10 Sep I tried LinkedIn Newsletters and I discovered this
I tried LinkedIn Newsletters and i discovered this
29mil people are subscribed to a linkedin newsletter
We all know the feeling of testing a tool and watching it fall on its bum. Mine is LinkedIn Newsletters.
As marketers, we have to test new tools. The urge to do so runs deep. If we didn’t test things, we’d never find out what works and what doesn’t.
testing is a huge part of marketing
`What works` differs depending on who you are, what your service offering is, who your audience is, where you sit in your market, your demand, and so much more. We can’t feel disheartened by this. It’s a huge part of what marketing is. Even if that means wasting hours building LinkedIn Newsletters.
i tried linkedin newsletters
As a tool, it’s nothing new. But I’d heard that LinkedIn simplified the publishing process, and it’s free to do, so I thought `Oh, `eck. Why not`.
the basics: how to create
linkedin newsletters
Creating within the LinkedIn Newsletter feature is basic. It felt easy to me (for perspective: I’m a Gen Y. I’m techy enough. I don’t swear out of frustration at self-service machines…)
I won’t talk too much about *how* to create a newsletter. As an email marketer, I’ve got a pigeon-holed interest in the email element of the feature. Nevertheless, here’s a few generic things that are useful to know before creating a newsletter on LinkedIn:
- You’re expected to have 150+ connections before you have access to LinkedIn Newsletters
- Creator Mode needs to be switched on prior to starting your newsletter
- LinkedIn Newsletters are essentially LinkedIn Articles
- Except there is a subscription element
- Plus they are longer – 100,000 characters rather than our usual 3,000-character articles
can you schedule a linkedin newsletter?
Yes. You can build your newsletter and schedule it to be released at an optimal time. I like 7am or 7pm. Your optimal time will vary depending on who you are, what you offer, etc. etc. More on that another time.
Quick LinkedIn newsletter tips
tip #1
When it comes to formatting, simplicity reigns. Think of how you’d write a letter to an old colleague; the most-read LinkedIn Newsletter examples are similar in style.
tip #2
If you’ve got a lengthy newsletter bursting with content, split it in two. Or, better yet, portion it into quarters and fire your newsletter out weekly. Newsletters are long-form content and sectioned off for our skimming pleasure, and yes – a LinkedIn newsletter can be up to 100,000 characters.
But, remember that this is social media and it revolves around interactive, live, or multimedia nowadays. IMO, lengthy content should remain on your website (because, despite being indexed and riding on the high domain authority of LinkedIn – there is speculation that the SEO value of LinkedIn Newsletters is pants).
tip #3
Use lots of white space and headings.
Send me a direct message on LinkedIn or email me to hear more.
what i like about linkedin newsletters
✔️ When a newsletter is published, LinkedIn fires out an email letting your subscribers know, and the email includes a preview.
💭These emails look great and the content translates really well from newsletter to email. There are no scruffy links and the text doesn’t bunch up.
💭They are quick and easy to read, and they are `scannable`.
💭You can’t do much to personalise them, but I don’t mind my clients and leads seeing automated emails with this formatting. There’s plenty of white space and obvious subheaders. My next move is to test to see if the feature would create these white spaces and subheaders for me if I didn’t add them to my newsletter initially.
✔️LinkedIn Newsletters are the ideal way to show off what you know. Like other forms of content marketing, they allow prospects to enter the customer journey gently.
💭They are brilliant for industry experts, mentors, coaches, and likable CEOs of brands or agencies who frequently put pen to paper.
Here’s why I’ve put LinkedIn Newsletters on hold…for now
I should cover the shortcomings of this (new to me) tool.
✗ I questioned the ROI for my time and effort. While I could build brand awareness and obtain soft leads via LinkedIn Newsletters eventually, it was too much of a slow-burner for me.
💭The analytics aren’t detailed. You can find out how many views an email notification got but that’s about it. You can’t, for example, see how long a subscriber reads your newsletter.
💭For me, there are better alternatives. Although the email notification feature piqued my interest, it wasn’t enough to keep my thirst for LinkedIn Newsletters.
If you have the time and resources to put into a weekly newsletter, you could feel differently.
✗ The feature is, essentially, LinkedIn Articles with a bigger word count.
✗ There’s the added step of inviting, receiving, and engaging with subscribers – and another audience dynamic to keep warm.
✗ You don’t get to keep the subscriber email data and there’s no way of exporting it and using it outside of LinkedIn. Bearing in mind that LinkedIn Newsletters is a free tool, I can’t feel too disappointed by this one.
✗ It takes a lot of time, energy, commitment, and focus to run a LinkedIn newsletter. Really, you need a dedicated body to run them. Even a content manager would find this a hard ask – there’s a lot of work to do.
💭In terms of adding LinkedIn Newsletters to a digital marketing strategy, they are definitely a `nice to have` unless you’re a coach, mentor, author, industry expert, social media guru, or you have a job title of that ilk. Then you’d absolutely run a newsletter on LinkedIn.
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