S01 E05: Dan Oshinsky - Email Newsletters During COVID-19

With nearly the entire world at home, it’s an interesting time to be working in email newsletters. Email opens and engagement is as high as it’s ever been, but what is the place of these newsletters currently? Dan Oshinsky, email newsletter consultant, former director of newsletters at Buzzfeed, and The New Yorker join us to share his perspective on email newsletters during the pandemic. We kick off the show by discussing some of the unrealistic expectations that brands may have during this time of increased engagement. From there, we move onto how brands and people can find their voice through their newsletters. Dan struggled with his first pandemic email but learned that it’s about adding the right kind of value to people’s lives. The advice Dan gives his clients is that this is a moment to slow down and truly connect with their customers. We then turn our attention to the importance of onboarding and off-boarding emails and how they take readers and turn them into loyal fans. We round the discussion off by talking about some of the opportunities that come with the rise of pop-up newsletters.  

Key Points From This Episode:

The downside of increased email engagement during the pandemic.Why figuring out the role he plays in his readers’ lives has been so difficult for Dan.The importance of using email to connect with your audience deeply right now.Hear more about Dan finding his voice for his first COVID-19 newsletter.Walking clients through pandemic-related content: Dan’s experience.The valuable lessons Dan has learned about onboarding emails in establishing trust.Learn more transitioning readers using offboarding emails and explaining what comes next.Pop-up newsletters: What they are and how they can be used as experiments.

Tweetables:

“People are understandably scared, they’re nervous, they’re worried about what’s going to happen next. And if you can be useful for them in this moment, it’s a pretty powerful thing.” — @danoshinsky [0:02:26]

“The more human you can be right now, the more honest and transparent you can be at this moment, the better.” — @danoshinsky [0:04:01]

“If somebody signs up for your email list and you’re not welcoming them, you’re not introducing them to your voices, your expertise, the way you can serve them, you’re missing an opportunity to win over that reader and convert them into a paying supporter and someone who could be a fan of yours for a very, very long time.” — @danoshinsky [0:17:17]

Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:

Dan Oshinsky

Dan Oshinsky on Twitter

Inbox Collective

Ann Handley

David Remnick

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