Yep, Email Newsletters Are Still Awesome

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It can be all too easy to overlook the need for driving email subscription conversion but make no mistake, email is still an enormously powerful tool, even in the wake of SMS and social media based messaging. Nonetheless, after taking a closer look at Adaptistration’s Weekly Email Subscriber list the other week and noticing the mostly consistent increase of 3.5 percent each month since late 2012 without so much as a single post directing readers over, it seems like a good time to rectify that oversight.

Ideally, you should do what I just did for the past 18 months but at the same time, it does demonstrate the value in designing an efficient call to action item and placing it in an effective location within your site.

Case in point, Adaptistration’s email subscription banner makes it clear how often the email is delivered (preventing concern over getting flooded with messages), it contains an icon to let users know they need to click through to sign up; all that’s really missing there is mention of the job listings in addition to the posts and news items.

The subscription page maintains a high conversion rate and the actual subscription list maintains an 86 percent open rate with mobile devices tipping the 50 percent threshold back in April, 2014. And every Friday, like clockwork, there’s a big ‘ol bump in daily traffic, page views, and average time on site within the first few hours the newsletter goes out.

So if you aren’t already on the list, go ahead and subscribe; it’s only one email per week, same day and time, highly scanable and only takes a few seconds to process; plus it’s a great way to make sure you don’t miss anything during a busy or vacation week.

email-newsletter
Yep, Email Newsletters Are Still Awesome

 

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

View all posts by Drew McManus | Website

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2 thoughts on “Yep, Email Newsletters Are Still Awesome”

    • Interesting question George and it depends a bit on the source material but if we’re talking about traditional blog content like Adaptistration, the best advice I can give here is provide quality content published on a regular, predictable basis. If there’s nothing worth visiting on a regular basis (can’t stress the last one enough), even the best email newsletter subscription campaign won’t produce worthwhile results. If content isn’t published on a regular basis and your publishing platform offers a per publication email notice service, that is a good alternative to a standard email newsletter subscription.

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