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How To Distribute a Newsletter for Maximum Reach
Why Social Media, a Good Newsletter Platform, and Networking Are Essential
Tyler Mason
June 1st, 2024
There’s a strip mall about 15 minutes away from my house in a pretty rural area. In that strip mall is a restaurant space. Within the last ten years, that space has been home to:
A Polish kitchen
A pizza parlor
A deli
An American diner
Some of the food at those restaurants is awesome (pierogies, anyone?), but the owners just can’t get enough business to stay afloat. Why? People need to know that the restaurant exists before they become customers.
The same is true with any email newsletter. You might have the most engaging content in the world, but your audience needs to know that you exist before they can subscribe. That’s where a good distribution strategy comes into play.
In this article, I’ll share some of the best practices for newsletter distribution – so you can reach the right audience with your amazing content.
Key Takeaways
Newsletter distribution doesn’t have to cost anything. Social media is one of the best ways to promote your content – and it’s totally free.
Being genuine in how you distribute your content is equally important as where you distribute your content.
Choosing the right newsletter platform for your audience is essential in reaching future subscribers.
Table of Contents
You need good foundations to get your newsletter into your audience’s virtual hands. Those foundations include a clear objective for your newsletter and knowing your target audience.
Mapping out your goals is the first step to creating an effective newsletter. Because if you don’t know why you’re writing, you can’t possibly know what to write.
Ask yourself these questions:
Who am I creating this content for?
Where do my ideal readers hang out?
What’s my end goal?
What do I want to accomplish with each newsletter I send?
Once you have the answers to those questions, it’s time to do some digging. You need to identify and segment your ideal audience.
Identifying Your Target Audience
Even in the same niche, all newsletters have unique audiences. Those audiences include real people with their own hobbies, interests, and problems. Your content needs to engage your readers to grow your audience.
Here’s a tip: Instead of viewing your target audience as a large group, imagine your ideal reader. What do they do for fun? Where do they hang out? What type of content do they like to see?
Segmenting Your Audience for Better Personalization
After you’ve nailed down your target audience, break them into segments for a more personalized approach.
For example, one segment might look something like:
Women
50 years or older
Living in the United States
That group will likely respond differently to content than men between the ages of 18 and 25. Take advantage of that information and base your content around it.
Why Trust Me? I’m a newsletter nerd who spends most of my time reading and implementing strategies from successful newsletters. In my spare time, I read more newsletters (and golf, but we don’t talk about that until May).
You deserve a newsletter platform that works for you; and in 2024, there are plenty to choose from. The best platform will be worth the price, easy to use, and updated regularly to meet changing needs.
Here are a few popular newsletter platforms and the features that make them worth your consideration.
ConvertKit
ConvertKit has loads of features for paid newsletters and creators selling digital content. The free plan allows unlimited landing pages, forms, and sending for up to 1,000 subscribers. The higher-priced tiers include:
Recommendations
Automated email sequences
Third-party integrations
Advanced reporting
beehiiv
beehiiv is a newsletter platform built by newsletter people, and it’s the best choice if you want to monetize your newsletter. The free plan allows unlimited sends for up to 2,500 subscribers. It also includes an excellent recommendation network, so you can grow your audience before spending a penny.
Higher-tiered plans offer premium subscriptions, advanced segmentation, surveys, polls, and other features ideally suited for monetizing a newsletter. The Scale plan also adds access to the beehiiv Referral Program – an ultra-customizable, easy way to reward subscribers for sharing your newsletter.
And I can’t forget to mention one of my favorites. beehiiv offers a bonus feature to any paid user: the hiiv community. It’s an incredible perk and a great way to network with fellow creators (and maybe even find your next newsletter partner).
Omnisend
eCommerce marketing and Omnisend go hand in hand. It combines email and SMS marketing to create the perfect platform for eCommerce owners, with features like:
A/B testing and automation splits
Pop-ups, signup forms, and landing pages
Advanced segmentation, including custom and pre-built segments
Ultimately, choosing the right newsletter platform for your audience depends on your goals and needs. Test out a few free options (beehiiv and ConvertKit both have great ones.) and see which works best for you!
One of the most effective ways to distribute a newsletter in 2024 is through social media. It’s an easy (and affordable) way to connect with your target audience on a platform they already use. Check out these three social media platforms and how to use them to boost your distribution efforts.
X (Formerly Twitter)
X is an excellent networking tool to build an audience. Along with LinkedIn and Instagram, it’s the best way to share enticing tidbits of information that make readers think, “I need to see more. Where can I subscribe?” Here are some ways to use X to promote your newsletter:
Send direct messages to people in your target audience. The key here is to be genuine. Personalized messages almost always outperform their copy-and-paste counterparts.
Create threads to connect your posts if you want to share lengthier content.
Find and connect with successful creators within your niche. It’ll take some time, but having your content shared by someone with a large audience can be a game-changer.
Look at how Robin Arzón uses X to tease her newsletter, The Pivot.
Posts like that are a simple, to-the-point method of gaining new subscribers through social media.
YouTube
Contrary to what my grandmother thinks, YouTube isn’t just for cat videos. It’s also a free tool that allows creators to add personality to their brands via bite-sized videos (shorts). Make a few YouTube shorts and share what makes your newsletter worth reading.
LinkedIn is another great place to build a following and connect with your audience (particularly in the business world). Here’s a fun post from beehiiv’s CEO, Tyler Denk:
Who wouldn’t want to see a whole playbook of how to get 8,000 subscribers in 2 months?
Pro-Tip: Posts don’t have to be long to be effective (but they can be). Use only enough words to say what you need to. What’s important is that you write something that entices people to read more.
Managing Your Email Mailing List
It's essential to keep your email list tidy as you grow it through social media, newsletter platforms, or other tools because sending emails to people who never read them doesn’t help anyone.
Keep your list clean with regular check-ins. Look for problem areas like:
Unengaged or inactive readers
Invalid email addresses
Complaints and feedback suggestions
As your list grows, save time by automating your list cleaning. Newsletter platforms like beehiiv allow you to add triggers that will automatically remove or re-engage inactive readers based on your criteria.
For a more in-depth look at list hygiene, see this section in beehiiv’s newsletter glossary.
Analyzing and Improving Your Distribution Strategy
As with any marketing strategy, email newsletter distribution doesn’t have a one-size-fits-all solution. You have to see what works for your audience and adjust accordingly.
A/B testing is the number one way to ensure that you send the right content to the right people at the right time. Most major newsletter platforms allow for A/B testing (beehiiv is one of my favorites), and implementing it is easy.
Write subject line A -> write subject line B -> set test parameters -> see which one performs better!
Conclusion
Successful newsletter distribution doesn’t happen by chance, but it doesn’t have to be complicated! Choose a newsletter platform, tailor content to your audience, promote it on social media, and watch the subscribers roll in.
Take advantage of beehiiv’s awesome community and Referral Program for a no-hassle way to build and monetize your audience. Create and send your first newsletter for free today!
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