Takeaways

5 takeaways from Creating a Nimble Newsletter Workflow Optimized for New Ideas

By Meghan Murphy  • 

Kat Borgerding (@katborgerding), a volunteer with the ONA Resource Team, compiled these key moments from the ONA20 session on Oct. 7, 2020. To view a recording of the session, register for on-demand access to the ONA20 archive. Session participants included:

  • Jacqueline Boltik, CEO, yellowbrim.com
  • Kim Bode, Product Manager, Newsletters and Messaging, Los Angeles Times/San Diego Union-Tribune

5 key takeaways:

  1. CalTimes and the LA Times have set up a workflow using standard templates for all newsletters using a program called Osmosis. They also use these templates to quickly launch new newsletters by changing out colors and images.
  2. It can be useful to exempt stories from your paywall in newsletters. This has worked to show readers what kind of content they can get by subscribing rather than asking readers to pay for a newsletter with paywall content.
  3. It’s important to streamline your workflow and your tech stack, which will enable you to try new things out more easily and quickly.
  4. Niche newsletters and personality-driven newsletters have the highest open rates. The former are on a very specific topic, while the latter can be on a broader topic, but feature a strong personality/voice so that people really feel like they’re hearing from a trusted advisor on that topic.
  5. Set up a Slack channel for your newsletter audience to deepen the relationship with the community. This allows the community to connect amongst itself.

Memorable/tweetable quotes:

  • “I would separate workflow into getting the tech infrastructure in place and then getting the editorial production workflow set up. That’s the ideal state I think.” —Jacqueline Boltik
  • “We think a lot about the community. We want to have a pretty clear understanding, before we launch something: Who this is for, why they need it, and why we are good at providing this. Also how we are currently engaging with them. Or if we aren’t yet, if this is an initiative and an idea to reach beyond already existing communities and audiences that we’re engaging with.” —Kim Bode
  • “We did want to touch on what we see on the horizon with newsletters. It really is around [direct] engagement. Audio in email is something we’ve seen emerging which is kind of deepening engagement with individual readers.” —Kim Bode

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