Trying Out LinkedIn Newsletters
If you have been wondering how to continue to leverage LinkedIn for thought leadership and connecting with colleagues and clients could the newsletter option work for you? Like any newsletter it is a commitment, but it might be worth the time invested. This is a new feature; in this post we will dive into the details.
Getting Started
Newsletters on LinkedIn are just rolling out, so you may not yet have access. To check and see if you want to take advantage of this feature you will need to turn on creator mode and meet the access criteria. The access criteria are – users/pages that have at least 150 followers or connections, recently shared original content (posts or articles), a history of following the Professional Community Policies.
Creating Your First Newsletter
Once you have determined that the feature is available to you, and you have turned on creator mode, you can start thinking about your newsletter. Any LinkedIn member can subscribe to get updates to your newsletter, regardless of whether they are connected with you personally. Anyone who is a member of LinkedIn can discover, read, and share your LinkedIn newsletter. You will need to think about content that is educational, engaging, and something you can do on a regular basis.
To get started on your newsletter go to the home page of your LinkedIn account and login. At the top of the screen there is a dialog box to “Start a Post”. Directly below click the “Write article” option to the right. Then click “create a newsletter”. You will give the newsletter a title, check how often you will publish (daily, weekly, biweekly, or monthly). Then add a newsletter description. The character limit is restrictive so come up with something short and catchy. Then you can add an image or logo (300×300 pixels) and click “Done”. You can only have one newsletter and if you delete it, you will be “limited in your ability to create a new one”.
Once you have created your newsletter you can add your first “Edition”. Go to the Home page again and click on “Write article” under the dialog box. A drop-down menu should appear on the right side of the publishing page with your newsletter title. If you want to create a standalone article, click on the newsletter title to show a drop down and choose “create an individual article”. Otherwise, the default is to publish to the newsletter.
The formatting options are limited. You add a headline, a cover image (1280×720 pixels) if you want to and begin adding your content. There are two heading options and a “normal” font, plus bold, italics, bulleted and numbered lists, blockquotes, and hyperlinks. You can add images, videos, slides, links, and snippets (call outs). To keep your newsletter engaging and appealing you will want to leverage these formatting and interactive elements. When you are finished click “Publish”. Publish will then lead you to send a post about the edition. You can more context and you can expand on the purpose of the newsletter, add hashtags, etc. When you click “Post” your newsletter will be shared in your feed.
Once you publish your first article, a page for your newsletter will automatically be created. Anyone with the link can see your newsletter, but cannot share or subscribe without being logged in. You can add the link to your newsletter to your website and other social platforms.
Before you click “Post” do that be aware that as soon as you publish your first newsletter all your connections and followers will be invited by notification to subscribe to your newsletter.
Editing Previous Newsletters (and articles)
If you want to edit a newsletter once again go to the Home screen, click “Write article”. On the next page click “Publishing Menu” on the left to your options and click “My Articles”. You can click to edit or delete an edition of your newsletter.
If you begin an article or an edition of your newsletter and close the tab your draft will automatically. In the My Articles menu options you can go back to your draft and edit or delete it.
Getting the Word Out
As mentioned, the first time you publish your newsletter LinkedIn will automatically send out an invitation to subscribe to all of your connections. You can also make the unique link to your newsletter available on your social and web presence, in your email signature block, or anywhere else you can add a link. Anyone can read them. However, only LinkedIn members can subscribe or share your newsletters. You can also post about your newsletter through a standard post to LinkedIn.
You can also publish your newsletter on your LinkedIn page. A “page” is a business page. To do this you must be a content admin of the page and add your newsletter to a showcase page, product page, or service page. The process of creating a newsletter on your business page is similar to your personal page. Here are the instructions.
Pros and Cons
Newsletters are in their infancy on LinkedIn. There is always the threat that they decide to discontinue the feature after you have spent a lot of time and effort building the newsletter. Currently newsletters are not easily discoverable after the initial edition is pushed to your connections to subscribe, outside of your efforts to post about new editions or link to the newsletter. There is not currently an aggregation of newsletters or a search option for newsletters. If you want to see other people’s newsletters, you can go to My Network on the LinkedIn site and scroll down to the section called “Trending newsletters in your network”.
Unlike a product like Mailchimp or Constant Contact, the metrics for LinkedIn newsletters are limited to showing you the number of subscribers, reactions and comments. It should be noted that you can turn off comments to the newsletter by viewing the newsletter and scrolling all the way to the Comments section, click the gear icon to the right and choosing “No one” under Comment settings. If you make that change it will delete any existing comments. Under “View Stats” on the page for a particle newsletter edition you can see how many people viewed it, reshared it and get a general idea of where they work, their title and their geographic area. These are the same stats you can view for any post to LinkedIn.
You cannot transfer your subscription list from LinkedIn or remove subscribers.
Conclusion
Why would you consider a LinkedIn newsletter? If you have built a considerable number of connections, it is a fantastic way to continue to share information and stay top of mind. You can grow your subscribers much more quickly than on an organic opt-in list. You could use this newsletter to keep your connections apprised of recent blog posts, events, comings/goings, and news at your firm as an announcement list or you can share great content. To get started read the Overview and the FAQ and decide if this is the right communication for you and/or your firm.