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Newsletters

“INMA Knows” is a content surfacing project designed to personally curate all association resources on a single subject of high interest to INMA members

Introduction

INMA Researcher-in-Residence Grzegorz Piechota has found e-mail newsletters to be the single most effective tool to get people to subscribe and prevent churn. They work for many reasons: Readers have access to too much information and need their news curated and delivered to them from a trusted source in a simple platform. News media companies need a relationship with and data from readers. Both need personalisation and content habits to make the relationship work. From long-term niche newsletters (sports, breaking news, cannabis) to pop-up newsletters (COVID-19, the World Cup, "Game of Thrones"), news media companies around the world are finding success with this efficient and evolving way to reach audiences. Here are case studies and research into what that success looks like.

Dawn McMullan

— Dawn McMullan, INMA

Exclusive INMA material on “Newsletters”

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33 strategies help media companies keep new subscribers

E-mail and newsletter expert Dan Oshinsky shared 33 tactics for onboarding a new subscriber, to build habit and engagement in the first critical 100 days.

21 December 2021

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TIME builds a subscription machine to move into the future

Despite being nearly a century old, TIME is approaching the future with a start-up mindset, using newsletters to build relationships and content marketing to convert subscribers.

28 March 2022

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New framework helps publishers manage portfolio of e-mail newsletters

INMA Readers First Initiative Lead Greg Piechota breaks down The Telegraph’s North Star goal of 10 million registered users and 1 million subscribers. Then offers a proposed e-mailed newsletter framework for news media companies.

04 April 2022

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Nine finds success approaching newsletters as journalism, not marketing

When Nine Metro Publishing identified newsletters as a key component of engagement, it created an ambitious new strategy that changed the way it wrote the newsletters and began monitoring them differently.

09 January 2023

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Newsletter dashboards measure dozens of metrics at Sydney Morning Herald, Age

The goal is not always for newsletters to drive click-through rates, but the teams know that newsletter readers who visit the Web sites have a higher on-site journey than those who come in through social or search.

27 April 2021

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3 ways media should respond to declining news traffic

As subscribers decline, news publishers should focus on a newsletter strategy and put a greater emphasis on premium, hard-walled content.

26 December 2021

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E-mailed newsletters are key to subscription success at FT, Funke Media

INMA Researcher-in-Residence Greg Piechota shared the pivotal role e-mailed newsletters play in engaging and converting readers during an INMA Webinar featuring case studies from Financial Times and Funke Media Group.

14 July 2021

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Winnipeg Free Press realigns newsletter strategy based on reader feedback

A cross-departmental newsletter working group surveyed readers, who responded enthusiastically about receiving a gardening newsletter.

07 August 2022

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GQ’s short-run newsletter course bests daily newsletter open rate by 160%

GQ created the “How to Do More Push-Ups” newsletter as a 17-day course while people were under lockdown due to the pandemic, kicking off its e-mail programme and drawing in new subscribers.

17 May 2021

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The Courier increases engagement with 3 experimental, personalised subscriber e-mail updates

The Courier tested a personalised e-mail update for subscribers to increase overall engagement, which led to fully integrating the e-mail into onboarding campaigns as a subscriber benefit.

02 January 2023

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The right language can catapult a newsletter’s success

Content and distribution are essential considerations for newsletters, but linguistic decisions should not be overlooked, according to the head of newsletters at the Financial Times.

26 July 2021

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MediaNews Group grows its pageview referrals from story-driven newsletters

Headline-driven newsletters with stories curated in a specific order can engage and build audiences. The Evening Post newsletter was the 13th most-popular newsletter across MediaNews Group’s more than 270 newsletters through the first eight months of 2020.

17 October 2021

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Supercharge a newsletter strategy by creating evangelists in these 6 steps

The success of newsletters comes down to understanding readers and creating an experience that increases their perception of subscription value and willingness to pay.

06 February 2022

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Post and Courier shares 4 lessons learned from newsletter strategy

The Post and Courier collaborated with the Google News Initiative to explore the efficacy of paid newsletters as a viable growth strategy for the U.S.-based news company, which saw impressive engagement, especially with a sports newsletter.

08 January 2023

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Post and Courier shares 3 lessons from its newsletter growth strategy

The Post and Courier collaborated with the Google News Initiative to explore the efficacy of paid newsletters as a viable growth strategy for the news organisation.

19 February 2023

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The Independent shares e-commerce strategies for new revenue

During Tuesday’s Webinar, INMA members learned about some of the trends in e-commerce and how it is reshaping the news media industry, including how it has helped The Independent diversify its revenues. The media company is on track to bring in half its revenue from non-advertising sources this year.

02 November 2022

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Financial Review engages younger audience beginning their investing journey

The success of Financial Review’s Wealth Generation has given the newsroom confidence that investing in coverage for younger audiences pays off.

25 July 2022

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Tagging, call to action are key to successful LinkedIn newsletters

LinkedIn has become one of the most prominent spaces for professionals in all stages of their careers. Here are five tips for creating a successful LinkedIn newsletter.

10 October 2022

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Data, access among reasons for news publishers to invest in newsletters

News media companies need to think of new ways to distribute content, and newsletters offer a golden opportunity.

21 November 2022

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USA Today Sports’ Golfweek shares 4 content strategies for growth

Golfweek has transformed from a weekly print publication to a quarterly print magazine with a heavy digital footprint, but its audience grew 200% over 2020.

19 January 2022

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Mediahuis shares 3 newsletter lessons learned

Mediahuis finds personalised e-mail newsletters outperform non-personalised e-mails, and the first article shown is critical to their success.

11 August 2020

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Targeted newsletter list yields higher ROI for VíaPaís

VíaPaís plans to implement a subscription button to attract subscribers, increase session time, lower bounce rate, and increase pageviews.

06 June 2022

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INMA report shares how media can leverage newsletters for engagement, subscriptions

INMA’s latest report, How News Publishers Can Capitalise On the Newsletter Economy, features nine case studies that offer the industry three big lessons.

16 February 2023

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Die Zeit increases engagement with book club, related newsletter

Die Zeit created an online book club and has found higher-than-average rates of engagement while also attracting new subscribers.

12 October 2022

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Washington Post, El País improved retention through pricing, personalisation

Angelica Domínguez Martín, customer strategy director of El País in Spain, and Anjali Iyer, head of lifecycle marketing of The Washington Post in the United States, share with INMA members the retention strategies working for them.

15 May 2023

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Breathe new life into newsletters with updated aesthetics, subject lines

The novelty of e-mail has worn off, so newsletters have to be more appealing than ever. Here are four ways to make them better.

21 July 2022

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Público boosts conversion, retention with space for reader interaction with company

Público’s Área de Leitor is a private area allowing a subscriber or a registrant to autonomously manage their relationship with Público’s newspaper.

23 October 2022

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MediaNews Group’s e-mail newsletters align process and purpose

MediaNews Group relied upon deliberate cross-company product prioritisation, collaboration, and execution to create its successful newsletter initiative.

22 August 2021

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Keskisuomalainen Group reduced subscriber churn with newsletters

When Finland’s Keskisuomalainen Oyj wanted to increase engagement online amongst its 60 titles, it turned to personalised, automated newsletters.

14 May 2023

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Newsletters offer commercial opportunities for news media companies

There are two revenue opportunities from newsletters for news media companies and their advertising partners, according to INMA Advertising Initiative Lead Mark Challinor: Selling ad space in newsletters and newsletters that include affiliate links.

27 April 2022

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NZME’s OneRoof grows with personalisation, automation, and AI tools

OneRoof developed a data strategy to improve customer segmentation through declared and inferred customer data collection, which allows the team to localise and personalise listing recommendations.

10 May 2021

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Schibsted tests onboarding processes to increase subscription value

In 2018, Schibsted tested several ideas for increasing retention and engagement, many of which were successful. Here is an in-depth look at three of them.

04 March 2019

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Latinoamérica Piensa uses Causas newsletter to improve engagement

When Latinoamérica Piensa wanted to improve its reach and engagement, research pointed toward a newsletter. Causas, a newsletter focused on social justice, appeals to a new demographic.

23 October 2022

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Badische Zeitung uses local newsletters to build reader habits

German newspaper Badische Zeitung publishes a highly automated personalised newsletter to maximise media time and loyalty. This newsletter, which goes to 175,000 readers, has become a vital tool to grow the subscriber base.

05 February 2023

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Los Andes works on 3 obstacles to boost subscriber engagement

To reinforce its standing as a forward-thinking company, Los Andes began exploring tools — like newsletters — for data analysis and learned how to use them to increase subscriptions.

17 March 2022

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Funke Mediengruppe shares 9 tips for hitting newsletter goals

Putting a clear but flexible newsletter strategy in place can expose media brands to readers and engage new audiences. Funke Mediengruppe shares how it went from 26,000 newsletter recipients in May 2019 to 200,000 now.

21 December 2020

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Customer-first approach in product, content are key to digital engagement

Being customer-obsessed can help publishers develop the right content and product efforts — e-mails, newsletters, niche and local content — to support engagement. Leaders at The Wall Street Journal, Lee Enterprises, Ringier Group, and The Indian Express shared their strategies during the Digital Reader Engagement Master Class in September.

28 September 2021

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Stuff’s Now or Never initiative offers practical tips for cutting a reader’s carbon footprint

Stuff’s commitment to combating climate change is seen in its Now or Never initiative. The free six-week e-mail course for Stuff subscribers offers tips to help readers change their habits and reduce their impact on the environment. Engagement has been impressive.

20 November 2022

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Nine’s newsrooms double down on newsletters as key content platform

Nine’s newsletter strategy ensures this digital product is much more than just another to-do item for journalists. It started with making newsletters manageable for newsroom staff.

11 October 2020

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4 tactics for growing e-mail newsletter lists

MediaNews Group doubled down on building its e-mail newsletter lists. The strategy helped the company capitalise on news when the opportunity presents itself while tapping into social acquisition techniques.

03 August 2020

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Newsday marries newsletters, audience data to increase subscriptions, engagement

Newsday has been experimenting with newsletters to increase audience engagement and subscription sign-ups. The results are impressive.

24 November 2019

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Mediahuis streamlines newsletter creation, sign-up process

Mediahuis has streamlined its e-newsletter strategy so design and implementation of new products can quickly and easily be developed.

08 June 2020

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How to monetise the 98% of readers who don’t subscribe

When even The New York Times converts 2% of unique digital visitors, what’s a news media company to do? Consider other pricing models.

24 January 2019

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Globe and Mail’s 28 newsletters drive revenue, engagement

The Globe and Mail’s 28 e-mail newsletters help drive revenue through advertising, subscriber conversion, and improved subscriber retention through higher engagement.

15 July 2019

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Building effective strategies for creating engaging e-mail newsletters

A Media Subscriptions Week workshop took a deep dive into e-mail and newsletter marketing strategy, including specific tactics to drive engagement and conversion.

26 February 2020

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Handelsblatt shares 5 steps to expanding its brand into niche products

Handelsblatt launched industry-specific events and newsletters, engaged with decision makers, and researched similar products to expand its brand recognition and product development.

17 November 2020

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Research, best practices for the COVID-19 content and paywall dilemmas publishers face

As the pandemic reminds people why journalism is important and publishers see incredible increases in digital subscriptions, news media companies must decide the best approach to getting key content to the public and keeping these readers for the long term. INMA Researcher-in-Residence Grzegorz Piechota offers his research on the matter, as well as a case study from La Repubblica in Rome and pop-up newsletter best practices from the founder of Inbox Collective.

01 April 2020

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Newsletters drive one-third of The Daily Beast’s new subscribers

The Daily Beast has found two newsletters are an excellent funnel to turn readers into subscribers.

29 December 2020

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Gannett shares engagement ideas you can start using to attract subscribers

Members of Gannett's publishing team presented a workshop at the INMA Media Subscriptions Week on innovative strategies to increase customer engagement.

27 February 2020

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Handelsblatt launches 2 premium newsletters in lockdown

After launching its first premium newsletter in November 2019, Handelblatt has launched two more since the COVID lockdown began: Handelblatt Inside Real Estate and Handelsblatt Inside Geldanlage (Inside Financial Investment). Here is a look at how the publisher decided which topics to tackle.

10 June 2020

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NZZ pushes personalisation through data and algorithms

NZZ has used business applications and data learning to drive personalisation, subscriptions, and reader engagement. The result? A 60% year-over-year increase in digital subscribers in 2018.

21 August 2019

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Dallas Morning News boosts engagement with Best In DFW campaign

The Dallas Morning News’ Best In DFW promotion encouraged readers to vote for their favourite restaurants and used NCAA tournament-style brackets to determine the winners.

30 August 2020

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Debut Readers First Meet-Up delves into reader loyalty, best paywall models, newsletters

At the first INMA Readers First Meet-Up, INMA Researcher-in-Residence Grzegorz Piechota joins his passion for pubs and publishers with an in-depth discussion of the hottest topics in reader revenue and engagement.

21 October 2018

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How newsletters, data, journalism drive digital subscriptions

Presenters from The New York Times, Dagens Nyheter, and Gazeta Wyborcza share their best practices and advice using newsletters to drive digital subscriptions and retention.

19 November 2018

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Digital events, subscriber-only podcasts should enhance premium subscriptions

Premium subscriptions are a great way for media companies to generate revenue, but the value proposition needs to serve the audience. Here are four ways to do just that.

16 June 2020

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New York Times, FT, Atlantic share different strategies with same goal: engagement

While The Atlantic engages audiences with its membership programme, The New York Times has successfully revamped its e-mailed newsletter strategy to keep audiences engaged while FT focuses on one single metric to do the same.

08 November 2018

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The Conversation focuses on user needs model, newsletters to increase engagement

Global media company The Conversation shared its simple yet strategic approach to using data for audience growth during the recent INMA Asia/Pacific News Media Summit.

08 September 2024

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Newsday creates new onboarding series to engage subscribers from day one

Newsday realised the time to begin building engagement is while the subscriber is still in the transactional mode, so it created its new onboarding series.

26 August 2024

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Russmedia mixes print and digital advertising with its Super Push campaign

With its “Super Push” campaign, Russmedia is employing a mix of print and digital media to generate maximum attention for advertisers.

18 August 2024

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Apple Intelligence will affect content consumption in e-mail and on the Web

An early look at Apple Intelligence shows what it will mean to publisher newsletters and e-mails.

06 August 2024

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Putting audience first in election coverage

During a recent INMA Webinar, executives from The New York Times and The Washington Post shared their audience-focused strategies like video and newsletters for covering the U.S. elections.

30 July 2024

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At The Washington Post, planning makes big election news moments pay off

During a recent INMA Webinar, Candace Mitchell, audience lead for elections at The Washington Post, shared how the company is tackling the 2024 presidential election.

29 July 2024

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Condé Nast shares its commerce GQ product playbook

Condé Nast’s GQ brand is an interesting case study in doing commerce well.

29 July 2024

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News media companies can attract audiences in the changing era of AI

During this week’s Webinar, Greg Piechota, lead of INMA’s Readers First Initiative, moderated a panel discussion on what’s effective in attracting audiences and how the landscape continues evolving.

17 July 2024

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Crosstown LA uses public data to create hyper-local journalism

The data dashboard built for the media company makes the information accessible, turning every journalist in the newsroom into a data journalist.

16 July 2024

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Handelsblatt Media Group improves subscriber retention with new Web onboarding flow

Handelsblatt noticed subscribers who went through its Web onboarding flow were more active on the Web site and app — and showed better activity and retention — so the media company introduced an optional four-step onboarding flow.

23 June 2024

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NTM’s hyper-local newsletters see high open rates, engagement

The hyper-local newsletters are very niche and relatively small, but they are significant for those who have chosen to subscribe to them.

01 April 2024

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Corriere della Sera, Globe and Mail leverage the news cycle for growth

During Wednesday’s Webinar, Maria Sgromo, head of digital subscriptions for Corriere della Sera in Italy, and Andrew Kendall, managing director/subscriber revenue at The Globe and Mail in Canada, shared growth strategies with INMA members.

01 February 2024

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NWZ finds new niche audiences with newsletters

When Nordwest Mediengruppe saw the success of its COVID-19 newsletter, it expanded its newsletter department and today has more than 20 niche newsletters.

28 January 2024

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News Corp Australia scores reader engagement with Commonwealth Games coverage

News Corp Australia took a new approach to engaging audiences during the Commonwealth Games, creating multiple ways — like a 28-page print preview guide and a daily newsletter — for them to interact with the content.

08 January 2024

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Australian Financial Review grows highly engaged audience on LinkedIn

New readers visiting the Australian Financial Review Web site via LinkedIn convert at a higher rate than any other social platform.

01 January 2024

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Newsrooms are a vital part of the innovation process

At the recent INMA Newsroom Innovation Master Class, media leaders from Pamplonews, KStA, Newsday, and Sifted shared how innovations in content distribution and creation are helping their companies expand reach and better serve audiences.

20 November 2023

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Mediahuis Ireland shares 3 principles of a successful rebrand

For its flagship news brand, the Irish Independent, Mediahuis Ireland was able to unify multiple titles and complete a successful rebrand across print and digital.

12 November 2023

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Newsrooms need to get with the programme: Here’s how

INMA Presentation File

07 November 2023

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Guardian, Ekstra Bladet, Schibsted, Bonnier share practical applications of AI

During the recent INMA Smart Data Master Class, media data leaders shared how their companies are using AI to power annotations, enhance the live chat experience, connect subscribers with content, and experiment with human connection.

06 November 2023

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Kyiv Independent shares 3 lessons for growing a media startup during a war

The Kyiv Independent was launched in November 2021 to provide unbiased reporting. Four months later, the startup took the lead to cover Russia's invasion of Ukraine and became the leading source of trusted news.

30 October 2023

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Lee Enterprises scores with expanded Nebraska Cornhuskers content

Lee Enterprises saw an opportunity to reach Nebraska Cornhuskers fans with premium content on multiple platforms. This led to a new portal called HuskerExtra.

12 October 2023

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Newsday readers eat up its niche restaurant coverage

Based on the popularity of its restaurant stories, Newsday began beefing up its coverage and now serves up a full menu of food and drink content across multiple platforms.

10 October 2023

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How German startup based on moving ship used newsletters, podcasts to build memberships

INMA Presentation File

28 September 2023

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Getting to MVP

INMA Presentation File

24 May 2023

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Innovative formats at Wall Street Journal

INMA Presentation File

04 May 2023

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Innovation in news media: 6 tech shifts to negotiate

INMA Presentation File

21 September 2022

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Engaging audiences at ACM

INMA Presentation File

14 July 2022

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Emerging business models, rise of individual as publisher

INMA Presentation File

08 March 2022

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Expressen shares paywall success, Handelsblatt launches premium newsletters

Expressen grows from zero paid digital subscribers to 90,000 after launching its paywall in 2018, Handelsblatt reports on two premium newsletters launched during the COVID lockdown, and research shows differences in algorithmic trending stories and human selected stories on Apple News.

08 June 2020

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Good News Newsletter

Provide hope through offering good news content to peruvian audience Lift the spirit through news that demonstrate that it is possible to get ahead in the middle of the pandemic

01 March 2020

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How to make newsletters that people love and that are good for your business

The first change was an editorial one. We decided that all “Gazeta Wyborcza”’s newsletters have to be written by our best authors. No shortcuts, no „newsletter writers”, only the best quality. Our newsletter users find in their mailboxes regular articles on given topic, not just a list of links. To ...

01 March 2020

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Subscription-only newsletters

The Telegraph’s large and varied roster of registration newsletters already played an important role in building loyalty and engagement with its core readership. To support the company’s pivot to subscriptions in 2019 we developed an innovative portfolio newsletters aimed at not just retaining existing ...

01 March 2020

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The Coronavirus Update Newsletter

The Coronavirus Update newsletter was developed right before the coronavirus pandemic hit North Texas. We aim to supply our readers with the latest local (and beyond) numbers and news on where to order take out to save local businesses, what the latest confirmed cases, fatalies, recoveries where in ...

01 March 2020

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Engaging e-mail newsletters, strategies and tactics

INMA Presentation File

26 February 2020

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How publishers can use AI to predict revenue

Deepnews.ai helps publishers use Artificial Intelligence to predict the revenue potential from news content.

25 September 2019

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Football newsletter shows power of reader-first engagement toward reader revenue

Fever Pit’ch demonstrates how a start-up goes from an idea to an engaged subscriber list to a profitable publication. The key? A highly engaged audience that feels heard.

23 September 2019

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Hamburger Abendblatt’s digital transformation focuses on newsletter, regional editions

Funke’s digital efforts for Hamburger Abendblatt include identifying content that drives subscriptions and using its newsletters and Instagram account to reach its audience.

23 September 2019

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Mediahuis shares lessons from reader activation efforts

Understanding how often and in what manner readers engage with digital subscriptions helps Mediahuis reduce churn. The company’s goal: to see 65% of its digital subscribers engaging in its content each day.

10 September 2019

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Cannabis Post newsletter creates audience, advertiser opportunities

Since recreational marijuana legalisation news broke in Canada, Postmedia’s free Cannabis Post newsletter has grown its subscriber list faster than any other newsletter in the company’s history.

17 March 2019

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Power On Trial Newsletter Promotion

• Promote the newsletter during the trial • Showcase a news initiative you can’t get anywhere else • Highlight Newsday’s authority on political corruption • Grow our newsletter email base Print and Digital Promotions For this campaign, we deployed print and digital ads, as well as an email blast ...

01 March 2019

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Readers First Meet-Up: Newsletters, newsrooms, and the bad side of engagement

INMA Presentation File

19 November 2018

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New York Times: Experimenting with pop-up newsletters

INMA Presentation File

08 November 2018

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Globe and Mail launches news service for cannabis industry

With legalisation on the horizon in Canada, The Globe and Mail recognised an opportunity to produce original content for a niche audience and fill the news needs of an industry poised for growth.

03 October 2018

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How Boston Globe uses newsletters to drive engagement

INMA Presentation File

10 January 2018

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