Maybe you didn’t know, but sendXmail has a newsletter that’s filled with juicy data and insights on email marketing and automation.
Every Monday, the subscribers get one case study, one insight and one actionable idea to implement into their email marketing or marketing automation tactics.
Today, you’ve got a glimpse of what was shared on this very day.
Case Study: How Morning Brew drives 95% of revenue from email.
Hey,
How are you doing?
Remember, it doesn’t matter how this Monday started. It’s time to be inspired by this remarkable case study.
This is one of my favourite brands to showcase because, well, they’re the proof that you can have a growing business leveraged almost entirely by email.
Morning Brew grew from $3 million to $13 million from 2020 to 2021, while 95% of its revenue stream comes from a single email newsletter. 🤯
Blown away already? 🤷♂️
What if I told you they’re now creating more niche newsletters and diversifying?
They have now spread their reach and niche into these other markets:
- Sidekick (career advice, productivity hacks);
- Money Scoop (personal finance newsletter);
- Money with Katie (spending habits, investing best practices, and tax strategies);
- Emerging Tech Brew (Drones, automation, AI, and more);
- Retail Brew (All the news and insights retail pros need to know, all in one newsletter. It Already has 180K subscribers as of today);
- Marketing Brew (yes, it doesn’t need a presentation);
- HR Brew (yes, it’s pretty simple);
- IT Brew (it’s the most recent one).
But also moved into the podcast realm:
- Business Casual – Podcast on business.
- Founders Journal – With the brand’s founders and guests;
- The Money with Katie Show – A podcast version of her newsletter;
- Imposters – Podcast with people with imposter syndrome.
And why is that? Because they know what makes a newsletter valuable: Relevancy!
It’s a clean and sleek way to send personalised content based on their interests. Also, it’s a clever way to segment their audience to cater to advertisers as well. This way, they can charge more to reach fewer people, but they are more refined as an audience. There’s no waste.
The second thing that shows they understand email?
They incentivise people to hit reply.
“For the most part, it’s an absolutely amazing relationship where a lot of readers will click ‘Reply’ and have a whole conversation with our editors on a regular basis,” —said Jason Schulweis, head of brand partnerships at Morning Brew, in a recent Real-Time Banter webinar.
At the time, they were getting around a 42% open rate, which for a multi-million newsletter it’s huge.
The third thing that shows they’re good at email:
“We are very strict with going through and purging users that are either using fake emails or that have subscribed but haven’t opened our email in a couple of weeks,” Schulweis says. “That open rate is something that we look at very closely.”
Have I previously shared what they send to people when they don’t have an activity signal? If not, here it is again.
The fourth thing it shows they’re rocking email:
They’re not focusing solely on email. Whaaaaat?? 🤷♂️
That’s right.
People imagine that email marketing is one silo channel. It isn’t!
For example, they’re ramping into other channels, like TikTok, podcasting, Twitter, and Instagram, to keep their brand relevant and collect immediate feedback. It’s an instant collector of how different demographics and generations talk about a topic.
Then, they reuse that feedback to interact with their audience through email and write content so they will feel more represented and understood.
Oh, let’s not forget that it’s also an incredible way of getting a fresh new stream of subscribers to grow their lists as well.
But how have they started growing their email list so fast?
One reason is that their referral program accounts for 30% of their total subscribers. Basically, it’s a member-get-member program.
At the end of each newsletter, they have a small section to incentivise their audience to share something they love with their network.
Using a gamification tactic to earn points and revert into cool perks, like a premium exclusive newsletter that the rest of the audience doesn’t have.
More than that, they make it personalised for each subscriber. So, subscribers feel represented and not just something everyone gets the same. They acknowledge each step you’re in, which makes you want to go further along the line.
Yes, I have 0 referrals, and to get a few perks myself, I placed all the links with my referral code. 😂 Let’s see if that changes a bit. 😅
The fifth proof they understand email:
They do A/B tests on the subject lines. 🫣
Yes, it’s not a myth. A/B testing subject lines work, especially when you’re sending millions of emails, and you want to make sure you’ve chosen the right one.
Believe me, I’ve been working in email marketing since 98′, and I still can’t choose the right subject line winner 100% of the time. 😩
You can see the entire process on this Twitter thread by Toby, a now-former employee.
So, tell me. Is this helping you understand how to leverage your email newsletter to become a powerhouse of revenue coming your way?
Hit reply and let me know if this was too much information to share in a newsletter or if you prefer this kind of in-depth approach instead of the lighter versions shared previously.
Again, all the best to you, and enjoy your week!
Insight: Email is still king as the best performing marketing channel for tech
A study conducted by Gartner and published recently —February 2022— still positions email as the marketing channel clear winner against others like social marketing, SEO, paid media, events, etc.
Here are the results:
And here are their conclusions:
- Tech marketers should use a balanced multichannel marketing mix for more effective demand generation instead of investing in limited or too many channels.
- Create more relevant CTAs in marketing campaigns by focusing on the buyer’s behaviour, profiles and activity stream in the buying cycle.
- Select marketing channels based on performance against objectives, not just investment. Include channels with higher direct investment (display ads and retargeting, content syndication and paid social ads) to drive improvements in lead quality.
You can access the complete study here.
Idea: Place a CTA banner or link in your email signature to drive more subscribers to your list.
Maybe you’ve already heard me giving this tip, but it’s never enough to reinforce. From my experience, most brands are not using their corporate email signatures to promote their email newsletter, and that’s a big missed opportunity if you ask me.
Imagine how many people you reach out to every day. Imagine that multiplied by your coworkers. 🤯
And even better, can you pinpoint an audience more ideal to receive your newsletter? We’re talking about current and potential customers, partners, providers, colleagues, and peers.
Best of all, it’s free! You’re not investing more than your time and developing that email signature.
If you want some help doing one for yourself, let us know, and I’ll help you out.
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