Newsletters are on the rise. Traditional news outlets including the New York Times, the Boston Globe and others are utilizing newsletters as a content marketing tool that enables them to send content directly to readers’ inboxes, creating curated news-reading experiences, sometimes for free, but often for a fee. The New York Times, for example, recently made a third of their newsletter content available by subscription only. Email newsletters are striking a chord with many users, particularly those who are older and make up traditional news audiences. More than 20 percent of respondents to a 2020 Reuters Institute survey said they receive news via email newsletters each week. Half said that email is their main way of accessing news.
In other cases, independent newsletters are a way for journalists impacted by shrinking newsrooms and layoffs to go it alone. They create newsletters using platforms such as Substack—which allows writers to send digital newsletters directly to their readers and monetize their work by putting it behind a paywall. According to Substack’s website, the platform has been growing steadily, amassing more than 25,000 paying subscribers in its first year alone and has grown to more than 500,000 subscribers since 2017. Platforms like Substack, and its competitors Ghost, and Revue, give writers the chance to use paid subscriptions to generate revenue from their reporting and write full-time for a private audience.
For nonprofits and socially responsible companies and the PR professionals working with them, newsletters present an opportunity to cut through a cluttered media landscape and meet people in their inboxes. A newsletter’s audience is comprised of people who make the choice to sign up directly. This opt-in step is a signal that they actually want to hear about the news they’ve signed up to receive, and in some cases will be willing to pay for content. Email is the most effective and direct way to share news with these people, according to Harvard’s Neiman Lab for Journalism. Plus, this opt-in method provides access to a precious resource – a reader’s contact information, which can be used to send them other marketing collateral.
Communications pros can use media newsletters as a potential home for pitching client news and to meet readers where they already are. Publicists can pitch newsletter authors directly, and they can offer tips about a forthcoming news story that would make a great tidbit for inclusion in a newsletter. News organizations including the New York Times and Washington Post each offer almost 70 different scheduled emails showcasing the work of different parts of the newsroom, including business, technology, culture, and sports. Smaller, more niche newsletters from independent journalists are also popping up to cater to specific beats and issues from anti-racism to parenting to climate change.
Nonprofits in particular can also create their own newsletters to share stories, updates, and move their subscribers to action. Owned newsletters also provide a place to further elevate earned media mentions and be sure audiences know they’ve received the third-party acknowledgement that comes with being in the news.
The media business is continuously evolving. The rise of the newsletter may seem like a recent trend, but it has its roots in the 1800s and mirrors the reality of U.S. journalism in the 1930s. As a history of the medium in WIRED noted, then, as today, the shift to newsletters arose from a crisis of confidence in the newspaper industry and grew as new technology allowed. Newsletters are a product of that ever-evolving landscape. Public relations professionals can use these newsletters as opportunities to land clients directly in front of readers who care most about their cause. As the saying goes, what’s old is new again.
