Why Right Now is the Best Time to Start a LinkedIn Newsletter
Nov 28, 2023
If you’re anything like me, your inbox is full of newsletters. I, for one, am such a fan of this direct-to-me, drip of regular content. More and more, my own diet of news and ideas includes LinkedIn newsletters. From brands and companies to top LinkedIn influencers, so many experts are taking to LinkedIn newsletters to share their insights.
I’ve been a devoted user of the newsletter feature for years now, but I’m especially loving it right now. If you’ve ever thought about starting your own, there’s never been a better time. From new tools to favorable trends, you’ll have the wind at your back if you decide to go for it.
And, even if you already have a newsletter, consider hosting another. LinkedIn now allows individual users to have up to five distinct newsletters so each can speak more specifically to different audiences.
That’s just one reason I’m high on LinkedIn newsletters right now. Read on to learn about three new features that take LinkedIn newsletters from good to great.
More Readers Than Ever Before
LinkedIn reports that newsletter readership has spiked in the past year to more than 1.3 million daily readers. In other words, the demand for knowledge is there. Professionals from across industries are coming to LinkedIn ready to learn.
What’s more, the medium—LinkedIn newsletters—is proven. In April of 2022, 29 million unique users subscribed to at least one LinkedIn newsletter. The people in your network are hungry and ready to grow, and they’re going to newsletters to do that.
New and Improved Publishing Toolkit
Newsletters are not new to LinkedIn, but the sleek publishing platform is. For a long time, formatting in LinkedIn newsletters was extremely limiting and, frankly, not very user-friendly. The new editing options make newsletters that much more customizable.
Now, you can add photos, links, and videos seamlessly into articles. The result is a more interactive, more immersive reader experience. Plus, you can schedule your articles to go live at a later date and time, manage drafts, and update your SEO title and description. The new editor doesn’t offer anything particularly groundbreaking as far as content management goes, but it’s significantly better than before.
Auto-Follow Feature
Newsletters have always been a great way to grow your audience, but now, that goal is built into the functionality, too. Whenever users subscribe to your newsletter, they’ll automatically begin following your profile. It’s a win-win.
What does that mean for you? When you land a newsletter subscriber, your audience for posts and engagement expands at the same time. In other words, the newsletter is the gateway to your entire LinkedIn content ecosystem. When you take advantage of that opportunity, you can begin to establish yourself as a thought leader.
Newsletter Analytics
In the past, publishing content to your LinkedIn newsletter felt kind of like yelling into a dark tunnel. There wasn’t an easy way to know who you were talking to. Unlike with other LinkedIn features, it was also difficult to measure progress or view trends over time.
All that’s changed. Now, LinkedIn offers you an easy way to drill down into the data and understand your readership at a deeper level. You can see the most popular job titles of your subscribers and get a look at new subscriber trends.
All this data lives in your analytics dashboard. When you’re logged into LinkedIn, you can find it at this link.
Quickstart Guide
At the time of publication, newsletter access is limited to users who a) have Creator Mode turned ON, and b) members who follow the access criteria specified by LinkedIn:
- “An audience base of more than 150 followers and/or connections.”
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“Recent shares on LinkedIn of any type of original content (including short form posts, images, videos, events, polls, and articles).”
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“A history of abiding by our Professional Community Policies and a good standing record on LinkedIn.”
Ready to create your own newsletter? Here’s how.
- In the desktop version of LinkedIn, click “Write article” from the menu at the top of your homepage. Note that if you manage a company page, you can publish as that page.
- To attribute the article to a new newsletter, tap “Manage” in the top right corner and select “Create newsletter” from the dropdown.
- A popup will appear, prompting you to set up the details of your newsletter. Click “Done” to save your info.
- Once you’ve drafted, checked, and double-checked your article, click “Next.”
- Tell your network a bit about your newsletter and your article, then select “Publish.”
There’s no time like the present to start a LinkedIn newsletter. Now that you have the facts and how-tos at your fingertips, what are you waiting for? Take advantage of this awesome way to connect with and grow your network.
Not ready to commit to a weekly newsletter? Don’t sweat it. Start with a bimonthly, monthly, or even quarterly pace instead. There’s still value in that. Less frequent publications can command just as much, if not more, attention.
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