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Breaking news e-mail alerts are great tools for engagement, loyalty

By Amalie Nash

INMA

Denver, Colorado, United States

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Newsletters are one of the best tools we have for forming direct relationships with our readers and subscribers. They lead to higher conversion rates, more repeat visits, and greater likelihood of retention.

There isn’t just one way to do newsletters right either. General interest and niche newsletters can both be popular. Automated and highly curated can work. High frequency and low frequency have their place.

It’s one of those topics ripe for sharing and delving into best practices. And that’s just what we did on my latest Webinar, when The Dallas Morning News in the United States and Torstar in Canada shared what works for them.

Read on to learn more. And in my next newsletter, I look forward to offering some of my top takeaways and insights from my just-wrapped Newsroom Transformation Initiative Master Class.

Reach me anytime: amalie.nash@inma.org

Amalie

P.S.: Sign up now for my next Webinar: “The Popularity of Podcasts: How Does Audio Fit into Your Strategy?” It will feature Lauren Osen of Apple Podcasts and Erika Pulley-Hayes and Michael Tribble of WAMU. Register here.

Breaking news e-mail alerts have staying power 

Newsletters are the primary way — from beginning to end — that we can control how we engage with our audiences, said Katrice Hardy, executive editor at The Dallas Morning News.

So what is the strategy at The Dallas Morning News?

  • Data-driven: Focusing on what the data tells us allows us to strategically create personalised newsletters and journeys for our readers. *Interesting data point: E-mails are the third-highest traffic source overall for The Dallas Morning News and No. 1 among subscribers.

  • Adaptability: Constantly learning, testing, and training newsroom personnel that deploy newsletters. Working in partnership with the newsletter audience team.

  • Audience growth: What we can control to grow our newsletter audience and develop a habit in our readers’ lives.

  • What’s working: Mimicking SEO strategies in newsletters such as round-ups, listicles, delivering what the top stories are directly to their inbox, and creating a sense of urgency with breaking and news alerts.

Saher Merchant, director of audience development at The Dallas Morning News, said breaking news newsletters have been a win in Dallas. Beyond traditional breaking news, they have segmented e-mail alerts for up-to-the-minute news on specific topics, like business.

“How do we get new users into our ecosystem and develop habit? These targeted newsletters brought in new audiences and higher loyalty,” Merchant said.

The Dallas Morning News is seeing impressive results from its breaking news alerts.
The Dallas Morning News is seeing impressive results from its breaking news alerts.

Merchant said her team worried about over-saturating the targeted segments with too many e-mail alerts, but results have shown subscribers to those newsletters have a strong appetite for them.

David Topping, director of newsletters for Torstar, said breaking news alerts work well at the Toronto Star, too. He also offered an important distinction between e-mail alerts and e-mail newsletters:

  • Alert: an urgent editorial message about a single item, primarily intended to drive traffic off-platform to it.

  • Newsletter: a themed editorial package that can be urgent or built to drive traffic off-platform — but needn't be either.

“It makes alerts purer to measure the results from — on alerts, you focus on getting the click, and that’s when they are successful,” he said. “They’re exceptionally good at driving traffic, but they don’t drive a lot of subscriptions.”

In addition to breaking news e-mail alerts (which has a large e-mail list), the Toronto Star also sends investigations, columnist, and topical alerts. They don’t drive the same volume of traffic, but they appeal to a segment of the audience and can lead to subscription conversions, Topping said. They also experimented with neighbourhood and recurring features alerts, but those did not prove successful.

“We had a few month’s worth, and I was looking for any signal of hope. What I saw from other alerts at the same time were some signals but not from those,” Topping said.

And how did Torstar find a balance of how many to send — gauging interest vs. worrying receivers would see them as spam?

Topping said they watch unsubscribes and traffic volumes closely.  

The Toronto Star explains what works and what doesn't with breaking news alerts.
The Toronto Star explains what works and what doesn't with breaking news alerts.

Do you send e-mail alerts? Tell me about it: amalie.nash@inma.org

5 pieces of newsletter advice from experts

Dan Oshinsky, who runs Inbox Collective — an e-mail consultancy that helps brands grow audiences, build relationships, and get results via e-mail — had a great recent piece where he asked 20+ newsletter operators for their favourite piece of newsletter advice.

An illustration of e-mailed newsletters created with Google Gemini AI.
An illustration of e-mailed newsletters created with Google Gemini AI.

The full article is worth a read, but I narrowed it to five of my favourites and included some commentary on the advice:

1. It’s not just about the news — it’s about the letter. It’s so easy to focus on what you’re trying to promote or sell and to forget that the best newsletters are usually the ones that you connect with on a personal level. Be yourself and let readers into your world — Dan Oshinsky, consultant, Inbox Collective.

Newsletters are a distinct product unlike an article or another news format. They give you an opportunity to develop a voice and personality, and many of the best ones feel like they’re authored by a friend.

2. Plain and simple, e-mail isn’t like any other publishing medium. People aren’t necessarily sitting down to read a sprawling essay. They want to be able to skim, see what’s interesting or important to them, and digest info easily — even on a small screen — JR Raphael, founder and editorial director, The Intelligence.

We’ve talked a lot in the Newsroom Transformation Initiative about multimodal content, and newsletters are no different. People typically don’t want a wall of text, so be deliberate about formats and how easily scannable it is.

3. Stay focused on what your brand brings to the table. It can be very easy to get distracted and feel like you have to cover the same stuff that everyone else seems to be talking about, but people come to us for a specific type of content — reported features, essays, Q&As, and more on topics that are relevant to women ages 35+. Know your lane, own your niche, etc. — Leslie Price, co-founder, Gloria.

For general interest news sites, niche newsletters can perform exceedingly well and bring a small but important audience to the subject. This speaks directly to another piece of advice from the article: Focus on growing the RIGHT audience, not the biggest.

4. Know who your newsletter is for before you begin, and know what need are you solving for that reader or the entertainment you’re providing (that someone out there isn’t doing already) — Sean McNulty, creator, the Wakeup.

That last clause is especially important. Make sure you know your value proposition and differentiator. If you decide to do a version of a newsletter that already exists, be ruthless in asking yourself how you’re doing it better or why someone would choose to subscribe to yours instead of the other one.

5. “They want to feel at home, but they also want to be surprised.” That’s what Bruce Springsteen said once in an interview when he was asked what fans are looking for from their favourite musical artists, and it’s always stayed with me. I take a lot of inspiration from artists in other mediums, especially musicians, because they shake up what they do — they try different styles, different sounds — Terrell Johnson, founder and author, The Half Marathoner.

This one is just lovely and poetic and speaks to the importance of keeping things fresh. As he says: Look for new terrain to explore.

What’s your best newsletter advice? E-mail me: amalie.nash@inma.org.

Mark your calendars

Upcoming INMA events that shouldn’t be missed:

  • October 30: My next Webinar focuses on “The Popularity of Podcasts: How Does Audio Fit into Your Strategy?” We’ll be joined by Lauren Osen of Apple Podcasts and Erika Pulley-Hayes and Michael Tribble of WAMU. Register now.

  • November 6: The Product & Tech Initiative’s next Webinar will cover “What You Need to Know About Apple iOS 18, Meta RayBan Glasses, and OpenAI Voice.” Register now

About this newsletter

Today’s newsletter is written by Amalie Nash, based in Denver, Colorado, United States, and lead for the INMA Newsroom Transformation Initiative. Amalie will share research, case studies, and thought leadership on the topic of bringing newsrooms into the business of news.

This newsletter is a public face of the Newsroom Transformation Initiative by INMA, outlined here. E-mail Amalie at amalie.nash@inma.org or connect with her on INMA’s Slack channel with thoughts, suggestions, and questions.

About Amalie Nash

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