The One Hack That’s Going To Change My Newsletter Game
Mind = Blown.
Are you ready for this?
Okay, here goes. Remember back in the 90s? Heck, even the early 2000s. Email was a novelty. The inbox was a sacred place. And you opened almost every single email. Yep. Click rates were sky-high and open rates were 97%. Then what happened? Well, what happens to every new platform: marketers ruined it.
Now, I don’t mean that in a bad way. Obviously, when something is new and hot, everyone jumps on it and everyone should because you never know where your business is generated from, right? Case in point, right now: Instagram. And sometimes, we have unexpected but pleasant effects. Email etiquette now is a far cry from where it started.
But this also means that content really matters. You’ve got to work that much harder with your email newsletters.
Right? Mmm, maybe. While I agree that you’ve got to give your mailing list quality content, I don’t think you need to work that hard to make it work or make it quality. Or, at least, you shouldn’t be.
I read a blog post a few weeks ago that has completely changed my approach to email newsletters. This new approach will save you tons of time, grow your list of loyal followers, and make sure your best content doesn't get lost in the shuffle.
The Current Newsletter Game
You know the drill, right? Each week (or every two weeks or every month, whenever your intervals are), we load up content, do tons of research, create the graphics and the links and then we schedule it out for the day. Your lovingly written (okay, typed) email then gets sent, may or may not get read and then it disappears into the archives of time and space and no one ever sees it again.
And, p.s., you’re stuck coming up with fresh content for everyone and all this work...well, no one really gets to see it again.
If you’re thinking, “What a waste of perfectly great content,” I’m so with you. And this one hack is going to help you 1) keep your newsletter content evergreen and, 2) stop making you do extra work.
So what's this mind-blowing change?
Instead of sending broadcasts, you add your newsletters to an automation sequence! Stay with me here. This sounded crazy when I first read it, but it makes sense.
You see, I've written some pretty valuable emails about hashtags, webinars, and taking a mini-retreat. But only the people who were on my list at the time could see those emails. Which is kind of crazy because this means people who are new to my list miss out on that valuable information.
But if I add them to an automation sequence, then everyone gets to see them, regardless of when they sign up!
I can set up my automation sequence so that it only sends mid-week, so it looks like a regular newsletter.
A couple things to keep in mind
Not everyone will be receiving the same content at the same time. (That's a littttttle bit hard for my Type A brain to comprehend, but we'll get there.)
You can send a campaign/broadcast to promote a timely event. If you're promoting a webinar or even a group program that has a specific start date, you can send a "newsletter" about that... just send it as a regular campaign/broadcast, not part of your automation sequence.
If you have an evergreen offer, you can include that in your automation sequence so you're always making offers.
When this works best
This system works best if you can write content every week, so you always have a full automation sequence. It's especially helpful to batch a few newsletters at once, so you can keep your sequence "topped off."
If you have an evergreen offer or a membership program, this system is fantastic! You can always be seeding your offer with a newsletter or two and then make the offer. Everyone will receive it, regardless of when they joined your list.
When this would be a little awkward
If you write more seasonal content, like "summer smoothies" or "back to school" issues, things could be a little awkward because someone could get your summer email in the winter. So keep that in mind and send those as broadcasts or campaigns, not part of the automation sequence.
How to make it happen
set up a welcome automation sequence that delivers your opt-in gift (you may already have one of these)
begin adding your newsletters to this sequence
if you want to "catch people up," you might consider writing a newsletter that highlights your previously most popular articles
Whenever you write a blog, decide if it's a campaign or part of your autoresponder sequence (think about seasonality/date-specific content)
Can you see how valuable this is? Your subscribers will get to see all of your fabulous newsletters, not just this week’s newsletter. It’s pretty brilliant. And you’re not fighting upstream.
What do you think?
Is this crazy-pants sorcery or mind-blowingly helpful?
Email me and let me know what you think. Will you be adopting this approach?