Opt In ChallengeThis site graphs the routines of famous creative people like Benjamin Franklin, Charles Dickens, and Pablo Picasso.
This week your Opt In Challenge is to take a gander, reflect on your own daily routine, and assess if some adjustments (like, doing your creative work in the early morning hours) could be beneficial.
Discovered via theCLIKK.
It’s not always easy to create emails that look good on every device in every mode. Sometimes you may want to break up the flow and use plain text to get attention.
This week your Opt In Challenge is to read this Marketing Profs article about when and how to use plain text emails by Chad S. White. Then, consider if there’s a use case you want to try for your newsletter or other emails.
Discovered via Really Good Emails.
Everyone loves free stuff. But... there’s a right and a wrong way to offer swag for your newsletter. This week your Opt In Challenge is to check out this article by Lauren Kaljur and see if you can come up with swag ideas that align with your unique audience goals.
Discovered via American Press Institute.
This week your Opt In Challenge is to look for opportunities to cross-promote with other newsletters in the same niche. One way to do that is to submit your newsletter to directories like this new one, Cross Promote from Alex, author of A Byte of Coding newsletter, who will help to connect you with other newsletters in your niche.
Find other directories here.
How do you know if your email marketing is successful? This week your Opt In Challenge is to check out this Email on Acid article about what metrics to measure, and then use those metrics to track your email’s performance.
Psst: One that is missing is the reply rate. Pay attention to when people personally respond to your newsletter, and reply back. These are your people. They are literally telling you it’s working.
Discovered via Email on Acid.
Do You Have A Sunsetting Policy?
It can be hard to let subscribers go, but sometimes it’s necessary for the health of your email list. This week’s Opt In Challenge is to learn about sunsetting policies from Jennifer Nespola Lantz in this article, and then create and implement your own policy.
Note: Curated users can filter subscribers by click activity and use a reconfirmation flow to give them an opportunity to stick around.
Discovered via Really Good Emails.
Learn From An Experienced Newsletterer
Jay Clouse has been writing a newsletter for 5 years. Now, with over 10,000 subscribers, he’s sharing 11 lessons he’s learned. This week’s Opt In Challenge is to read his LinkedIn newsletter and choose one tip to apply to your newsletter.
Note: I hesitated to include this, partly because the last bit reads like a promotion for a competitor and partly because I disagree with him about subject lines (it’s the sender and the reputation you have for sending quality content that drives opens, not the subject line). However, I do think there are several tips worth considering.
Discovered via Growth Marketer.
Could A Little Love Increase Your Subscription Renewals?
This LinkedIn newsletter issue by Andy Griffiths addresses the concept of creating softer paywalls, including requiring newsletter signups to access walled content. He then encourages publishers to offer a “love gift” to subscribers to increase renewals.
Your Opt In Challenge this week is to read through his ideas and figure out what sort of “love gift” you might offer.
Do You Have Accessibility Issues?
Parcel has developed an accessibility checker designed to evaluate emails for issues and best practices. Your Opt In Challenge this week is to head to this site and submit your next email for evaluation.
Discovered via Really Good Emails.
Address Your Deliverability Issues
There’s not much more frustrating than realizing your emails aren’t reaching subscribers’ inboxes. This week’s challenge is to download this free guide on email deliverability from Validity (not a sponsorship, BTW) and walk through the 10 steps to address deliverability issues (pages 8-9).
Discovered via Growth Marketing Weekly.
