📕 Nail the narrative

Prologue

There are moments when you don’t have to question whether you should do a thing.

The idea comes. You know it’s wonderful. And you just go.

I am such a dork that I had a long weekend (I took Monday as a vacation day) and I used part of it to complete a course and order a book.

Go ahead.

Call me insane.

But when something clicks, it clicks.

And the course topic, which I mentioned last week, was worth nerding out about: Narrative Design.

For all the lit majors and journalists in the crowd, who long to think narratively and flex that muscle we have that aches to create an amazing story—this is the good stuff.

Why? Because we all want to tell the story people remember, right?

We want to be epic.

Not a slightly different version of the same old same old.

Where am I going with this in terms of newsletter advice, though?

Your newsletter is one of thousands, millions even. It has to captivate readers to win subscriptions and opens. It has to battle for its spot in the inbox and be worth consuming. On repeat.

Employing Narrative Design—actually thinking about not only positioning but also how your readers can win whatever game you are helping them play—could be the thing that takes you from “just another newsletter” to “the newsletter I can’t live without.”

For me, a marketer of 8 SaaS tools, it was a dorky, fun way to spend a few hours of my weekend.

Besides, this coming weekend I will be hosting a Cupcake Wars birthday party for 11-year-olds, and that will also be EPIC.

Now, on to this week’s links.

But first, thank you to Russ Henneberry at theCLIKK for leading a customer workshop last Friday. If you haven’t checked out his newsletter and course selection, you should.

Screen Share

The Ultimate Screen Share Is In The Works

Seth is at it again flexing his video making skills and we’ve got our first promotional video for Newsletter Fest ready. We’re also working on a longer version (with speaker names).

Help us spread the word by sending all your favorite newsletter creators to NewsletterFest.com. The site is a work in progress, but we love bringing you along for the journey, so be sure to subscribe for updates (link under video) and register for workshops as they are announced.

And, yes, I know both Dan Oshinsky and Mary Ellen Slayter’s eyes are closed in this screenshot. I feel like it really sets the tone for the entire event. Click through to see them in action.

Note: If you have reached out to me about being a speaker, I promise I will be in touch. It’s been a hectic couple of weeks. People really love this idea!

Newsletter Tips

Is Your Goal Clicks, Or Consumption?

I tend to aim for both. In this article, Ann Gynn offers 6 ideas for more opens, clicks, and shares. I like what she has to say about creating content that doesn’t require a click through for the reader to understand it.

“By thoughtfully designing your e-newsletter with the audience in mind, you can better address varied reading habits. Create subheads and snippets for at-a-glance readers, and offer longer pieces and additional resources for in-depth readers.”

Of course, you’ll want to click through for the other 5. I love irony.

Nick Dujnic, VP Of Marketing At LiveIntent, Explains The Attraction Of Newsletter Advertising

Who doesn’t love a Q&A from an advertising company about why newsletter advertising is awesome?

“Publishers and other players are flocking to email newsletters because of the versatility and value that the email address provided them.

For publishers, newsletters are highly engaged media. Consumers opt-in to receive it, and they make a conscious decision to open and read it. And while newsletters have always been highly effective at driving readers to a publisher’s webpage, they are discovering that the newsletter itself can generate high CPMs and incremental ad revenue.”

Marketing

Heated Debate: Are MQLs Dead?

Sayantan Dasgupta thinks they are, and provides 10 reasons in this article. Do you agree?

I read a post on LinkedIn the other day (disappointed I didn’t save it, now) that made more sense to me than proclaiming things dead. The basic premise was that when we get to the point in marketing that we call something dead, it’s usually because the original version of that particular strategy, tactic, whatever, has been twisted into something less than savory. Is that the case with MQLs?

13 Marketing Roles That Are... Crucial?

This list is intended to provide someone building out a marketing team an idea of what role to hire for first, but there are 13 different roles from 13 different experts.

I feel like a Branding Expert makes the most sense, because all subsequent hires can look to the vision they’ve set.

To my marketing leader readers, who did you hire first?

Writing

SEO Alert: Short Does Not Equal Thin

During the Google Search Central SEO hangout recorded on February 19, Google’s John Mueller answered questions about SEO for news websites, “particularly as it relates to publishing shorter articles.”

The Panda algorithm update has some publishers worried about thin content and questioning whether they should noindex tag short pieces. Mueller said length isn’t what classifies something as thin content, and indicated that uniqueness is more important. He also gave an inconclusive suggestion that it might be smart to block short articles from Google News.

The article includes a video recording of the conversations. As with everything SEO, the general consensus is still to create unique, quality content if you want to rank.

Publishing

News About News (And Big Tech’s Chokehold On The Media)

Last week’s change to this section didn’t get any reactions (is no news good news, then?), so I’ll give this new format another shot. Let me know if you hate it.

Money Matters

Wondering What To Charge For Sponsorships?

It varies. But there are a few ways of establishing your magic number, and part of that includes understanding your metrics and why they’re important for anyone buying space in your newsletter.

This article will give you a good sense of the types of sponsorships you might be able to sell and the pricing models you might consider (flat rate vs cpm).

As always, don’t rush. The audience always comes first, right?

Opt In Challenge

Try Some Of These Deliverability Tests

The team at Folderly posted a battle card blog about the players in the email deliverability test market. This could be worth your own testing, too. The one Ryan Sager told us about from GMass isn’t on the list for some reason.

I’d love to hear from those of you who use these. Which ones are your favorites and why?

Related: Experts weigh in on why you’re landing wherever you’re landing in Email Deliverability Unfiltered: Gmail Tabs.

Like this newsletter?

Let me know. Reply, email me at Ashley[at]optinweekly.com, or find me on LinkedIn to hit me with some feedback. I’d love to know what you think.

Also, I’d appreciate it if you shared it with fellow email newsletter creators. All archived issues will be available on OptInWeekly.com, so you can send them the link to check it out.

Have a great week sending, y’all.

Thanks for reading,