Caution: Personalization Errors Kill Relationships
MediaPost reports that, according to a Movable Ink survey, email personalization mistakes (you know, when a sender gets your name wrong or sends you the wrong email) could be pretty damaging.
“Of the consumers polled, 26% will unsubscribe from emails when the personalization is wrong or inaccurate. And 27% will call customer service and explain the experience.”
It’s time to go beyond just inserting names as “personalization” and instead work to learn what your audience cares about and customize content to their tastes.
Discovered via theCLIKK.
Related: Check out this webinar recording and written recap from Litmus and focus on the personalization bit on the content devoted to newsletters (especially personalization).
Looking To Cross-Promote Your Newsletter?
If you’re looking to cross-promote your newsletter in other newsletters, you might want to save this spreadsheet. Anyone can add their newsletter in and collaborate with other participants.
Discovered via Newsletter Nerds Facebook Group.
This article is a quick read on how creators build businesses around their crafts. No surprise here, but the first step is creating, not monetizing… especially for newsletter creators (hop down to the Opt In Challenge at the bottom of this issue to learn why you need to be approaching it as a marathon).
Want More Newsletter Subscribers? Start Here
This resource page from Josh Spector of For the Interested is full of links (26, in fact) to previously published content, stories, and tips designed to help newsletter creators grow subscriber lists.
You’ll find articles like:
Related: Check out how Bria Felicien gained her first 1,000 subscribers.
Should You Publish A Novel Newsletter?
Ever considered serializing a book via a newsletter? Elle Griffin plans to release weekly serial content, chapter by chapter, from her French-style gothic novel this fall. In her interview with Ali Montag, Elle explained how a paid newsletter model is an option for all writers:
“My plan is to go paid in September of 2021 when I launch my first book. I'll offer the first four chapters for free, then come October readers will have to pay $50/year to subscribe to it.”
Psst! I am ALL ABOUT this idea and have plans for a monthly paid nonfiction narrative about finding a lost shipwreck soon. I’ll keep you posted.
Highlights From The July Edition Of “Not a Newsletter”
In case you’re unaware, Dan Oshinsky sends out a monthly link to a Google Doc called Not a Newsletter. This not so newslettery newsletter is loaded with news, resources, and advice.
July’s feature stories include:
Related: Email on Acid breaks down if you should us BIMI.
What Changes In Email Analytics Mean For You
Email insights and analytics are changing, but what does it mean for you? Litmus hosted a live webinar offering practical tips to address Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection and the end of third-party cookies. The webinar (and recap) include:
My takeaway? I think we’re overdue for more creative reconfirmation campaigns. I’m going to test messaging that’s less big brother “looks like you’re not clicking my links, still interested?” and more... fun? I’m obviously still trying to figure out what that is, though.
Discovered via Really Good Emails.
Could Twitter Help Grow Your Subscriber List?
Could Twitter actually grow your subscriber base? This step-by-step instruction piece details how to use Twitter to grow subscriptions.
A word for the wise: make sure any bonus content you offer in exchange for subscriptions or Tweet sharing aligns with your newsletter if you want really engaged subscribers.
Related: Speaking of engaged subscribers, not all subscribers are created equal. This article explains why. Discovered via Really Good Emails.
These 6 newsletters are worth checking out. A good newsletter creator looks at other newsletters for ideas and angles while at the same time adapting, tweaking, and creating unique (read: not copied) content.
Related: Looking for more? In this article, 23 newsletter writers dissect their favorite newsletters. Fair warning: it may be behind a subscription paywall if you’ve already used up your free monthly views of The Cut. Discovered via Inbox Reads.
Also Related: Lastly, this piece features 8 marketing-specific newsletters (that aren’t boring) to check out.
Is There An Art To Saying No To $250K?
Pulitzer prize-winning art critic Jerry Saltz did.
And we’ve somehow hit a theme this issue of what I’m thinking of as “reflecting on the editorial process.”
In this article for Artnet, Sarah Cascone reports on the reasons Saltz didn’t take Substack up on their $250K contract to jump ship from New York Magazine and publish a paid subscription newsletter.
His primary reasons?
The article indicates Saltz prefers to work with an editor and doesn’t want to spend excessive energy asking readers to pay.
Check it out here for a more thorough understanding, then indulge in the Twitter debate about the state and future of media that ensued.
