Creating a Lead Magnet to Grow Your Newsletter? Read This First

As I’ve mentioned at several points in the course of launching this newsletter, it’s a journey that I will always aim to be as transparent as possible about. 

If you’re contemplating launching a newsletter, or have already launched one, hopefully, these ‘behind the scenes’ posts can serve as a tidbit of practical information to grow it more effectively.

And there is one thing that has come to my attention over the last month or so, now that I have a (somewhat) established and growing data sample of subscribers - you need to be strategic with what type of asset you offer readers in exchange for their email addresses.

Hear me out. 

The Data is in & the Survey Says…

Without going too far down the rabbit hole, I launched the Pale Ale Travel newsletter while I was posted up in Poland for 3 months over the summer. 

I published a healthy chunk of blog and video content on everything in Poland and spent several weeks curating this 9-day, 3-city Poland travel itinerary. As an easily accessible, handy dandy supplement, I also published a downloadable PDF version. 

My thinking was that I’d use this downloadable PDF of the 9-day itinerary to capture email addresses and grow my travel newsletter subscribers. Makes sense. Right? 

Not exactly.

Now, it wasn’t a waste in itself as I really enjoyed writing it, and doing so was a fantastic way to reminisce on the best trip of my life (and “stint abroad”) thanks to spending nearly two weeks with my brother. 

But where I went wrong was conflating the idea that readers interested specifically in travel content about Poland would share the same enthusiasm and active engagement with a much broader travel newsletter that highlights unique destinations around the world. 

Simply put, I thought that the #PolandWanderlust would translate to #Wanderlust. 

High Unsubscribe Rates

So what was the ‘smoking gun’ that finally led to this revelation? Well, roughly 80% of all of the Pale Ale Travel newsletters unsubscribes come from readers who gave me their email in exchange for the free itinerary PDF. 

It took a bit to realize this as the first several editions of the newsletter included a lot of Poland-heavy content, such as eating guides, neighborhood write-ups, and more.

It makes a lot of sense. You came here for content on Poland. You received content on Poland. Anything extraneous and immaterial to a prospective trip to Poland is…well…extraneous and immaterial. 

Think about it. Let’s say I ran a music blog and/or newsletter and wrote an in-depth review of an extremely niche genre - i.e. two-tone ska music. Then, I primarily posted about a wide range of music genres like that of the legendary Tyler Swift, Katy Pear, and Lady GoGo (I just wanted to have some fun here). 

Undoubtedly, the two-tone ska enthusiasts who came in through that specific funnel may not find more general music genre content as appealing. 

This isn’t an earth-shattering epiphany by any means but it is essential for capturing sustained and engaged newsletter readers. 

A Key Takeaway on Capturing Engaged Subscribers

As someone whose goal is to build a readership of newsletter subscribers excited to open their email every single week to receive a comprehensive write-up on a new, unique destination around the world, I need to market my newsletter towards that.

I need to (a) be clearer about what the newsletter actually is and contains (and what it isn’t), and (b) create supplemental content and assets that align with the overall message and substance of the newsletter. 

To expand on the second point even further, I also need to avoid creating overly one-dimensional content that acts as a funnel for a broader (almost ‘unrelated) topic. 

Stay targeted with your messaging, branding, and substance on all fronts. That includes the assets and lead captures that you publish to attract readers. 

Every part of the funnel should ‘jive’ with one another and any asset that is too esoteric or removed from the overall theme of your newsletter may lead to readers ‘checking out’ early (unsubscribing). 

Practicing What You Preach

So, what does this actually look like in practice? 

You’ll now see across both my main site, https://palealetravel.com/, and this newsletter subdomain - which I publish newsletter editions and supplemental content - subscribe forms have been adjusted to reflect this. 

After listening to a Niche Pursuits Podcast interview with Ryan Sneddon, the founder of Naptown Scoop, an Annapolis, Maryland-focused local newsletter, one thing that stood out is he mentioned not being very fond of offering assets in exchange for email. The newsletter is “the asset.” 

Removing a funneling asset/lead capture eliminates confusion about what’s expected in this quid pro quo interaction. 

Here is the subscription form I will prioritize to implement/embed on relevant pages, posts, and tags. Feel free to subscribe if unique travel destinations are your thing!

Since making a more concentrated effort to align my top of the funnel with the newsletter, unsubscribe rates have lowered significantly. And in general, I just feel that readers know exactly what they can expect from me when they provide their email.

Even with these ‘general blogging’ articles I write here and there, I wouldn’t expect you to join my travel newsletter because frankly, it wouldn’t be a good fit. I don’t send weekly emails about newsletters and blogging tips.  

This isn’t me ruling out email capture assets completely, as I still am a proponent of them, it’s just a realization that being more deliberate, clear, and aligned with the newsletter’s actual content (and focus) is in everybody’s best interest of creating a mutually beneficial relationship - and stays that way. 

…And the Newsletter Battle Begun

I’m no newsletter marketing guru by any means. I’m just someone who is trying to create quality content that genuinely helps people discover a new travel destination and have an idea of what they can expect, what to do, and how to do it once they get there. 

But I do think reading real experiences of small publishers can help better arm you in the always-evolving quest to tweak and overhaul underperforming aspects of your newsletter (or blog). 

If you have any questions about starting a newsletter or a travel blog, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at [email protected] and I’m happy to answer any questions I can!

Write well everyone,

Big Body