You send a monthly newsletter. Company updates. Industry news. A blog post roundup. Maybe a team spotlight.
Your open rate is 12%. Nobody clicks anything. You keep sending it anyway because “we should have a newsletter.”
The Purpose Problem
Why does this newsletter exist? “To stay top of mind” isn’t a strategy—it’s a hope.
If the person reading it doesn’t get something useful, they’ll stop opening it. And eventually, they’ll unsubscribe.
What People Actually Want
Solutions to problems they’re currently dealing with. Insights they can use. Information that makes their job easier or their business better.
Not what you did last month. Not generic industry trends they already saw on LinkedIn.
The Better Approach
Pick one valuable thing per email. One insight. One strategy. One case study showing real results.
“Here’s how we helped a personal injury firm double their qualified leads by fixing one thing in their Google Ads account.”
Then explain what we found and what we changed. Make it useful enough that even if they never hire you, they got value.
The Frequency Trap
Monthly because that’s what you’re “supposed” to do? If you don’t have anything valuable to say, skip that month.
Better to send four great emails a year than twelve forgettable ones.
Consistency matters, but quality matters more.
The Unsubscribe Test
If someone unsubscribes from your newsletter, do they lose access to genuinely valuable content? Or are they just escaping corporate spam?
If it’s the second one, either fix the content or stop wasting everyone’s time.
Segment Your List
Not everyone on your list needs the same information. Law firm clients don’t care about dental marketing tips. Separate them.
Send relevant content to relevant people. Your open rates will thank you.
Newsletters work when they’re actually helpful. Everything else is just noise people have learned to ignore.