Build Your Newsletter from Scratch with LinkedIn

Are you ready to build a dedicated readership for your newsletter from scratch? You’ve come to the right place. This post is a guide to help you build your subscriber count from 0 to 1,000 in 90 days by using LinkedIn to connect with your target market.

LinkedIn is built for connecting with professionals across industries, which makes it the perfect place to connect with your target audience. If you’re creating a newsletter for people interested in business or finance, you need a plan to engage with LinkedIn's community and attract subscribers who are genuinely interested in your newsletter content. 

So, if you're a growth hacker, content creator, marketer, or business founder who’s ready to build a thriving readership for your newsletter, roll up your sleeves and let's get started.

Table of Contents

• Discovering Your Audience

• Organic Growth Tactics

• Skill Building

• Where to Go from Here

• Resources

Start by developing a clear idea of what your best potential subscriber looks like. What industry or industries are they concentrated in? What problems are they trying to solve? Once you know who you’re trying to reach, there are several ways to use LinkedIn to understand and connect with your target market.

Join Industry Groups

To kickstart your networking journey on LinkedIn, you’ll need to immerse yourself in the vast and diverse world of industry groups available on the platform.

These groups serve as dynamic hubs where like-minded professionals come together to discuss a wide range of topics relevant to their respective fields. Participating in these conversations will give you insights and establish connections with professionals with similar interests.

Paying close attention to discussions that strike a chord in your industry will allow you to expand your knowledge and position yourself as an expert within your industry's community.

Analyze Popular Articles and Posts

Another effective method to stay on top of trends in your industry is to analyze popular articles and posts on LinkedIn.

Analyzing popular articles and posts on LinkedIn allows you to identify emerging trends, industry-specific challenges, and innovative ideas that are gaining traction. 

As you explore the hottest topics, you can uncover patterns in the content that resonates with LinkedIn's vast user base. This will help you understand what topics are generating discussions, capturing attention, and driving engagement.

Use LinkedIn’s Analytics Tools

LinkedIn offers an impressive collection of built-in analytics tools to monitor and track the performance of your content. Keep a keen eye on which pieces of content generate the highest engagement, and you’ll gather invaluable insights to guide your future content strategy.

You can also use these insights to fine-tune and customize your audience profile to ensure that your content reaches and resonates with the right people at the right time.

Get familiar with these tools. They are your secret weapon to optimize your content and drive maximum impact.

Conduct Polls and Ask Questions

LinkedIn offers a unique opportunity to engage with your growing audience and gather valuable feedback on the type of content they are most interested in by including polls and questions in your content.

Ask your connections and followers about their preferences to gain insights into what topics or types of content resonate with them. This approach helps you understand your audience's interests and fosters a sense of community.

Why Trust Us? Lauren Haas has been building audiences since the 90s when she launched a print magazine. Now she brings those techniques to her clients at Main Street Marketing Mix. 

Now that you’ve gathered information from surveying industry groups, taking polls, and publishing some preliminary content, you’re ready to start using LinkedIn to grow your newsletter audience.

Create Content

Sharing original content is one of the best ways to introduce yourself to your LinkedIn audience.

Start by writing posts that answer the questions you encounter most often in industry groups. If your readers learn to trust you as a source of fresh insight and actionable advice on LinkedIn, they will happily subscribe to your newsletter, too.

What kind of content should you share on LinkedIn? According to Master Marketer Lori Young, these are some of the best types of posts to generate engagement:

• Text-Only Listicles: Offer quick tips or data in a fast-read format.

• Question Posts Or LinkedIn Polls: People love to share their opinions, and polls can help you learn more about what your audience wants to read.

• Native Videos: LinkedIn videos earn an average of three times the engagement of text posts.

• LinkedIn Documents: PDF files and slide decks are very popular on the site.

• One-Liners: Share a provocative statement, introduce a meme, or spark debate with a few words.

Engage 

Engaging with your target audience is a fantastic way to build relationships and create a sense of community around your newsletter. By actively commenting on relevant posts and articles and being vocal in industry groups, you can showcase your expertise, offer valuable insights, and establish yourself as an active participant in the conversation.

Be genuine and conversational in your comments, and avoid coming across as promotional. Focus on adding value to the discussion by sharing unique perspectives or asking thought-provoking questions that encourage further engagement.

Here are some ways to engage:

• Comment on posts and articles: Ask intelligent questions or share your personal experience.

• Answer questions: Gain a reputation in industry groups for being a generous & knowledgeable member

• Engage debate: Ask thought-provoking questions in comments and groups

Post Regularly

Consistency is key when it comes to maintaining an active LinkedIn presence. To establish yourself as a reliable source of useful content and engage your audience, you’ll need to post regularly and stick to a consistent schedule.

Ideally, you should aim to share thought-leadership articles and quick tips several times a week. This demonstrates your expertise in your industry and provides valuable information to your audience. It also helps keep your brand top of mind and ensures that you stay visible.

However, it's important to find a balance that works for you. Don't sacrifice quality for quantity - make sure that each post is well-crafted and adds value to your audience. Remember, it's better to have fewer high-quality posts than many mediocre ones.

Create Videos

LinkedIn's native video functionality provides a valuable platform for sharing engaging visual content. By repurposing your newsletter content into short video snippets, you can capture the attention of your audience and provide a visual teaser that entices them to explore more. 

This not only adds variety to your content but also allows you to reach a wider audience who may prefer consuming information through videos rather than written text.

You can also use video to offer a behind-the-scenes look at how you curate your content. These videos can humanize your brand and help you build trust and authenticity

Network

Send personalized connection requests to LinkedIn users who engage with your content, along with a message about what your newsletter offers. Reach out to explain the value they can gain by connecting with you and subscribing to your newsletter.

For example, a financial advice newsletter publisher might write a message like this:

Thanks so much for your comment on my video about retirement planning hacks! I want to make sure you know that I offer a free newsletter on this topic, and I’d love to send it to you. If you don’t mind sharing your email address, I’ll get you on the list right away so you don’t miss any of the great tips I’m getting ready to share next week!

Collaborate

Collaboration is a powerful tool for expanding your reach and building relationships. On LinkedIn, one effective way to collaborate is by partnering with brands and other influencers in your industry who aren’t your direct competitors.

One strategy is to offer free content that can link back to your newsletter. This helps you tap into a wider audience and provides value to your partners by driving traffic to their platforms. Whether it's a guest blog post, a joint webinar, or a co-created video, finding opportunities to work together can bring fresh perspectives and insights to both parties.

For example, if you run a fitness newsletter, you could partner with a healthy meal delivery service to offer a post like “10 Protein-Packed Snacks to Power Your Afternoon Workouts.”

Use Hashtags

By using relevant hashtags, you can ensure that your posts reach a wider audience, including those who are not yet in your network.

By incorporating hashtags into your posts, you can tap into existing conversations and trends within your industry. This allows you to connect with like-minded professionals and potentially expand your network by attracting new followers and engagement.

However, it's crucial to use hashtags strategically and sparingly. Overloading your post with too many hashtags may appear spammy or desperate for attention. Aim for a balance between relevance and moderation.

Here are some examples of top-performing hashtags on LinkedIn, with the number of people following them:

1. #India – 67 million

2. #Innovation – 38 million

3. #Management – 36 million

4. #HumanResources – 33 million

5. #DigitalMarketing – 27 million

6. #Technology – 26 million

7. #Creativity – 25 million

8. #Future – 24 million

9. #Futurism – 23 million

10. #Entrepreneurship – 22 million

Reach Out

Once you have established a relationship with active group members, it's time to take the next step and reach out to them individually. This is a great opportunity to introduce them to your newsletter and further engage with them on a more personal level.

Be genuine and personalized in your approach. Mention specific conversations or interactions you've had with them in the group, as this shows that you value their contributions and have taken notice of their interests.

Here’s an example of a brief, personalized message:

Hey, Juanita! I’ve enjoyed chatting with you about PPC ads in the marketing group! I wanted to reach out and see if you’d be interested in subscribing to the marketing newsletter I just launched. It’s called Marketopolis, and I’m using it to share templates, calculator tools, and trends every Friday. Can I add you to the list? It’s free, and you can cancel at any time.

Offer an Incentive

Jennifer Chou, growth marketer for the online education provider EntryLevel, used the business’s existing LinkedIn audience to scale its newsletter to 60,000 subscribers in one year.  

“We ran a giveaway for our EntryLevel audience, where we gave away a free course if people tagged everyone in the LinkedIn comments and got everyone to subscribe. We got a ton of subscribers that way. Everybody who signs up for one of our courses on our websites gets auto-subscribed to our newsletter as well.”

Now that you have successfully built a strong subscriber base, it's time to take your marketing efforts to the next level. 

Buy Ads

One effective strategy is to leverage LinkedIn's paid advertising options to amplify your reach and engage with a wider audience.

LinkedIn ads provide a unique opportunity to target specific industries, job titles, and professional interests. This targeted approach ensures that you’re reaching the people most likely to be interested in your offerings.

Track Feedback

Take time to create a system where you can track the feedback and engagement data you’re gathering from polls, ad results, and groups. This information should continually shape your content strategy as you grow.

Cross Promote

Another growth option is to explore cross-promotion with related newsletters or LinkedIn influencers. By collaborating with others in your industry who have a strong following, you can tap into their audience segments and increase your brand visibility.

Cross-promotion allows you to leverage the trust and credibility of these newsletters or influencers. This strategy helps you gain exposure to a new audience and builds credibility for your brand through association with established thought leaders.

When selecting newsletters or influencers for cross-promotion, look for non-competing brands that align with your target market and share similar values.

Use Other Platforms

As your brand grows on LinkedIn, start leveraging other platforms to diversify your growth strategy.

Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or even emerging ones like TikTok or Clubhouse can broaden your brand's exposure and connect with potential customers who may not be active on LinkedIn. Each platform has its unique features and user base, allowing you to experiment with different content formats and approaches.

Diversifying your growth strategy also acts as a safeguard against any potential changes in algorithms or shifts in user behavior that may affect the visibility of your content solely relying on one platform. By spreading your efforts across multiple channels, you reduce the risk of over-reliance on a single source of traffic or leads.

Of course, the ultimate safeguard is to own your audience. Social media platforms are a great way to reach new people, but your email list and newsletter give you a direct channel that is completely under your control.

If you want to enhance your skills to ensure your success on LinkedIn and with your newsletter overall, there are loads of resources available. Consider your strengths and weaknesses and then look into some of these options to level up.

• LinkedIn Learning: Invest time in LinkedIn Learning courses that focus on content marketing, growth hacking, and social media strategies specifically tailored to LinkedIn.

• Writing Workshops: Since content is at the heart of your newsletter, participate in online or local writing workshops to refine your voice and improve your editorial skills.

• Analytics and SEO Training: Understanding data is crucial. Seek out resources or courses that teach you how to analyze content performance and optimize for search engines within LinkedIn.

• Networking Skills: Brush up on your networking skills through webinars and training. Learning how to make more meaningful connections on LinkedIn that can lead to subscriber growth.

• Creative Design: Familiarize yourself with basic design tools like Canva to create engaging visuals for your posts and newsletter.

• Time Management: As you are working solo, mastering time management is essential. Look into methodologies like the Pomodoro Technique or tools like Trello to keep your tasks organized and on track.

• Feedback Mechanisms: Learn how to effectively gather and utilize feedback by exploring customer experience courses or resources on creating surveys and polls.

• Thought Leadership: Study thought leaders on LinkedIn and other platforms to understand how they communicate and build influence, translating these insights into your personal brand development.

• Adaptability Training: Lastly, invest in your ability to adapt by staying current with LinkedIn's ever-evolving platform features and algorithm changes, ensuring your growth tactics remain effective.

Here are several web resources that can assist you in augmenting your skills and executing the organic tactics outlined in your growth plan:

• LinkedIn Learning: Offers courses on a wide range of topics, from LinkedIn marketing strategies to content creation.

• Content Marketing Institute: Provides resources and research on all aspects of content marketing.

• HubSpot Academy: A great source for free online training for inbound marketing, sales, and customer service professionals.

• Moz: Offers resources on SEO, from the basics to advanced strategies.

• Canva: A user-friendly graphic design platform perfect for creating LinkedIn visuals.

• Hootsuite Blog: Provides insights and tips on the latest in social media strategies, including LinkedIn.

• Grammarly: A tool to check grammar, clarity, and content tone, ensuring your posts and newsletters are professional.

• Google Analytics Academy: Learn about web analytics, useful for understanding the behavior of visitors to your newsletter sign-up page.

• Trello: An organizational tool to help you manage your content calendar and growth activities.

• Social Media Examiner: Offers social media marketing how-tos, research articles, and expert interviews.

• Google Trends: Useful for keeping tabs on trending topics that you can tap into for content ideas.

Final Words: Build Your Newsletter for Growth

Following this strategy can help you build your newsletter audience from scratch to an impressive 1000 followers on LinkedIn within 90 days. But that’s just the beginning.

To continue scaling your audience you need the power of beehiiv — a dynamic newsletter platform designed to fuel growth. beehiiv offers a unique set of built-in tools that keep your audience growing through recommendations and referrals. Plus, beehiiv lets you track where your subscribers are stemming from, which provides valuable insights into the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

And when the time is right for monetization, beehiiv has got you covered by providing ad networks, premium tiers, and other ways to capitalize on your ever-growing audience.

So why wait? Publish your content beehiiv from the beginning and prime your newsletter for growth from day one.