✏️ Get it in writing

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Digital marketing constantly evolves and responds to innovations in technology. 

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But one marketing tactic that has undoubtedly stood the test of time in all of this change is… the newsletter. 

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It provides a wide range of answers to the question on every marketer's mind, “How can marketers continue to reach and engage their audiences effectively?” 🤔.

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Newsletters serve many purposes to brands of all shapes and sizes, but typically, they’re used as a direct line of communication between your brand and its audience. 

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And a dedicated, branded newsletter offers an uncompromised platform for consumers who wish to embrace a brand’s voice, culture, and content. ✨ 

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The most important aspect to any newsletter is a base of subscribers willing to open its content. Here are some high-level tips on how to grow your subscriber base and get the message out to more people:

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🤝 Leverage your other successful channels to drive subscriptions

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Are you crushing it on Twitter? Does the whole DTC world follow you on LinkedIn? Do you have a strong presence on IG? 

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Great! Use those platforms to discuss your newsletter and encourage followers to subscribe. 

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For example, if your brand is making waves on Instagram, tap into that audience’s interests by creating a post about all of the benefits of your newsletter. (Don’t forget to add a subscribe link to your bio!)

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While Instagram users are inherently visual consumers, a newsletter could provide additional visual content as well as exclusive education about your product. 

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Grow your newsletter with the mindset of offering additional value for those invested in other channels. Being aware of audience interests will allow you to curate specific content, like high-quality visuals for Instagram users, to draw consumers in.

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💪 Promote the newsletter in your blog

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Email service providers (ESPs) often have some form of intuitive promotion feature built into their platform, including in-lay subscriber forms. 

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These are short call-to-action forms or blocks placed within your blog that, once verified, will add a given email to your subscriber list. 

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Include these short in-lay subscriber forms in your blog content and encourage blog readers to further engage with your content via email.

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💥 Enable site pop-ups

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There are several ways to program sign-up prompts as a pop-up on your website. DTC brands will set a discount to trigger when the user provides an email address to the subscriber list.

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This works great, but don’t discount the power of the exit pop-up. Some direct site visitors don’t want to be bothered with a pop-up the first few seconds they engage with your site. 

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They might want to subscribe, but they don’t want to subscribe right now without browsing your content first. Ask for their email right before they exit to secure a new subscriber.

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💌 Collaborate with other DTC newsletters

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A subscriber who religiously reads newsletter content from one of your partners (or future partners) will most likely want to read your newsletter. 🙏

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Strike up a partnership with your favorite brand or industry newsletter. For example, you can pay for a sponsored slot or offer a cross-promotion. Both options work well for any brand looking to increase discoverability and subscriber counts.

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⛓️ Links in videos

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If people are engaging with your video content, chances are they’ll also engage with your newsletter. 

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Whenever you release a new video, end with a CTA asking users to subscribe. Don’t forget to add the subscription link in the video description or in the video as a card on YouTube. 

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🙌 Promote it in your community

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Do you run a prosperous online community? Awesome! 

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Find ways to add value to your content for those community members and encourage them to subscribe. For example, offering exclusive content, sneak peeks, or special discounts as a thank you and continuous benefit for subscribing to your newsletter.

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Not only will this reward subscribers, but it will make them feel like insiders—part of the club. 😎

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Make sure it’s easy for community members to find your subscription form, especially if your community has several channels. Using a dedicated Discord channel to promote your newsletter is one option available to most communities that provides a dedicated space for potential subscribers.

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💥 It’s in the news

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Always keep your finger on the pulse of your community’s needs. 

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Responding and adapting to your community is crucial because that’s how you generate new ideas and continuously add value to your content. 

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Your community is who the newsletter is for, after all! With so many active and engaged readers, you’ll potentially open a new revenue stream with advertisers asking you for a spot in every issue.