative email that tells us the latest news is also a bit handy.

Also because we are more inclined to do things from the computer. We are more confident with online shopping: a little bit forced by the circumstances and a bit favoured by a simpler purchase process and quick delivery. We do more things with the PC and spend more time using it. And the more we do online the more newsletters we receive.

Therefore, the newsletter comes back as a dazzling new tool. To make it more effective it should go through a refreshing process because it is not just a question of passing information to prospects but also and above all reaching a touch point with the reader. This is where intelligent marketing, AI, customer experience, authenticity, narrative and storytelling strategies come into play.

The audience has evolved and between reading the news and the trash there is only 1 mouse click! Marketers know this and adapted by putting helpfulness, customer-centricity and embodiment as top-priority in communication.?

"If you aren’t getting personal, you aren’t connecting"

There are 3 key points to make sure the user is appealed to by the email and inspired to read:

1. The message must be customised and personified up to the individuality of each buyer persona
2. The message must be relevant and must resonate with the user
3. The message must contain a story in which the user recognises himself: storytelling

These 3 key elements aim to bring the prospect into the so-called flywheel: awareness > engagement > purchase.?

2. Engage, engage and then engage again!

Is it required to read each and every newsletters? Of course not. So which of these we read with pleasure and which ones we delete without even opening them? We are usually attracted to what we need, to what comes close to our thinking, in line with our communication and what inspires us the most.?

Before going into the trends and the writing style and design, we should answer these questions first:

• Who am I writing to, what is my target audience, who are my buyer personas?
• What is the purpose of my email? Generate web page traffic, increase sales, create a customer relationship?
• How often do I write? Weekly, monthly, quarterly etc.
• What value do my customers receive from my newsletters? Why should they opt in for it?

3. The new trends

While writing, however, I realised that in the meantime we are moving from the world of ‘written’ to the world of 'spoken': YouTube, Reels, IGTV, Live feed, TikTok, Stories, #Podcasts and last but not least Clubhouse. They have become the new commercial and corporate communication tools. If you pay attention you will notice that, Clubhouse in particular, does not leave any trace or record of the discussion: weird isn’t it?

Today newsletter is still alive, but will it have a future yet?

I do not have the final answer but as a takeaway we can all agree on the fact that if for some of us writing gives joy, for others the enjoyment comes from reading. If that is so, then newsletters, especially if they are engaging, more targeted to what we want to read, what we need, what we are interested in, are still in the game of communication.

Welcome LinkedIn newsletter!