What's The Buzz Around LinkedIn Newsletters And Why Does It Matter?

If you ask modern marketers what their most precious marketing toolkits are, newsletters are most likely to be at the top of their brand asset list. Email marketing, which includes newsletters, has been around forever and still is an unavoidable topic in digital marketing. Why is it so important? Well, it is one of the only few mediums through which we can further personally customise your communication and, if done properly, be the only medium you can effectively pass down offerings and information about your company without it being a hassle to your consumers.

First let me define what a newsletter means, in a nutshell, it's a way of getting in touch with your audience and subscribers (like I am doing right now), which generally usually involve a cluster of formatted texts and images that more or less can look like the front page of a digital newspaper. Newsletters are primarily sent through emails and I am willing to bet that you are subscribed to a multitude of them, be it a traditional email newsletter or even the newfound LinkedIn newsletter. Newsletters are frequently used by companies that operate websites, blogs, or e-commerce platforms to sell a product, service, content, event, or engage in remarketing and retargeting efforts. 

So what is a LinkedIn Newsletter? It's a series of articles or long-form content that you post on a periodic basis. The option to publish a LinkedIn newsletter is being phased in, but anyone on LinkedIn may be able to subscribe to one. When they do, they will receive notifications in-app and through email whenever you have published a newsletter. So, what is the distinction between an article and a LinkedIn newsletter? The primary distinction is that when you post an article, it is added to your timeline. It is only discovered by your connections while scrolling through their feed or your profile feed. However, when you publish a LinkedIn newsletter, your subscribers are notified, which enhances the likelihood that people will view, consume and engage with your material.

The new LinkedIn newsletter pilot feature is now available, and it's fantastic. You can send newsletters to your connections straight from LinkedIn, and they will be invited to subscribe. As a LinkedIn newsletter author, you will have the opportunity to write on topics that interests you on a regular basis. Members can sign up for your newsletter to receive notifications when you post new content. 

What are the primary similarities and distinctions between a LinkedIn Article and a LinkedIn Newsletter? (You can read more about it in this Article by Neil Patel)

• In a similarity, it's a series of articles that you post on a regular basis. Just like any other LinkedIn article. But this time, your subscribers will get an email and a notification informing them that you have recently published a newsletter.
• The primary distinction is that normally when you post an article, it is added to your timeline. It is only discovered by your connections while they scroll through the LinkedIn feed.
• However, when you publish a LinkedIn newsletter as mentioned above, your subscribers are notified, which increases the likelihood that people will view, consume and engage with your material.
• Unlike LinkedIn articles, which may be published from both personal and business accounts, LinkedIn newsletters can only be created from your personal profiles. However, there is a rumor that LinkedIn is testing betas of Newsletters on company pages so fingers crossed on that update. 

Though there are rumors indicating that LinkedIn intends to make Newsletter publishing a public feature. But for now, it is currently only available to individuals who have:

• Activated the LinkedIn creator mode.
• More than 150 connections and followers
• A track record of adhering to LinkedIn's regulations
• Their accounts located in certain countries where this beta is being tested

If you check all the boxes above then here is how you can create a LinkedIn Newsletter in Simple Steps:

• Firstly, you will have to turn on Creator Mode (a feature that encourages users to share more of their own work). How do you turn on Creator Mode? Simply, go to Your Dashboard → Creator Mode: Off → Next → Add 1-5 topics (hashtags) that you specialise in → Save 

• Click on “Write Article” and select “Write newsletter” in the native LinkedIn publishing tool.

• Add the headline, banner image (recommended sizes are 300x300px), frequency and description of your newsletter.

• Return to drafting an article after that. Then that article is then sent out as the newsletter.
• It should be noted that, your connections will be automatically invited to subscribe to your newsletter, only after you publish the first ever edition to your LinkedIn newsletter.

Is all the fuss around LinkedIn newsletters really worth it? If you have the opportunity to publish a newsletter on LinkedIn, seize it with both hands. Here are some of the reasons why you should start a LinkedIn newsletter:

• LinkedIn Newsletters enable more engagement to your articles: As you may have noticed, not all your content is seen by all of your network, just like in any other social media platform. However, a newsletter changes this phenomenon, by making sure that your subscribers get a notification and an email every time you publish something via the newsletters. Furthermore, there is the added benefit of having only interested parties being signed up and receiving your newsletter content.
• To put the icing on the cake, if your subscribers resonate with what you publish, it may prompt them to check out your other content and your company, it may be a long shot but a worthy one at that.
• Allows you to expand your audience: If you manage to create a newsletter that manages to bring-in sufficient levels of consistent engagement, LinkedIn will be compelled to show to more people outside of your connections. So through this, you can reach out to more people on LinkedIn and forge value-adding connections. 
• Helps you build authority and position yourself as a thought leader - Trust is the most essential key ingredient in building a brand that converts. With LinkedIn newsletters, it's the perfect medium to position yourself as the thought leader in your own niche by creating relevant and informative content to your subscribers so your audience will see you as the person with answers next time they have questions to clarify.
• Finally, LinkedIn Newsletters may be just the way to generate some extra leads - The core of every B2B company is lead generation after all, without a consistent flow of leads, your company will likely fail in meeting your sales goals. A LinkedIn newsletter might be beneficial and even be a priceless asset to your inbound marketing strategy and even sometimes your outbound marketing strategy.

By positioning yourself as a niche thought leader, a well-strategised LinkedIn newsletter may create much-needed leads for your organisation. LinkedIn consistently outperforms Facebook and Twitter in terms of lead creation by 277%. That number might go way up if you include a newsletter in your LinkedIn approach. 

Please bear in mind, as usual, that whatever content you contribute should be valuable and relevant. Don't just publish something for the sake of publishing it just to compete with the content creators out there. Additionally, test, test and test. Examine what works and what your audience enjoys the most. Metrics are, however, virtually non-existent for the time being. You can see how many people have subscribed, and that's all there is to it but that shouldn't stop you from taking the engagement and comments into account. 

LinkedIn has long been regarded as an effective marketing tool, especially in B2B Marketing communities. LinkedIn newsletters are yet another influential marketing tool in your arsenal that is available now. So, therefore, people are naturally flocking to publish their own LinkedIn newsletters now that it has been a public feature, resulting in an overflow of newsletter subscription invites in people's LinkedIn inboxes. 

We're getting so many subscription invites because, as I said before, when someone creates a newsletter on LinkedIn, they have an option to share with all of their connections and followers (it will be in the form of an 'invitation to subscribe' message under the My Network page). Naturally, this is understandable given that a newsletter gives LinkedIn users a fantastic opportunity to cut through the noise on the network. I myself am subscribed to more than 5 LinkedIn Newsletters from a few of my favourite creators. The LinkedIn Newsletter function is an excellent method to get your content in front of a wider audience without being overly promotional. If you want to generate leads for your company and raise brand recognition, sending a newsletter on LinkedIn is a terrific alternative. This is why I did, and why you need to consider opening up your own newsletter or at least watch out for this new space. 

And lastly, this is where I show my gratitude and ask for a few simple favours:

• I want to take a moment first to thank everyone who has taken the time to subscribe to my newsletter and managed to read this through to the very end
• If you enjoyed reading this Newsletter, please share it with your friends and colleagues. I would love to grow this community as much as we can. 
• If you haven't subscribed already to the newsletter, you can do it right now by clicking this link. 
• I would love to hear from you, so if you have any thoughts on this newsletter or any questions even, please do let me know by commenting down below.

Until I see you again,

Tom Simpson, 

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