What B2B Marketers Can Learn From Writers on Substack
Imagine thousands of subscribers opting into your B2B email list, eagerly opening every newsletter, and consistently interacting with your killer content and promotional material. Writers on Substack make all of this happen and people pay them for their email newsletters.
Why would people pay money to receive emails? The simple answer is that Substack writers produce high quality, valuable content to address their readers’ needs. Their content is so entertaining, informative, knowledgeable, and insightful that hundreds or thousands of people will subscribe for a modest subscription fee.
Creating a paywall for your most in-depth and insightful work might not be on your radar, but we think b2b marketers can learn a lot from Substack writers. What would change in your approach if your measure of success wasn't open rates and click-through rates, but producing email content that’s so good that people would be willing to pay for it? Willingness to pay could be a far better metric and a new standard for newsletter performance compared with email open rates or click rates. Thinking in this way could help you to produce content so engaging that people look forward to receiving it.
Lessons Learned From Paid Newsletters
Successful Substack writers who have monetised their newsletters and earn an independent living as writers make a perfect case study. What are they doing so right? They have no company backing or marketing team, yet some have gained thousands of paying newsletter subscribers.
The reality is that they follow nearly every content principle we have covered in our previous articles. Things like sensemaking, customer experience, and interactivity can win email subscribers and amplify engagement with your content.
Here are some tips we’ve gained from studying what’s worked for the savviest of Substack writers:
Be clear on what you can offer
People need a reason to give you their email address. So you need to know exactly why people should subscribe. This means going beyond transactional emails and mere features and benefits. What unique value do your emails give your readers? Be clear on what job you’re doing for your audience. What are your areas of expertise? Do you provide great in depth analysis of data, or do you have a thought leader in your ranks whose unique takes on industry news are something your followers rely on?
Do your research
Know who your audience is. Build detailed profiles of your audience and research their needs. From there, you can figure out their most pressing problems as you deliver timely content. Don't forget ask directly for feedback by including things like polls in your email content. You will be surprised at the valuable information your subscribers will volunteer.
Be consistent
Plan ahead, create a publishing schedule, and stick to it. Making the most of this marketing channel means letting your audience to know what to expect and delivering on it. Marketing automation will help, but not if you don't have a tight production schedule to stick to. Be clear on how your team is going to produce high-quality content on a regular basis. You need a process to make sure you’re always clearing the quality bar, and you may need more help on board to make it happen.
Curate the best content in your industry
Read content in your industry widely and synthesise it for your readers. Creating a digest will save them time, as well as positioning you as a sensemaker and trusted source of information. Never forget that you are far from the only source of content your potential customers have. It’s your job to cut through with content that goes the extra distance in explaining the mysteries that plague your industry.
Think like a journalist
What stories need to be told in your industry and what problems need solving? What stories aren’t being covered by other people? Asking the right questions and providing the right answers will position you as the go-to source for what’s happening in your niche. Substack writers dive into and provide the quotes, interviews, and background on what’s happening in their neck of the woods. By writing “what this means for you” style articles, B2B marketers can build rousing thought pieces.
Go deeper into topics
Provide more in-depth coverage and analyses, go data-rich, and explain complex ideas and concepts that may keep your potential customers awake at night. Always think in terms of how this will solve their problems. Most often, their goals will be meeting criteria set in place by the powers that be in their company. Take a minute to consider what they are (e.g., explain what works to meet sales goals, expand marketing ROI, or boost loyalty or productivity efforts).
Try different media
By no means should you think of your content strategy just in the written word. Videos, podcasts, discussion panels, and more can boost engagement with your content. Always think about what you can do to repackage and spread your content as far and wide as possible. For example if you have a podcast, why not repurpose episodes as a short preview video that you can distribute in a written email newsletter with the main points bulletpointed?
Offer exclusive content to your subscribers
Offer exclusive videos, infographics, webinars, discussion panels, private subscriber communities, and give people a reason to subscribe with next-level content they can’t get anywhere else. Make sure to consistently teasehow valuable this content is and leave some unanswered questions in your other content to drive curiosity and new subscriptions.
Build a community and a two-way conversation
Sometimes the best way to figure things out is to ask. Ask your readers questions. Ask them for their feedback. Add strong calls to action. If you're constantly surveying what they need more information on and what problems they need to solve, you're in a strong position. Doing this will foster a conversation that can take place in the comments section of a social media post or in your email inbox.
Be creative about how you bring your community together
If you have an active readership, could this be the foundation for a reader community? Substack offers tools for their writers to foster conversation in comment threads and the best ones use it to enhance every article. You can replicate this as part of your site or in a LinkedIn group.
Be a relentless promoter
Constantly promoting your content is extremely important in growing your email list. Every blog post you publish should contain opportunities to subscribe. Your social media posts should lay a trail of breadcrumbs to tempt new subscribers in. Even your email signature provides can be a valuable marketing tool for your list. Don’t be afraid to take your efforts offline in talking with your network either. Reach out to your peers, and connections on LinkedIn and elsewhere to let them know.
Borrow other audiences
Use your connections with different brands and companies to carry your message to a wider audience. There are a variety of other methods you can employ for this — namely, guest blogging, panel hosting, and newsletter swaps (plugging each other’s content) .For example, interviewing the CEO of a media company on your podcast and vlog would be great content, but its more than that. They are extremely likely to share that content with their audience, especially if you make a co-marketing agreement up front
Gain industry credibility
It’s easier than you may think to find a megaphone for your brand in the form of an established media source. Many companies will pitch journalists on places like the HARO network to be quoted in publications like Forbes and Business Insider. All you need to do is provide them with the right information at the right time.
Make friends with your subscribers
Depending on your brand, your communications might need to be professional in tone. But that doesn’t mean you can’t add personal touches. Ask them to reply directly or share their thoughts. Ask them to add you as a connection on social. The best part about making new contacts is they will soon introduce you to their network. Substack writers are incredibly good as this guerilla-style marketing strategies to create growth. B2B companies can be too.
Content As More Than Marketing
Whether you decide that there’s scope to monetise part of your email offering or not, the newsletters you publish should be aiming to meet that bar. They should serve as more than promotional material to move potential customers along on the buyer’s journey. Your content should present thoughtful solutions that will attract, engage, and delight your readers.
Writers on Substack know that their content is far more than marketing for their product or service -- it is their service. We’ve touched on this topic before in our blog, but this is a point that can reframe your entire content experience. By thinking about our content experience as a whole from the customer’s perspective, we can begin to design content that solves their problems, meets them where they are in the customer journey, and ultimately positions you as a trusted advisor and future partner.
In addition to Substack email marketing best practices, here are a few other tips you can use to grow your content following:
Writing professionals on Substack are no doubt talented at marketing themselves. But if they can do it alone, you can do it even better with your business behind you.
Challenge yourself to reimagine your content strategy to provide a truly unique email experience that tackles the biggest challenges in your industry. And you never know... You might just find that people are willing to pay for the best intelligence.
If you'd like to find out more about how 1827 Marketing can help, get in touch.
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