Stop burying your newsletter pitch (and why I put mine 15 seconds in)
I’m not a salesperson. Never have been, probably never will be. I don’t have those skills, and honestly? I often feel squeamish during the sales process — like I’m bothering the person on the other end of the email or phone.
But here’s the thing: I’ve stumbled upon a tactic that has, without question, contributed to my newsletter’s growth. And I’m pretty confident it would work for your newsletter too.
My newsletter is Oklahoma Memo, and in one year, I’ve grown it to 1,300 email subscribers with zero paid acquisition. The newsletter maintains a 60 percent open rate with a 12 percent-plus click-through rate.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. Other newsletters in the local news space hit 20,000 subscribers in their first year. You’re right — but almost all of those grew via paid acquisition. My strategy has been different. I’m building a community of true believers, and my best acquisition channel has been vertical video.
The Script That Actually Works
Let me show you what I mean. Here’s how I open most of my videos:
What’s happening, Oklahoma?
There might be a new political party in the state soon, and I want to tell you about it.
But, first – HELLO – my name is Ryan, and I operate a daily local newsletter called Oklahoma Memo. It’s fairly new and growing real fast. Every morning at 7:00, Monday through Saturday, I send you the most important headlines of the day from our state. It’s free and always will be, and you can sign up for it at Oklahoma Memo dot com slash subscribe…
And then I carry on with the story.
Notice anything? The ask comes early. Really early.
Why This Actually Matters
There’s this tendency among creators — and I get it, it comes from a good place — to wait until the end of the video to make the ask. We think it’s more polite. More humble. Less pushy.
I’ve tested this over and over, and I’m telling you: only making the ask up front makes a measurable difference. On a hot story, it can make a significant difference.
Think about it this way. Newsletter acquisition via social amplification isn’t a long, deep funnel with Zoom calls and meetings and subtleties. It’s a direct exchange. You have something valuable to offer, and in return, you’d like people to connect with you via your email newsletter.
Sometimes we just have to spell it out.
The Best Sales Advice I Ever Got
A friend of mine who works in sales at my previous employer gave me his best piece of advice, and it was beautifully simple: Make the ask.
In his world, there is a process. He was coaching me to “not forget to make the ask.”
What I’m suggesting to you is this: do it in your social videos closer to the top of your script than at the end. Don’t hide it. Don’t apologize for it. Just state what you do and how people can get it.
Because here’s the truth — if someone’s going to subscribe to your newsletter, they’ll do it whether you ask them at the 15-second mark or the two-minute mark. But if you wait until the end? A whole lot of them won’t even make it there.
Want more tips on growing your newsletter and creating digital content that actually works? Sign up for my 5-Minute Newsroom newsletter. You can reach me anytime at ryan@doabledigitalmedia.com.