Complete Guide to Newsletters in Podcasts: Strategy, Benefits, and Best Practices

I bet the first thing you thought when reading the title is: “Are emails still an effective marketing tool in 2024?”

We get so many, all day long, we don't know how we get them or where they are coming from.

Most, if not all, of those unwanted emails end up in spam before we even open them.

So, why do all the industry experts insist that newsletters are a valuable tool for increasing a podcast's popularity?

The answer is simple: unlike other sharing methods, newsletters have a direct impact on an audience genuinely interested in your product, whether it’s a podcast, a physical product, or a service.

But that's not all! Let's talk data, and let this sink in: a well-written email can be 40 times more effective than a typical social media ad.

How can you make this happen? Easy: If you want your newsletter to work at full effectiveness, then you have to learn how to tap into its full potential.

In this article, we’ll answer all your questions and teach you how to turn a newsletter into a winning strategy for your podcast.

What is a Newsletter? 

A newsletter is a communication tool that allows content creators to keep their listeners updated through regular email sends.

In our field, the newsletter serves to inform the audience about all the latest news regarding the podcast.

This can include updates on upcoming episodes, episode show notes, news, events, insights, and special promotions.

What are the Benefits of a Newsletter? 

The benefits of a newsletter are numerous:

• Direct Communication: As I mentioned earlier, emails are a highly effective and direct way to communicate with your audience. They help establish a personal connection. Unlike short videos created for social media, when emails are opened, readers generally pay attention to the content. This promotes engagement and builds audience loyalty.

• Genuine Interest: When someone subscribes to your newsletter, they intend to maintain contact with you. The emails from newsletters that users subscribe to voluntarily have nothing to do with the clutter that fills our inboxes. In this case, the person demonstrates genuine interest in your content and will appreciate receiving updates.

• Promoting Episodes: Typically, podcast hosts use newsletters to announce the release dates of new episodes or to boost the listenership of published ones. This can be done by sending episode transcripts, providing insights, or links to exclusive content. Reminding your audience that a new episode is on the way or that they might have missed an old one is an excellent strategy to increase the average listen rate of each episode.

• Get Creative: Remember, newsletters can do much more. Use them to engage your audience with special events or personal stories. Anything that makes your readers feel closer to you can become material for your newsletter, so be creative!

• Effective Calls to Action: A well-designed newsletter is great at driving results from calls to action. One of the real strengths with podcasting is the ability of listeners to multitask while consuming your content. Of course, this can be a weakness for specific calls to action: while lots of listeners will stay engaged right through your content, others won't always be able to recall links to products or promotional discounts mentioned during the episode. Emails allow them to retrieve these sales tools easily and use them immediately.

• Support and Promotion: If you want to promote the monetization of your podcast, newsletters not only let you ask loyal fans for support through subscriptions or donations, but you can also offer courses, events, or other paid products. It’s much easier for them to take action via email than during or after listening to your podcast.

• Fostering Interaction and Feedback: Emails encourage interaction through comments, surveys, questions, and answers, enhancing the dialogue between the podcaster and the audience.

• Generating Word of Mouth: Newsletters are a great way to create word-of-mouth promotion that helps expand your audience. Asking your subscribers to promote your podcast to friends and acquaintances creates a buzz that's extremely beneficial for your show. When this happens, community promotion allows you to grow your audience numerically while maintaining quality and attracting genuinely interested listeners.

• Building Relationships: Since creating solid relationships with fellow podcasters is crucial for your success, newsletters can become a preferred method for exchanging favors with other podcasters. By recommending colleagues, they’ll likely return the favor, benefiting everyone involved. Don’t worry about potential competition; if you maintain high-quality content, your listeners will remain loyal and thank you for introducing them to new ways to value their time.

• Full Control: Unlike other multimedia channels where you depend on external companies, like social media, with email, you don’t have to worry about following specific rules or being victimized by strange algorithms. The newsletter belongs to you, and you have full control over it.

• Popularity Indicator: A newsletter with a good number of subscribers is an excellent indicator of your podcast's popularity. Showing these numbers to potential sponsors will definitely increase their interest in your proposal and lead them to say yes!

• Helping your marketing strategy: As I mention in all my articles, a podcast needs support from all your promotional tools, which should work together through a well-defined strategy. The newsletter is ideal for promoting your podcast, website (which is crucial since you can leverage SEO strategy to boost visibility), social media channels, and affiliate account. Other promotional channels will also support your newsletter.

• Promoting your brand: If you run a business podcast, what better way to elevate your brand and promote it effectively without being intrusive? Listeners will appreciate staying updated on your news and events.

How to Start a Newsletter for Your Podcast 

To kick off a newsletter and turn it into an effective promotional tool, it's important to keep a few key points in mind:

1. Only Use Email Addresses You’ve Earned: Buying email addresses won’t yield good results. Those users who are not interested in reading your content, or who don’t know why they’re receiving your emails, will not help your cause.  All your emails will end up in spam. Better a few engaged subscribers than a large, uninterested list. If you put in the right effort, your numbers will grow naturally. Therefore, resist the temptation to make those kinds of purchases, whether to boost the numbers on your mailing list or the followers on your social media channels

2. Craft an Engaging Subject Line: The first thing your audience sees is your email subject line. If it grabs their attention, they’ll want to open the message. Create anticipation or confirm the arrival of something your fans are waiting for, and do it in an engaging way.

3. Use an Informal Tone: You want to build a personal connection with your readers, so talk like you would to a friend. Keep the tone direct and engaging, reflecting your podcast's vibe.

4. Share Valuable Content: Your readers expect interesting topics, added value, and insights. Whether your newsletter is for monetization or to grow certain podcast numbers doesn’t matter. The primary goal is to provide something valuable in exchange for their loyalty. You need to communicate your desire for support without making your subscribers feel like just another target. The valuable content of your newsletter is your gift to listeners, a way to solidify an existing bond, not a blatant sales pitch. So, include your call to action, but always, and I mean ALWAYS, in the context of engaging and educational content. You can share interviews, transcripts, insights, graphics, behind-the-scenes looks, funny videos, and finally, your call to action. As always, be creative!

5. Maintain a Consistent Format: Create a standard template and stick to it each time. For example: opening title, greetings, body of the email, photos or ads, rest of the text, link to your site or another call to action, and closing greetings. If you want to know how to do it in detail, scroll down to the end of the article. I’ve created an example format for a newsletter that you can customize to your liking. Also, choose inviting colors and images that allow you to be easily recognizable over time.

6. Use Clear Language: Make sure everyone can read and understand your emails. Remember, some people prefer reading over watching or listening, but some might not have a high education level, don’t speak your language well, or have vision issues. Ensure your emails are well-written, clear, and comprehensible, using a simple font that’s easy to interpret.

7. Make sure that each email in your newsletter tells a story on its own, meaning it should be understandable as an individual piece of text. The message shouldn’t only resonate with those who have already listened to the latest episode or seen your reel on Instagram. Every piece of content you produce should stand alone, and this applies to email communications as well.

8. Keep It Concise: For your newsletter to be effective, the body must include all the information you want to convey, but without requiring hours of reading. The storytelling should be engaging, but keep the length manageable so you don’t bore your readers.

9. Be Consistent with Publishing: Choose a day to send out your emails (e.g., every Tuesday) and stick to it. Knowing when to expect your message builds anticipation and trust, making your newsletter a pleasant habit.

10. Set a Sustainable Publishing Schedule: If you can only publish once a month or biweekly, that’s perfectly fine. Better to send out one valuable email a month than constant communications that end up in spam!

11. Don’t Overdo Frequency: Even if you can produce interesting content daily, avoid overwhelming your readers with constant messages. A weekly communication can maintain engagement without cluttering their inbox.

12. Always Thank Your Readers: It’s essential for building trust and creating a strong community willing to promote you.

13. Ask for Support: This doesn’t necessarily mean requesting financial support. You can simply ask your readers to invite friends to join your community, perhaps offering an incentive like a free e-book for signing up for your emails.

14. Make Unsubscribing Easy: Nobody likes to see their listeners or readers go, but if they decide to leave, there’s not much you can do. Ensure that the process of unsubscribing is straightforward and immediate.

15. Choose a Reliable Email Marketing Platform: We’ve selected a few to give you an idea of what the market offers. Prices and terms of service can change, so always check before purchasing!

    

Comparative Table of Email Marketing Platforms

Here are the most popular:  

• Shopify Email: Ideal for beginners, this platform is free for the first 10,000 emails each month. It's a native option within Shopify and is specifically tailored for ecommerce businesses. It has an overall rating of 3.8/5.

• ActiveCampaign: Known for its easy setup, ActiveCampaign offers a 14-day free trial followed by a $49/month subscription. It’s distinguished by advanced workflows and CRM features, making it ideal for businesses needing detailed customer management. It scores a rating of 4.4/5.

• Privy: Also rated easy to use, Privy is free for up to 100 contacts and provides comprehensive lead generation tools for ecommerce. Its ecommerce focus and ease of use earn it a high rating of 4.6/5.

• Klaviyo: Klaviyo offers a medium difficulty level, with a free tier for up to 250 contacts and 500 emails per month. Designed primarily for ecommerce, Klaviyo has a rating of 3.9/5.

• Omnisend: This platform, also rated as medium difficulty, is free for up to 250 contacts and 500 emails monthly. Omnisend includes multichannel automation and features tailored for ecommerce, with an excellent rating of 4.8/5.

• Drip: Offering a 14-day free trial and then $39/month, Drip is moderately easy to use and excels in behavioral automation triggers, helping businesses segment and engage with audiences effectively. It holds a rating of 4.5/5.

• SmartrMail: Rated as easy to use, SmartrMail offers a free plan for up to 250 subscribers and 1,250 emails each month, with a $19/month cost for upgrades. Powered by machine learning, it has a high rating of 4.9/5.

• Constant Contact: Targeted at beginners, Constant Contact offers a free trial for the first 100 emails, with subsequent plans starting at $12/month. It includes event management features, but its overall rating is lower at 2.8/5.

• CM Commerce: CM Commerce is rated medium difficulty and provides a 9-day free trial, then costs $9/month. Known for its user-friendly HTML email builder, it scores 4.6/5.

• Kit: With an easy setup, ConvertKit is free for up to 300 subscribers, after which it costs $29/month. It focuses on simplified email marketing, making it ideal for content creators, though it doesn’t have a rating in this list.

• Mailchimp: Known for its intuitive design and ease of use, Mailchimp offers a free plan for 500 subscribers and 1,000 emails per month, with a paid plan starting at $13/month. It’s rated at 3.5/5.

  

  As terms of service change often, make sure you check each marketing platform individually.

How to Evaluate the Success of a Newsletter 

To assess your newsletter's success, examine specific factors:

Number of Subscribers:

The number of subscribers is obviously the first metric to consider, but don’t focus solely on this. Growth is essential, but remember that engagement is about quality over quantity, and it takes time.

Open Rate:

This metric shows how many people open your messages. Don’t expect a 100% open rate; I doubt anyone achieves that. However, if it’s really low, tweak your email format and content.: a low click rate might not mean readers aren’t interested in your product or service. It could mean your content isn't engaging enough to prompt clicks. If this is the case, start fresh and offer more valuable content.

Conversion Rate:  

The conversion rate measures how many people take a specific action (like making a purchase, registering for an event, or downloading content) after clicking the links in your newsletter. This is a clear sign of your newsletter's success, crucial for your podcast's monetization strategy.

Unsubscribe Rate:

Track how many subscribers opt out of your newsletter. If it’s a lot, your content may be uninteresting. Use this opportunity to ask for feedback from those who unsubscribe to understand why they left.

Feedback:

Subscriber feedback provides valuable insights for improving your results. Use surveys, open-ended questions in the newsletter, or follow-up emails to gather thoughts on your content and how you can capture their attention.

Social Media Engagement:

Social media is a good indicator of interest. When you share your newsletter content, it quickly shows whether your followers are interacting. If you still have a small following and want to boost engagement on social media, read here!

Reading Time Analysis:

Opening emails isn’t enough; you also want readers to finish them. This metric tells you how much time readers spend on your newsletter or linked content, giving you an idea of their attention and interest.

Positive Reporting:

Building a solid community and generating interest takes more than a few weeks of publications. It’s fine to monitor your newsletter's weekly performance, but to see real growth, look at long-term trends. The subsequent report after each publication helps you apply changes episode by episode. If possible, analyze the performance of your newsletters based on specific audience segments. Demographic data can help you optimize your strategy as different groups may respond differently to your content.

Example Email Format for Newsletter

If you’ve made it this far, you’re ready to launch your project. To help you out, I’ve created a basic email format you can use for your podcast content.

This format includes all key elements: an intriguing title, a description of the new episode, an invitation to interact, and useful information. Of course, you'll need to adapt it to your style and content, but it's a good starting point.

Subject: Exciting New Episode: “The Mystery of [Specific Case]!”

Hi [Reader’s Name],

We’re excited to announce our latest episode of “Crime Chronicles!” This week, we dive into the gripping mystery of [Specific Case], a case that has fascinated and shocked our community.

• Title: The Mystery of [Specific Case]

• Duration: 45 minutes

• Listen Now:Listen Here!

In this episode, we explore:

• The Circumstances: The chilling details of [brief case description].

• Exclusive Testimonials: Interviews with key experts and witnesses.

• Crime Theories: Analysis of the main theories and their impact on justice.

We want to hear what you think! After listening, share your opinions and theories on our forum or on Instagram @CrimeChronicles. The best responses may be read in the next episode!

Don’t forget to check out our past episodes, where we covered cases like [Episode 1] and [Episode 2]. You can find all episodes on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Your engagement is crucial to us. If you find our episodes interesting, consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts and sharing the podcast with friends and family.

Until the next episode, stay curious and keep investigating!

Cheers,[Your Name]Host of Crime ChroniclesLink to Podcast Website

Now you have all the information needed to kickstart a successful newsletter and achieve results quickly.

All that’s left is to implement our tips and grow a loyal and active audience. Good luck!

Author's note:

Well, actually, I forgot to tell you something! Creating a podcast can be a challenging and exhausting task, especially if you're doing everything alone and don't have a team to assist you with post-production.

If you need extra help in all stages of your podcast production, try PodcastAI, a cutting-edge and continuously evolving software, which will allow you to explore your creative side without worrying about the technical aspect. Got a tight budget? Don't worry, there's also a basic plan designed especially for those who cannot afford large expenses but do not want to deprive themselves of the advantages of innovative software. Try it, you won't be disappointed!