It's appropriate, in the month of Halloween, to start this issue of the dispatch by mentioning a scary development.
Adverts in newsletters, served by an ad-tech company that is given access to the reader's data to tailor their advertising experience inside the newsletter, possibly even in realtime.
We’re wary of anything to do with ad tech being introduced into newsletters. Our opinion is formed in no small part by the insight Bob Hoffman provides about ad tech in his own newsletter, which shines a bright light into the dark, stinking corners of the cesspools of digital advertising, among other things.
Gary Vaynerchuk said at a talk years ago, "Marketers always f*** it up!" The audience laughed. We're not laughing now.
Our concern is that by going down this route, newsletters will be reduced to the same sick, ad-stuffed, data-mining, tracking experience social media has become. Illegal data harvesting and monetisation. Secret and illegal tracking. Fraud totalling the GDP of a medium-sized nation. Do we want that in newsletters?
No.
Ads by all means. But not served by an ad-tech industry which has a shameful track record in my opinion. Why should we trust them with our readers?
But that's just us.
What do you think?
Valuable Expertise Gifted to You
Our friend Andy Griffiths has launched Champion Newsletters, a newsletter about newsletters. It's terrific stuff. Andy is a sharp cookie and gives super value. Although his service is aimed at magazine publishers, any marketing person should at least have a peek (and then commit to a subscription). A lot of his advice and insight is transferable to your newsletter.
Don't just take our word for it, though. Sign up for the free version and see for yourself: Champion Newsletters sign-up.
Case Study: Keep Them Onside
Have you considered the power of an insider's newsletter to keep stakeholders onside during the development of a new product? We saw first hand how powerful this can be during the build up to the launch of Deckible, the digital card deck platform. It was remarkable how a simple newsletter acted as the glue between hundreds of deck creators and the app developer who needed their support to make the app viable.
Deckible founder Nick Kellet knew he couldn't launch the app unless it had a catalogue of decks available from Day 1. So he worked tirelessly to connect with creators to explain the platform to them, months in advance of its launch. As they came on board with their decks, Nick added them to a mailing list for a regular exclusive, creators-only newsletter. It kept them up-to-date on the development of the app, the setbacks, the triumphs and the plans for launch. He also used the newsletter to address concerns and questions from creators.
The newsletter gave them the feeling they were on the inside. They knew what was happening and it helped them understand the inevitable delays associated with launching an app. It made sure they all stayed onside and behind the project, even as the hoped-for launch date slipped due to the millions of obstacles the universe threw at Nick and his team.
Since the launch on 16th September, Nick has kept the newsletters going, at a rate of one per day almost.
We think it's a textbook example of how you can use a newsletter to bring cohesiveness to a disparate group of people with different priorities during a protracted development and launch phase of a complex project.
Hit Them Between the Eyes
Does your newsletter slide sideways into your reader's inbox in a cloud of tyre smoke wearing a loud shirt* or does it limply flop in? Does it burn calories brightly or is it feeble? In other words, does your newsletter have a bit of energy about it?
Energy in a newsletter comes from strong visuals. (Avoid the stock image trends of the day. Be daring, be bold. Trip your readers' eyes up mid-step and cover their eyeballs in visual glue.)
Energy in a newsletter also comes from the words you use and how you smack them into shape. (Use words that leave your readers' ears ringing. You've just been reading an example.)
* Bonus point if you name the inspiration for this description.
Newsletters Are as Clever as a Fox
At the beginning of September, Roger appeared as a guest on Beacon Business Commercial Services' collaboration series Let's Grow & Future Proof Your Business. Together with Susana Marambio, He spoke about Almost Everything You Need To Know about Newsletters for Business.
For those of you who have nothing better to do with your valuable time, the talk is available here (contains a cuddly fox and a brutal mallet called "Mark"): "Almost Everything etc..."
Insider Bonus
Avocados are a food fetishist’s fantasy. They’re super-healthy and can give you the same sensations you get from wearing latex. Some people even say avocados taste delicious. They are, of course, lying. Avocados don't have any taste. In fact, if it weren’t for their reputation as health boosters, nobody would eat them at all. Instead, we eat more than 50 billion avocados annually.
We know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking, “Tell me more about the latex thing.”Sadly... We can't. It's part of the exclusive content we've produced for a paid newsletter.
But you're curious, aren't you?
