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Not a Newsletter

Not a Newsletter: January 2021

Welcome to the January edition of Not a Newsletter, a monthly, semi-comprehensive, Google Doc-based guide to sending better emails! I’m Dan, the founder of Inbox Collective, an email consultancy, and the former Director of Newsletters at The New Yorker and BuzzFeed. Every month, I update this doc with email news, tips, and ideas. Sign up here to be notified when a new edition goes live!

In this edition, you’ll find: The napkin math that explains why converting 5% of your audience to a paid product is actually a sign of success; lessons from nonprofits and newsrooms that ran great end-of-year campaigns; an explanation of why spam trigger words are a thing of the past; and much more!

One of the advantages of a Google Doc is that it makes it easy to read and search through older editions of Not a Newsletter. You can find the full archive at this link.

-Dan 

(Email / Twitter / LinkedIn)

"Any New Year's resolutions?" one friend asks. "I'm gonna finally finish dealing with those emails from 2008," the other replies.
Randall Munroe / xkcd.com

This Month in Email Headlines

For Your Reading / To-Do List

  • Li Jin, the founder of the VC firm Atelier, wrote a piece for the Harvard Business Review about the need to build a middle class for the creator economy. The big takeaway here: We’re seeing lots of success stories at the top — big names building profitable businesses off of their newsletters — but not enough from lesser-known creators, writers, and reporters.
  • Ruth Betz, the Director of Digital Transformation at Funke Mediengruppe, wrote a post for INMA (for paying members only) about how they quadrupled their newsletter list size in 2020 to over 200,000 subscribers. (I first met Ruth and her team at a Facebook Journalism Accelerator in Berlin in May 2019 — at the time, they had only 26,000 subscribers on their list!) One takeaway I’ll highlight here, and it’s fantastic to see that they’ve gotten their data operation to a place where they know this number: They’re converting about 4 to 6% of newsletter subscribers to paid digital subscribers within a six-month window.
    • And I know what you’re thinking: 4-6%? That’s it? But that’s incredibly impressive! I don’t have access to Funke’s data, so let’s come up with some hypotheticals and do the back-of-the-envelope math.
    • If a newsroom adds 150,000 newsletter subscribers in 2020 and converts them at a rate of 5%, they’d add 7,500 new paid subscribers in a single year. (That’s the easy math. The next part gets a little more complicated.)
    • For Funke’s local sites, a reader is paying the equivalent of about $150 U.S. per year for a subscription. For the sake of this hypothetical, let’s assume everyone’s paying full price, and paying upfront. It doesn’t matter if you bought your subscription on January 1 or December 31 — in year 1, we’re looking at 7,500 new readers paying $150 per year. Let’s also factor in some expenses (estimated 5% of all costs) tied to billing and tech. In year one, those 7,500 readers will produce $1,068,750 in revenue.
    • But most news sites think about customer lifetime value (CLV), which measures how much they’ll drive in revenue over a three- or even five-year period. Why? For one, if you’re spending money to acquire new subscribers through channels like Google or Facebook, it might take more than a year to make back your money. The smartest media properties are saying, “Look, we’re willing to make an investment today that might not pay dividends until year 2 or 3 — but we know from the data that it will pay off in the long run.”
    • Let’s make a few more assumptions: In year 2, 70% of those subscribers come back and pay for a full second year of a subscription, and then 70% of those come back for year three. (I’m low-balling these numbers — most big newsrooms hope to see far better retention.) 
    • So here’s what we’re looking at: $1,068,750 in revenue in year one, about  $748,125 in year two, and $523,688 in year three. The three-year CLV: $2.3 million in revenue — all from the 5% of readers who converted from those newsletters.
      • And this doesn’t factor in revenue from advertising, merchandise, or paid events, like conferences. Once that’s factored in, the actual CLV is going to be much higher than that!
    • If you’re wondering why newsrooms are so excited about email, it’s this: Email isn’t just a channel that drives traffic and engagement. It’s also one of — if not the — most important sources of revenue for news organizations. It’s no exaggeration that for many newsrooms, the difference between success and failure in the next 3-5 years will come down to this question: Did we build a loyal newsletter audience in 2020 and 2021?
  • With that in mind, you’ll understand why I was so puzzled by this sentence in a recent MediaPost article. According to a recent study, they wrote, “a staggering 84.1% of consumers are unwilling to pay for newsletters.” But think back to that napkin math from a moment ago. A far more accurate sentence would read: “A staggering 16% of consumers are willing to pay for newsletters!” Converting 10%+ of your audience to a paid product isn’t a sign of failure — if you’re converting at that rate, you’re actually among the best-in-class in your industry!
  • For Splice, Sabah Virani talked with Lakshmi Chaudhry of the Indian newsletter Splainer. I was a huge fan of Chaudhry’s previous newsletter, Broadsheet (it felt like a cross between TheSkimm and Girls’ Night In, but for an Indian audience), and it’s exciting to see her explain why she launched a new newsletter brand again — but this time, as a paid subscription product.
  • Three recent pieces I loved about amplifying voices and opening doors for new creators:
  • When someone asks me why their open rate has suddenly dropped, they’re often worried about their newsletters landing in spam or the tabbed inbox moving their emails to a weird folder. But the usual culprit? Gmail’s clipping the emails, which keeps the tracking pixel at the bottom of the email from firing and sending notice back to the ESP that the email’s been opened. Ernie Smith of Tedium dug into the history of the 102kb limit and why your emails might clip.
    • One easy way to cut out all that extra code: Strip all the extra HTML out of your newsletter! Gannett’s Jacqué Palmer recently wrote about the rise of plain text emails for Nieman Lab.
  • Sean Griffey, CEO of Industry Dive, explained why they’ve focused (smartly, I’ll add) on the combination of niche + newsletters.
  • Jacob Donnelly of A Media Operator wrote a thoughtful piece about why he decided to leave Substack, and the new tech he chose to build around.
  • Really Good Emails’s Kelly Lamano discussed a few metrics (besides open rate) to track in the new year.
  • A few case studies worth sharing involving other messaging channels:
  • Good stuff here from Lauren Minning on the Active Campaign blog, who explained the Rule of One concept and why it matters when building out a landing page.
  • If you find yourself frequently in the weeds of deliverability, check out the latest Email Deliverability Quarterly report from Chad S. White of Oracle.
  • When I first got into the email space, spam trigger words — phrases commonly used by spammers that might accidentally land you in the spam folder — were a real concern. Litmus’s Magan Le explained why that’s something you don’t need to worry about anymore.

Lessons from the 2020 End-of-Year Campaigns

The end of the year is one of the busiest times in the inbox, as retailers ramp up sales, deals, and special offers around the holidays. But it’s also a crucial time of year for non-profits, who typically run big campaigns to raise money in November and December. In the news world, thanks to organizations like NewsMatch, the end of the year is also when these non-profits get access to matching funds to help stretch their donor dollars a little further.

Looking back on some of the 2020 campaigns, I wanted to highlight a few tactics that caught my eye:

Building around themed weeks — When you’re building a big fundraising campaign, start by thinking about the big themes. For instance, as I worked with The Salt Lake Tribune to plan out their campaign, we came up with a four-week strategy:

  • Week 1: Lessons from their first year as a non-profit
  • Weeks 2 and 3: Looking back on 2020 through the eyes of reporters, editors, and photographers
  • Week 4: Looking forward to 2021, when the Trib will celebrate their 150th anniversary

Building around those themes allowed the Trib to help readers understand the past, present, and future of journalism in Utah. Instead of a series of one-off asks, the messages built off one another, as readers learned more about the Trib’s team and mission. One of my favorite emails from their campaign was this note from the Trib’s Tim Fitzpatrick, who told readers about how his family’s been connected with the paper for more than 100 years. That combination of personal storytelling and themed weeks helped the Trib raise more than $150,000 in just one month.

Here's a great example from The Salt Lake Tribune, which used personal stories + a theme to put together a successful campaign

Utilizing Milestone emails — These fundraising drives typically see surges at the very start and very end of the campaign. This year, I saw far more organizations using what I call the Milestone email: an email designed to tell readers how far the campaign has progressed. These Milestone emails included notes from editors at the launch of a campaign (like this one from Searchlight New Mexico), check-ins midway through the campaign (like this email from Chalkbeat), and emails at the end of the campaign (like this from The Conversation). And as strange as it sounds, a thank you note at the end of the campaign, like this from The Salt Lake Tribune, often leads to an additional surge in donations.

The great thing about these Milestone emails is that they frame the larger campaign, and allow for shorter, more direct asks to readers.

Sending more personal stories — But those Milestone emails only work if they complement more personal emails. I like to call these Talking Head emails, and they feature a specific voice and story. Among the best of these I saw this year: 

In-newsletter campaigns — With an end-of-year campaign, give readers as many opportunities as possible to support your work. That means including calls to action in your regular newsletters that remind readers to give. Lots of organizations include house ads (typically, banner ads) in their newsletters, but I also wanted to mention two other examples that I loved: This native ad spot, from Honolulu Civil Beat in their daily newsletter, and this in-newsletter Talking Head approach from Grist. (The progress bar at the top of their emails was also excellent.)

these progress bars work really well

For the sake of full disclosure: I work with several of the newsrooms mentioned above — Grist, Honolulu Civil Beat, Searchlight New Mexico, The Conversation, and The Salt Lake Tribune — through Inbox Collective.

Stuff I Loved This Month

  • This is a story from my friend Ann Handley about the very best marketing CTA ever written. If you click on only one link in this entire Google Doc, make it this. 
  • Another month, another major publisher investing in Courses. This month, it’s CNN with a new Course around fitness. 
  • What’s the fastest way to grow your email list in 2021? The answer: By producing great content. (A great pop-up tool, a referral program, or a smart paid acquisition strategy will certainly help accelerate your growth, but all of that builds off a great content strategy.) Take a look at The Hustle’s best Sunday stories of 2020 and you’ll see why they’ve grown so much in the past year. 
  • Alexis Grant, who’s both worked as a freelancer writer and with freelance writers, just launched The Money Guide for Freelance Writers. (Delightfully, she produced it in tandem with her dad, who’s a retired accountant.) If you’re a freelance writer and need help figuring out how to set up a business, handle your taxes, and set the right price for your work, check out this guide.
  • Sparkloop’s Manuel Frigerio wrote about his company’s first year in business — what worked, and more importantly, what didn’t.
  • CUNY’s Entrepreneurial Journalism Creators Program is back for another 100-day session. I taught sessions to the first cohort and was really impressed by the program. If you’re thinking of launching your own digital journalism business (even if it’s not a newsletter-based business!), consider applying!
  • Really interesting essay here from Ryan Rendle about why newsletters are so wonderful, but also so frustrating.
  • This story about a COVID-centric print newsletter in a New York-area retirement community is delightful.

The Google Docs Anonymous Animal of the Month

One of the quirks of publishing in a Google Doc is that when readers like you visit, Google identifies you as an animal in the top right corner of the doc. So to close out this edition of Not a Newsletter, I want to spotlight one of the Google Doc animals in a feature I call… the Google Docs Anonymous Animal of the Month! This month:

the Turtle

Anyway, the Turtle! That’s your Google Docs Anonymous Animal of the Month.

Here's a decorative image of three animals: An owl, a flamingo, and a seahorse

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By Dan Oshinsky

Dan runs Inbox Collective, a consultancy that helps news organizations, non-profits, and independent operators get the most out of email. He specializes in helping others build loyal audiences via email and then converting that audience into subscribers, members, or donors.

He previously created Not a Newsletter, a monthly briefing with news, tips, and ideas about how to send better email, and worked as the Director of Newsletters at both The New Yorker and BuzzFeed.

He’s been a featured speaker at events like Litmus Live in Boston, Email Summit DK in Odense, and the Email Marketing Summit in Brisbane. He’s also been widely quoted on email strategies, including in publications like The Washington Post, Fortune, and Digiday.