Newsletter marketing is on the rise (again): data shows how to stand out in a saturated landscape

Email newsletter marketing is one of the oldest and most enduring digital marketing methods, beginning around the late 90s and rising in popularity in conjunction with widespread email use. Traditional newsletters dropped off in the late 2010s with the emergence of the martech stack enabling an exponential increase in channels to reach a target audience. However, with growing emphasis on digital and remote work, reaching virtual customers has never been easier (or more competitive).  

If you’re thinking to yourself, after all this time, why newsletters now? Newsletters continue to be an effective part of integrated marketing strategy, helping create ongoing relationships with customers through periodic interactions, offering time to strengthen perception and build loyalty. Additionally, newsletter are typically more cost effective than options such as paid advertising, and enable greater detail in analytics of consumption behaviors which enables improvement over time.  

To understand how B2B newsletter marketing trends are evolving, Metia created a data set exploring multiple marketing method trends over the past 7 years. We found that in that time, there has been a 28.2% growth in discussions about newsletters as a marketing tool. The high point is projected to be in 2022-2023, with an estimated 64.9% increase in conversation volume around newsletters, indicating a great potential for growth this year. 

Who is Talking About and Sharing B2B Newsletters? 

Business Decision Makers (BDM) and Information Technology Decision makers (ITDMs) discuss newsletters in 13.5% (BDM) and 15.6% (ITDM) of all conversations with overall topics of discussion remaining similar. This indicates the flexibility of newsletters to match audiences differing needs and preferences is what makes newsletters resonant across audiences. Discussions about newsletters tended to be overall more positive, with audiences reacting to success stories, new business partners, and innovations.  

What Makes a Good Newsletter: Table stakes 

With nearly infinite ways to make a newsletter for marketing, keep both format and accessibility in mind to improve the audience’s experience. 

Format for Efficiency 

• Office workers get on average 121 emails a day, meaning newsletters can’t be too long. Achieve this though clear organization, summaries, and lists of content.  

Attract Audiences with Trend Alignment 

• Draw in readers by aligning main newsletters points with timely trends. Currently, 34.7% of all newsletter conversations focus on AI and Machine Learning stories, launches, and partnerships, making it a table stakes theme to speak to. 

Instant Identification is Important 

• Draw on recognition to stand out in a sea of emails. 
• Having logos, brand names, and other immediate indicators within emails helps audiences identify newsletters quickly, saving them time (and saving you from being unread). 

What Makes a Great Newsletter: Differentiators 

With such excitement and potential in newsletter marketing, it is a highly saturated and competitive format where differentiation is the key to success. 

Personalization is Paramount 

• This includes visual personalization such as a dark mode visual effect, as well as what types of products are emphasized, and how often newsletters are received.  
• Within personalization conversations, innovative uses for AI and ML in newsletter optimization are at the forefront. Specific AI and ML uses include curating user specific content based on their preferences and habits, as well as providing applicable recommendations for products that audiences will find useful, creating a bigger impact and saving time through automation.  

Accessibility Adds to Audiences  

• Accessibility functions are increasingly important amongst audiences and promote inclusivity. Achieve this though alternative text for images, support text to speech, and having clearly legible fonts. 

If you want to know how Metia’s teams can help modernize your approach to newsletters and align with audiences through data-based insights, please reach out!