Originally published on our LinkedIn newsletter InTrends on September 4th.
At the beginning of every month, I dedicate one morning to calculating the working hours invested in each client, project, and task. I also match that to the income share of each task.
This post, for example, takes around two hours to write. While it doesn’t single-handedly get me clients, it helped several of my clients jump from the consideration phase to the buying stage.
That’s true of most B2B newsletters, they can have an ROI of 400%.
Moreover, some 87% of marketers swear by the power of newsletters to seal B2B sales.
Especially, with the new emerging trend of founder-led content. It’s a game-changer for building trust in intangible services.
Thinking of starting a newsletter? Let’s jump on a call and see if it works for your brand
Global Email Marketing Trends You Need to Know About
Litmus, an email service provider, interviewed 1,000 marketers across the globe and here are some interesting finds from their State of Email Report:
- 87% of marketers said email marketing is critical for their company’s success, with 41% saying it was the most successful tool. Social media comes at 16%
- 44% of marketers build 2 to 3 versions of every email before sending them
- 4-5 emails per month is the global average
- Around 29% of subscribers tend to be active (open emails, click on links, reply)
- 50% audit their subscriber list monthly
What’s a good Open Rate and CTR?
MailChimp, an email service provider, says the global average open rate is around 22.7% and 2.9% is the average click-through rate (CTR) per email.
The percentage, of course, changes per industry, and tends to shift every few months:
- Construction has an average open rate of 21.77% and CTR of 2.26%
- Finance and Business open rate averages 21.5% and CTR stands around 2.7%
- Consulting follows with 20.3% and CTR of 2.49%
- Media and Publishing average open rate is 21% and CTR is 4.6%
- Real Estate follows at 19% average open rate and a low CTR average of 1.7%
What are the Top Newsletter KPIs?
Most marketers agree on 3 primary KPIs to measure the success of a newsletter
- Sales Growth
- Lead Generation
- Customer Retention (which leads to repeat sales)
What Kind of Newsletters Should You Start?
This depends on your audience first and then your goal, all fine-tuned to your identity.
For example, my audience is B2B C-Suites, and my goal is to share concise to-the-point insights that benefit said execs and highlight how well-researched we are.
The result is InTrends, a figure-heavy newsletter that concludes with 3 to 5 specific pieces of advice.
All fine-tuned to our tone of voice, which is business casual.
For LinkedIn Newsletters: Should You Launch the Newsletter from the CEO’s account or as the Brand?
The dilemma is strong here. Algorithm-wise, content from people’s accounts will perform much better. LinkedIn has almost killed organic company page traffic.
That said, there are a number of factors that shape this decision.
However, 60% of the time, I’ll advise you to launch the newsletter from your company page; even if it’s clearly stated that the piece is written by the CEO.
This allows the brand to expand beyond the founder while benefiting from the humanizing effect of founder-led content.
Having a company newsletter also allows different employees to invite their followers to follow the page and thus follow the newsletter, gaining more traction.
Linkedin Newsletter vs. Standard Newsletter
Using email provider software such as MailChimp, HubSpot, or Constant Contact, allows you to personalize, segment, and offer way more insights.
But when it comes to newsletters, not email marketing
The key deciding factor is your distribution list. Do you already have a database of current and potential clients? How do you grow it?
This is the main advantage of a LinkedIn newsletter. It gets your newsletter into the email box and on the notification tab of your followers list. A list you can grow simply by inviting them.
Have a question about starting a newsletter? ask for a free consultation or contact me directly on LinkedIn