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Ask HN: Do newsletters work? Why do websites push them so much?

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Re: Ask HN: Do newsletters work? Why do websites push them so much?

#101

Post by judge2020 »

StevePerkins wrote: post #90
lancesells wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sounds like you should switch to sending two a month.

I assume that returns are diminishing, and turn negative past a certain point. If a company that I'm interested in sends me an email once per month, then I generally don't mind it. I might even appreciate it. Send it every two weeks, and you're training me to tune out and usually click the "Delete" button without looking at the content. Send it weekly, and you've irritated me enough to have the motivation to unsubscr…

One thing i'd like to see is links at the top of emails asking the user if they want to change their receive frequency; I know many newsletters already have a "change how often you get these" button, however, needing to go to that page and then enter & submit a form is tiresome and tends to not be worth it when the newsletter isn't that important to you. Indicating that you can change to 'monthly' in a single click/tap is probably much better UX.

Re: Ask HN: Do newsletters work? Why do websites push them so much?

#102

Post by massysett »

Yes. Email is a primary way I gather news. I get a bunch of daily emails from various news sources. Some are news organizations, while others are from government agencies or officials. I also get emails from vendors. I filter these into a "shopping" folder so that if I'm looking for a deal I can rummage through there.

I get a few random things that just make me happy, like a daily email from a guy who travels the world and sends one photo a day - he might make his money on guidebooks or itineraries or something.

I suppose some might use Facebook or Twitter for this but I use neither.

Re: Ask HN: Do newsletters work? Why do websites push them so much?

#103

Post by antisthenes »

mbesto wrote: post #96
StevePerkins wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume that returns are diminishing, and turn negative past a certain point. If a company that I'm interested in sends me an email once per month, then I generally don't mind it. I might even appreciate it. Send it every two weeks, and you're training me to tune out and usually click the "Delete" button without looking at the content. Send it weekly, and you've irritated me enough to have the motivation to unsubscr…

> I assume that returns are diminishing, and turn negative past a certain point. Which is why you should test it. Jan '22 -> once a month Feb '22 -> twice a month Mar '22 -> thrice a month Jan '23 -> once a month Feb '23 -> twice a month Mar '23 -> thrice a month Compare and contrast for both unsubscribe rate and conversion.

I work for an ecommerce company.

The unsubscribe rate doesn't really change, it's fairly constant at 0.3% of the audience every time.

There are obviously diminishing returns on the revenue with frequencies. Our business is moderately seasonal, so the numbers are not that accurate on the revenue side.

Re: Ask HN: Do newsletters work? Why do websites push them so much?

#104

Post by n0ts0gr33n »

massysett wrote: post #102

Yes. Email is a primary way I gather news. I get a bunch of daily emails from various news sources. Some are news organizations, while others are from government agencies or officials. I also get emails from vendors. I filter these into a "shopping" folder so that if I'm looking for a deal I can rummage through there. I get a few random things that just make me happy, like a daily email from a guy who travels the wor…

I'd be interested to know which news sites and government agencies send you this by email.

Re: Ask HN: Do newsletters work? Why do websites push them so much?

#105

Post by shortformblog »

Newsletter author here. I run two actually—Tedium (https://tedium.co/) and MidRange (https://midrange.tedium.co).

Yes, they work. Beyond the ROI benefits already mentioned by other folks, it’s seen as an “owned” platform, something that you control, versus social media, where the platform is operated by someone else. You can make changes and adapt more efficiently to subscriber needs than somewhere like social media, where platforms are reshaping things that can affect your ROI without your input.

For that reason alone, I can understand why newsletters matter to a lot of media outlets and e-commerce folks alike.

Re: Ask HN: Do newsletters work? Why do websites push them so much?

#107

Post by AlwaysRock »

God. I know newsletters work and I've been told to start one a dozen times for a personal project but i just HATE getting them. Not all newsletters but the ones that are clearly just another push notification market channel that dont add any additional value. Those seem to be the bulk of newsletters.

The ones that are actually interesting take a lot more time and effort to make.

Re: Ask HN: Do newsletters work? Why do websites push them so much?

#108

Post by dawnerd »

lancesells wrote: post #82
michalu wrote: post #80

My company sends a newsletter once a month. We're selling roasted coffee. This single day account for 20-30% of our monthly revenue. In fact email is our single best performing channel. Hope this info helps. EDIT: I should also add that we're combining every newsletter with some "offer" e.g. we make a new blend or roast couple of bags of some coffee we don't typically stock. We're also keeping it very personal - it's…

Sounds like you should switch to sending two a month.

As a consumer, please no. Way too many places go from sending one email to once a week to suddenly every single day... and some local restaurants decided multiple per day would work.

Re: Ask HN: Do newsletters work? Why do websites push them so much?

#109

Post by mooreds »

SoftTalker wrote: post #74
mooreds wrote: post #10

A number of reasons: * Because other platforms own you, but you own your newsletter. * Not everyone opens a newsletter, but everyone checks their email. So if they don't open the newsletter, at least they see something from you. * It's near zero cost. I don't like it when sites push their newsletter constantly, but I do like educational content pushed to where I often am (my inbox).

> everyone checks their email Citation needed. Absolutely not the case in my experience. And while I check my email, I delete 80% of it unread, based on the subject line/sender only.

"In 2020, the number of global e-mail users amounted to four billion and is set to grow to 4.6 billion users in 2025."

You got me! :) I guess just 1 out of every 2 human beings checks email. The denominator includes folks without computers or phones too.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/255080/number-of-e-mail-...

Re: Ask HN: Do newsletters work? Why do websites push them so much?

#110

Post by mbesto »

jacobobryant wrote: post #99
mbesto wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I assume that returns are diminishing, and turn negative past a certain point. Which is why you should test it. Jan '22 -> once a month Feb '22 -> twice a month Mar '22 -> thrice a month Jan '23 -> once a month Feb '23 -> twice a month Mar '23 -> thrice a month Compare and contrast for both unsubscribe rate and conversion.

Probably better to use a split test. Segment the list into two segments (via random assignment). Send one segment two emails per month, send the other one per month. Compare the segments.

True. I would then test that over a 6+ month interval. Depending on the volume of subscribers the results may not be correlative.
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