If you have a branded podcast, you’re no stranger to branded content.
Podcasts are only one of many mediums that brands can use to increase awareness and engagement. Another popular form of branded content? Newsletters. Newsletters are a powerful marketing tool for providing direct value to your audience. Unlike other mediums, newsletters aren’t influenced by other followers. Subscribers don’t see how other subscribers are engaging, it’s just you, your newsletter, and the subscriber.
As a marketer, you’re missing out if you’re not leveraging this.
There are two primary ways your brand can choose to leverage newsletters to support your podcast:
- A newsletter that is solely dedicated to your podcast
- A section within your larger newsletter to support your podcast
Like branded podcasts, newsletters can be done well, but they can also quickly become boring. It‘s hard to create a newsletter that stands out, stays true to your brand, and provides value, but it can be done!
Here's how brands can leverage newsletters for their podcast:
Tell a story
It’s easy to take the name “newsletter” at face value - a letter filled with news. But anyone who has ever read one knows that reading through bullet points of that week's industry news is not gripping reading material.
Effective newsletters are ones that tell a story that readers can relate to. Ultimately your newsletter is part of your marketing pipeline, so use it to tell a story that will resonate with your audience. Find the pain points you think your audience experiences and build a story around it, and most importantly - provide a solution!
Quick Tip: Don’t gatekeep the solution, give it to your audience directly.
The story you tell doesn't need to be an epic narrative. It can be as simple as a problem and how you (or a featured client) solved it. As long as it provides value to your audience, they’re likely to read it. You can still incorporate industry news or your typical content, storytelling is about reformulating it into a narrative that is relatable to your readers.
When telling a story about your podcast in your newsletter, give your readers a reason as to why they should be clicking on the full episode. You don’t need to reveal everything, but if you give them something that is engaging, entertaining, educational, or empowering, you’re more likely to convert that reader to a listener.
If you simply state the episode's title or theme along with a link, they'll be less inclined. It can feel counterintuitive to give away content to someone who may not even listen to your podcast, but in the long run, it's likely to attract more listeners.
Your newsletter should reflect your brand
Branded content is only effective if it’s representative of your brand. If your newsletter doesn't appeal to your customers, they won't read it.
Think of it like this: You can have 5000 newsletter subscribers, but if none of them actually care about your brand or your solutions then you aren’t leveraging your newsletter's potential. It's better to have 500 quality subscribers who relate to your newsletter and find it engaging.
Remember quality > quantity.
Let's say your brand persona is bubbly and fun and you want to attract young marketing professionals, you need that reflected in the tone of your newsletter. If your newsletter is cold and corporate, you will attract the wrong kind of reader (or no one at all).
And vice versa, if you are targeting high-level executives, they might not appreciate memes and Tik Tok references (or maybe they will, executives like to have fun too). But at the end of the day, what we’re saying is to understand who your audience is and the best way to communicate with them.
Quick Tip: If your newsletter is solely supporting your podcast, keep the branding consistent. Use elements, colors, and typography from your show's logo. If you have a section dedicated to your podcast, use your discretion if the branding should match the rest of the newsletter or be consistent with your podcast.
Stick to your niche… and then hone in on that
It might seem like you should cast as wide a net as possible with your newsletter, but as a brand, your goal shouldn’t be to capture the attention of everyone on the internet. There are great newsletters, like Morning Brew, that cover a wide range of topics and news. Brands shouldn’t be trying to compete with wide-audience newsletters, your brand has ideal buyers, so target them!
Ask yourself this question: what problems do your buyers face, and how can you use your newsletter to bring them information that is both helpful and interesting? If there is a big news story that you really want to include in your newsletter, only do so if it makes sense for your ideal buyer. The clicks it might bring in won’t be worth it, because ultimately you won’t be attracting qualified readers and customers.
Don’t shy away from getting creative with it
There is no need to stick to the traditional newsletter format. Ultimately it’s your brand's newsletter, and you can make it whatever you want it to be. If your marketing is out of the box and fun, bring that to your newsletter and play around with the format.
Quick Tip: It’s always a good idea to try out a few formats and ideas to see what performs best. This is a great opportunity to try out some A/B testing and ask your readers for feedback.
Newsletters and podcasts go hand in hand
Podcasts and newsletters are both fantastic branded content resources, but they also support each other. If you have an episode coming out you want to push, include a sneak peak in your newsletter.
You can also provide quick summaries of past episodes to catch your reader's attention and encourage them to tune in. Just make sure you aren’t providing exactly the same content in both, they should support each other- not mimic!
Whether you choose to create an entire newsletter dedicated to your podcast or create a section about it in an existing newsletter, here are a few things to keep in mind to master newsletter creation when it comes to your podcast:
- Be a storyteller
- Provide valuable content up-front
- Let your brand’s personality shine through
- Stick to what you know
- Keep your branding consistent
Quick Tip: Create a call to action in your podcast encouraging listeners to subscribe to your newsletter!
Done right, newsletters are a fantastic way for brands to increase awareness and authority. Sign up for Quill’s bi-weekly newsletter for insights on podcasts, content marketing, and storytelling below 👇
