These days, many businesses are keen to keep their brand at the forefront of their audience’s mind. And, whilst it might sound simple – it requires a lot of time and effort solely dedicated to building your audience’s trust in your company.
To do so, you need to position yourself as an expert in your industry, leading your customers and prospects to respect you as an authority on certain topics, over your competitors.
One way many brands do this is by sharing their expertise via thought leadership formats, such as on a social platform, or even through a LinkedIn newsletter as part of a LinkedIn marketing strategy.
If you’re interested in the latter, but are unsure how to get going, read on to find out more. In this blog, we’ll discuss how to create a newsletter on LinkedIn and how to promote it, as well as the best practices you should adopt to ensure your newsletter is a success…
How to create a newsletter on LinkedIn
Creating a newsletter on LinkedIn is much simpler than you might think. Follow the below steps to get yours up and running:
Click Write article
Firstly, at the top of your homepage underneath where you can make a new post, there’s a Write article button. Click it to access LinkedIn’s publishing tool.
Select the Manage drop down
The page with the publishing tool on looks something like this.
From here, click the Manage drop down.
Then, click Create newsletter to begin producing yours.
Create newsletter and then click Done
After you’ve selected create newsletter, your LinkedIn page should look like this:
Add the title of your newsletter, how often you want to publish, and a description of it. Click Done. Afterwards, you’ll see this section:
Underneath this, you can write the first article of your newsletter.
When you’ve written your first article, click Next on the upper right, and then Publish. LinkedIn will open a pop-up box that looks like the below:
Here, you can introduce your newsletter in a post, add a brief description of what readers can expect to find in this week’s edition – or even tag any guest writers you’ve included.
What are the benefits of creating a newsletter on LinkedIn?
It might be slightly time-consuming, but once you hit your stride, creating a newsletter on LinkedIn can provide several benefits. For example, it:
Boosts engagement
Having a consistent newsletter can boost engagement with your audience. They’ll be more likely to keep a lookout for your newsletter if they know they can gain some valuable insight.
And, if it’s consistent, it will keep your business at the forefront of your audience’s mind – allowing them to put trust in your brand and recognise you as an industry leader.
Expands your audience
Having a regular newsletter on LinkedIn can also help expand your audience. If your current newsletter followers regularly engage with the thought leadership pieces you post, they might share it to their own feeds.
As a result, more people in their network will see it – and if they find it valuable, they might even follow it themselves. For more information on building your network on LinkedIn, check out our comprehensive guide.
Generates leads
Whilst your newsletter should focus on informative content over commercial, it doesn’t mean you can’t use it as a way to generate leads for your business.
You could include a call to action for your readers to follow – such as booking a free call with you or using a discount code. This way you can get their contact details and arrange for your sales team to continue the conversation with them further.
How to promote a newsletter on LinkedIn
Creating your newsletter on LinkedIn is one job, but promoting it so it gains the traction it deserves is another. To promote your LinkedIn newsletter properly, try to:
Use omnichannel promotion
Just because your newsletter is published on LinkedIn, doesn’t mean you can’t promote it via your other social media channels. Use your Instagram, Twitter and TikTok network to talk about your newsletter – and make sure every member of your audience knows about it.
Link it where you can
Ensure you link your newsletter wherever you can to ensure it gets the recognition it deserves. Add it to your email signature, or even link to it on your website. It costs nothing but can make a massive difference when it comes to encouraging more readers of your newsletter, and ultimately, more subscribers.
Invite guest writers
Keep your newsletter interesting by inviting guest writers to participate every once in a while. You could connect with another industry leader, or an influencer with a big following that they could introduce your audience too. Whilst it could increase your LinkedIn audience, it will likely provide a fresh perspective to your newsletter that your followers find value in.
Creating a LinkedIn newsletter: the best practices
Whilst creating a LinkedIn newsletter doesn’t have to be difficult, ensuring it’s thought-provoking, engaging, and will have readers coming back for more is another story. Luckily for you, we’ve highlighted three best practices to adopt when making your newsletter on LinkedIn below:
1. Stick to a regular date: Ensure you have a regular date for your newsletter – so followers know when to look out for it. Consistency is key when it comes to brand awareness, so ensure your newsletter is published at least monthly, not annually.
2. Give it a great name: A great newsletter name is a good way to keep your followers engaged with your brand. What’s more, your followers will remember it with ease whenever they want to recommend it to someone.
3. Pick topics ahead of time: A rushed newsletter will have little value compared to one that is planned ahead of time. If you produce your newsletter weekly, it can be harder to plan something topical. Instead, keep an eye out for trends in your industry that week that your followers will still be interested in reading about by the weekend. And, if your newsletter is monthly, split it into categories and have different colleagues in your business participate.
LinkedIn Newsletters: Other FAQs
What is the difference between a newsletter, a post, and an article on LinkedIn?
Whilst all three offer similarities in terms of providing readers with informative content, there are differences between LinkedIn newsletters, posts, and articles. Let’s explore each one’s definition further, you can understand which piece of content you might want to create:
Newsletters:
This is a regular publication you create and share with your followers on LinkedIn. It lands right in your subscribers’ inboxes whenever it’s published to offer them valuable insights into your industry.
Posts:
LinkedIn posts are pieces of short-form content that users can share in their feeds and on their profiles. They are usually used for short updates regarding a person’s career, e.g. if they have recently moved jobs. Posts are also limited to 1,300 characters.
Articles:
An article on LinkedIn is a piece of long-form content that you can publish on your profile. These can include videos and images, and be up to 125,000 characters long. When published, you can share it with your network and beyond.
Are LinkedIn newsletters free?
Yes, LinkedIn newsletters are free to create and publish. It’s likely the reason why they’re such a common form of digital marketing, with 69% of B2B businesses citing that they utilise newsletters as part of their marketing strategy.
Can you edit and delete LinkedIn newsletters?
Yes, you can edit and delete LinkedIn newsletters after they’ve been published. To do, so you must:
1. Click Write article at the top of the homepage, to take you to the publishing tool. If you’re someone who is a Super or Content admin of the page in question – you will see an option to Publish as, select the account you want to publish from and then hit next. Here, you’ll be taken to the publishing tool.
2. Select the Manage drop-down to choose the newsletter you want to edit or delete.
3. Here, you can Edit newsletter to amend anything from a typo to an incorrect image. Select the Edit button below your name. When the pop-up window appears, you can edit:
a. the Newsletter title
b. Newsletter description
c. How often do you want to publish?
d. Image/logo (if added)
4. To delete the newsletter, select the More icon – which is to the right of your newsletter’s name. From the dropdown, click Delete newsletter, and then Delete.
Ready to create your first LinkedIn newsletter? Get help from the marketing experts at StraightIn
Launching a LinkedIn newsletter, but struggling to get it in front of the right people? Reach out to StraightIn for LinkedIn strategy advice and expertise you can see tangible results from.
Our team has vast experience working with multiple businesses on their
LinkedIn marketing strategies; helping them to get results such as generating leads, higher engagement levels, and expanding their network to reach key industry players.
Our services include Outreach Marketing, LinkedIn Advertising, Content Marketing, and Personal Branding. Get in touch with us today to find out more about how we can help you. Call 0161 518 4740, or email grow@straight-in.co.uk.
