A Guide: The Revitalization of the Long Lost ‘Newsletter’

And why it’s time to seize the moment and begin curating that email list

Image by Valeriia Miller from Canva

Only a few short weeks ago, our inboxes were bombarded with COVID-19 warnings and messages. Everyone from my optometrist, Barre Studio, and car dealership to my favourite shops, coffee pits and restaurants sent out urgent, stress-stricken notes relaying various operations that would be moving online and how they were implementing this new concept of ‘social distancing’ in hopes to reduce fear and maintain brand loyalty.

Businesses big and small have been hit with three unexpected global contours all at once, COVID-19, a distressing economic shift, and teams working remotely. I’ll admit, many brands did a phenomenal job at shifting their marketing on the fly and despite the current landscape, are still managing to kill it in their daily operations (they appear to be anyways). However, please correct me if I’m wrong, but no crisis communications plan in the world could have covered all these bases and prepared us for what 2020 had in store.

Now what? The initial panic has sunk in, frantic emails have subsided, and week-by-week the relationship between brands and consumers has slowly begun to acclimatize in this pandemic stricken landscape. Curb-side pickups and contactless deliveries are the new norm, and it doesn’t look like that will change any time soon.

So, what does the long term marketing plan look like for your business? We have no crystal ball, but what we do recommend is continuing to — strategically — ride the wave of this email-marketing trend and stir up that FOMO we’re all secretly missing.

Here’s why!

It’s The Best Way To Communicate Directly With Your Consumers

Sending a direct email is, and always has been, one of the best ways to create a relationship with your target market. According to The Content Marketing Institute, 79% of marketers have said that communicating a specific message via email is the most effective content distribution channel, even above social media. If you want to build connection and keep your brand at the top of people’s minds, shoot out a friendly newsletter or two. If done strategically this is a sure-fire way to retain your thirsty loyalists and lure in new comers!

Email Isn’t Just For Boomers

Email marketing can target the largest amount of people across generations! Even though it might be part of the generational divide to prefer email as a direct source of communication vs texting or social media, Millennials and Gen Z’s prioritize email more than you might think (even if it’s subconscious). Think about it — who doesn’t have at least one email (if not 3+) that you’re connected to for work, school, personal etc. According to Optinmonster, 2.6 billion people communicate with email worldwide, while only 1.7 billion use Facebook — still the largest platform of them all. And ironically, the largest age-group using email is between 25 and 44 at 93% and the runners up are between 15 to 24 at 91%.

Everyone Is Online!

Let us repeat, everyone! Readership, engagement, screen time — you name it — has sky rocketed. If you want to grab the attention of your consumers, you could not be blessed with a more golden opportunity. If they’re anything like me, my morning ritual has now changed from cringing as I open my inbox to read all my deadlines, to an endorphin-fuelled high when I see stacked subject lines from some of my favourite brands + writers. It’s the little things these days people!

Email Garners Sales, While Social Media Garners Inspiration

Pre-COVID, 60% of consumers subscribed to newsletters to receive promotions, while only 20% followed brands on social media to get the same information. All things considering, I am sure those numbers have spiked in recent weeks. When someone follows you on social, it doesn’t mean they have any intention of making a purchase. But when they go to the effort to sign up for your email list, they’re well on their way to becoming a loyal customer and there’s a good chance you’ll see some sort of active engagement to follow.

The Medium is the Message

Gosh, if only Marshall McLuhan had lived to see COVID-19! This pandemic has forced brands to shift their messaging and ultimately the medium. More than ever, the rules of marketing are becoming rewritten and as a whole we’re falling in love with traditional media all over again. Receiving a heart-felt message in one’s inbox making sure your people know you love them, are doing your best to serve them, and equally as scared as they are, will evoke a greater emotional response than a simple post on social media. Email is the best way to garner a close community around your brand, from a literal distance.

A Few Tips on How to Put Together a Successful Newsletter

We’re all navigating this new landscape blindly, but here are a few ways we have had success with newsletter marketing:

• Determine the frequency: Don’t bombard, but stay close to the top of your consumer’s inbox.
• Make sure your message is ‘newsworthy’: For example, brand updates, tips that incorporate your product or service, virtual events and how to gain access, or news focused on how your consumer can interact with your brand.
• Incorporate keywords: an obvious one that hasn’t changed pre or post-COVID.
• Use catchy headings and subject Lines: The most important part of your email, as it determines whether it’s going to get opened or trashed.
• Insert backlinks: Always, always, always! The more you can lead your readers back to your website the better.
• Include links to your social media: Chances are if they like what they’re reading they’ll look for more
• Be real and transparent: We’re all struggling to make it through this challenging time. The last thing your audience wants is a sales pitch, rather a way they can connect with your brand and engage with it in a way that will make this whole thing a little brighter. Don’t be afraid to share real-time stories.
• Always have a call to action (CTA): This is how you keep your subscribers engaged, include them in the conversation, and keep them anticipating your next newsletter.
• See the perfect newsletter template formula by Brian Dean, an internationally recognized SEO expert.

Tips on How to Grow an Email List (If you’re late to the game and don’t have one already!)

• Share sneak peeks on social
• Promote exclusive, subscriber-only-access content (nothing like reeling them in with FOMO)
• Have the CTA to sign up everywhere — website, social, digital ads etc.
• Lock some of your content, which is only accessible by subscribing — trust us, if the value is there, they will sign up.
• Run contests or giveaways that require a subscription to be entered

DON’T FORGET: Ultimately when creating a newsletter or building (and maintaining) an email list during this time you must always come back to your value proposition. Why should someone sign up for your newsletter and follow your brand, over your competitors? What are you offering that they aren’t — and we aren’t talking about your product or service. How are you connecting, nurturing the consumer relationships, and providing your subscribers with content that they can carry with them throughout their day. Align your brand with their newly developed values and become the thing that makes them smile when they see your email pop in their inbox.

Still stuck? Here are a few email subscriptions that have recently become my lifeline and real-time connection to the world that I shamelessly monitor religiously:

• Maybe Baby: A personal essay collection written by Man Repeller’s former features editor, Haley Nahman. Perfect for those looking to iron out those complicated feelings spilling over with everything happening right now. It’s real. It’s Raw. And I live to see it freshly hot in my inbox every week.
• Man Repeller: Like Haley, they collect by far the best writers in America to contribute (a popular opinion amongst my fellow comrades). Follow along the real-life quarantine journey of each writer and get a fresh new perspective on getting dressed and having nowhere to go, the bizarre-emerging cooking trends, and real-talk on fights with your s/o during isolation.
• My local Plant Shop: They’ve done an amazing job at implementing a texting curbside pickup process and send out frequent new plant releases. As I being to decorate my new summer-sanctuary, my 8ft patio, monitoring these product drops have become my recent obsession.
• The New Yorker: An old-time classic. For $12 sign up for their newsletter, online blog access, and receive 12 weeks of the real paper mag. Their content will make you feel all the feels, while keeping you up-to-date on the latest.
• The Nespesso Newsletter: at-home almond coffee lattés are my new jam. I consume at least 2 or 3 a day. When Nespresso does new coffee releases or offers free shipping you can bet I am all. over. that.
• Indigo: It’s my happy place on and offline! I love perusing the latest book releases, while scoping out what Reese, Oprah and Emma Watson have recently added to their book clubs.
• Urban Outfitters Home: Even though I shouldn’t be spending money, I can always dream right? Currently scoping out the latest bath mats that hit my inbox this morning.

Note: none of the above newsletters + brands are sponsored or promoted! I just love them.