7 Ways To Build An Engaged Newsletter

If all you care about is your subscriber count, you're doing it all wrong. To build a successful newsletter, an engaged audience is equally, if not more, important.

But what are some features of an engaged audience?

• high click rate

• email responses to the newsletter

• a feedback loop that helps your content improve

It's the equivalent of a "loyal audience" on social media.

Now here are 8 simple ways you can make that happen:

1. Interweave your hyperlinks

We assume our audience knows everything we do. But we must flip that assumption on its head - picture yourself writing to a 10-year-old.

When reviewing your work, bolden every term or concept you think is slightly unclear. And for each of them, find a relevant resource and link it to the same.

There are two benefits of doing this:

• your readers will appreciate you for your clarity

• and your click rates are likely to go up

2. Share relevant resources

You want your newsletter to be the one-stop for everything in your niche. For that matter, your content alone may not be enough.

To supplement your content, you can:

• hyperlink the sources for all the information you share

• curate a list of relevant resources at the end of your newsletter

3. Ask for feedback

The best way to show your readers that you care about them, and their inputs, is to ask for feedback.

In fact, with beehiiv, you can create a frictionless feedback experience for your users with our in-built polling feature. From there on, your work will only improve!

A couple of ideas for your next poll:

• Ask your readers to rate your newsletter ("Ehh" to "Mind-blowing")

• Ask them what you should write about next (Include different categories)

In an otherwise stagnant email, polls provide a novel opportunity for direct interaction.

4. End with a question

If you want a more detailed response from your readers, I'd say end with a question, whether it's about what you could do better or if they could relate to your piece.

Email responses from your readers are not only going to help with deliverability, but also it is the biggest sign of engagement you could ever receive.

5. Call out new subscribers

As newsletter writers, we must appreciate and acknowledge every new subscriber we gain. And what better way of onboarding them than calling them out in their first email.

You don't have to mention their names, but a "Welcome to the 344 new subscribers that have joined us today" will do.

It's an easy win - it makes new readers feel special and welcomed into your community with a sentence that will take less than 1 minute to add.

6. A community shoutout section

You could take this one step forward by giving specific shoutouts to interesting or helpful individuals from your newsletter community.

For instance, our friend Blake Emal highlights 1 person to follow in each edition of his newsletter, Marketing 411.

This is a great excuse to find out more about your audience and make them feel special, on a very personal level.

7. Be a little personal

When everything happens digitally, people can forget the person behind the work. You need to be more personal and relatable to keep that connection going.

At the start of your newsletter, share something about your week - what you did or where you went. When you share with your users, they can trust you and are more likely to share more about themselves.