Curated Content Newsletters: Secrets to Newsletter Success

23.08.2022
Read time: 13 min
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Curated Content Newsletters: Secrets to Newsletter Success
Try Publicate For Free Today
02.03.2022
Read time: 13 min

What if we told you that there’s a way to create amazing content at the click of a few buttons? And, that this type of content can help your brand increase engagement levels, build trust, and connect more deeply with your audience. The answer lies in curated content newsletters. 

Knowing how to create a curated newsletter will free up your team’s time to focus on other activities, without sacrificing the quality and impact of marketing and internal communications strategies. 

We will share content curation tools that can help you move forward with whatever curated content examples you put into action. 

People working at a nonprofit

Picture source Pexels

What is a Newsletter?   

Newsletters are a type of email communication that can be used for marketing or internal communications. Newsletters offer a massive amount of customization and flexibility, making them a great option to boost engagement on behalf of readers. 

For example, you can use a newsletter to send out company updates, sales and promotions, introduce new team members, and much more. 

The combination of copy (words), images, and graphic design are what makes newsletters so appealing and engaging for readers. You can create email newsletters from scratch (proceed with caution as this option quickly becomes time-consuming) or you can use web-based email builder tools like Publicate, 

These tools offers templates with drag-and-drop functionality to quickly design and easily export/send newsletters. 

How to Start an Email Newsletter?   

With knowledge of how versatile email newsletters can be, you’ll need to find the best way to get started. It’s always useful to think about what goal you are trying to accomplish first. That way, you can choose the right type of content and call-to-actions to input into the newsletter that you create. 

You’ll also need to focus on your audience and compile an email user list that is compliant and consists of people who have subscribed to receive marketing newsletters. 

Some ideas for the messages you may want to send include:

  • Company updates
  • Sales
  • Product updates 
  • New service or product launches 
  • Events 
  • Industry tips and trends 
  • Curated content (third-party sourced content) 

How to Create a Great Email Newsletter?       

To create an impactful email newsletter, there are some very important things to consider from the get go. These include:

  • The goal: What are you setting out to accomplish by sending a newsletter?
  • The content: How will your content add value to your audience?
  • The design: What does your email include and how can you make it look good?
  • The audience: Who are you sending this email newsletter to and why? 

Along with these points, you’ll want to create an email newsletter that is:

  1. Eye-catching: With so many emails hitting every person’s inbox, you want yours to stand out and look enticing and easy to read 
  2. Simple: Stick to your main points as to not overwhelm your reader 
  3. Direct: Make it clear as to what action you want your audience to take 
  4. Unsubscribable: Always include the option to unsubscribe for anyone who no longer wishes to receive your email communication 

It sounds like a lot to come up with when you’re starting from scratch. You can leverage email builders like Publicate that help you get started by providing an array of templates

This way, you don’t have to worry about structuring your email from nothing, and you can easily add assets into the email newsletter with just a few clicks. You can also make use of curated content (keep reading). 

What is a Curated Content Newsletter?   

A curated content newsletter aggregates existing content. Rather than having to develop content originally, many companies and brands leverage content that they believe will be of value to their audience. 

Along with sharing existing content, content curated newsletters tend to summarize what the content is about so people have the choice of whether to click-through to read it all or not. 

Think of it like this – creating an original newsletter is like baking a cake from scratch, whereas a curated content newsletter is like buying a cake from a bakery. Both can be enjoyed by those eating it. 

Why Create a Curated Content Newsletter?   

It may seem like baking the cake from scratch is a more admirable approach, but that’s not necessarily the case. Creating a curated content newsletter can have an equal (or sometimes even greater) impact, especially if you choose a great bakery, so to speak. 

Curating content undoubtedly saves a lot of time and energy. Beyond the time savings, it can help to build your brand’s reputation and trust by sharing content that resonates with your audience. It’s a way to develop stronger relationships with your readership. 

By figuring out what your audience wants to read and cares about, you can showcase that you truly understand their needs and desires. You are also able to stay on top of your subscribers’ mind, establish your brand as a thought leader, and share interesting content with them. 

What is Created vs Curated Content?       

When it comes to curated and created content, one isn’t necessarily better than the other. It’s easy to assume that marketing teams use curated content when they are running out of time to create their own, but that’s typically not the case. 

In fact, curated content and created content tend to work really well together. You can even blend curated content and original content within the same newsletter, if it’s fitting.

Why?

Because curated content builds trust and breeds familiarity. It is a way to say to your audience that you know them well enough to recommend content that they’d be interested in. And, when you hit the sweet spot, it’s memorable. 

By Frimbee.com from Unsplash

How to Create a Curated Content Newsletter?   

To create a curated content newsletter that packs a punch, follow these steps: 

1. Know Your Audience

With any type of content, the most crucial ingredient is knowing your audience. This is what allows you to develop or curate content that is of value to them. 

You can get to know your audience through connecting with them via social media, reviewing analytics to understand what they are interested in from your company, and requesting feedback consistently. 

2. Build Your List

In order to send out newsletters in the first place, you’ll have to build a subscriber list. For example, you can add a subscriber sign-up to your website for opt-ins or allow customers to opt-in to marketing communications at your point-of-sale. 

Additionally, you can promote subscriber growth through social media channels, contests, and other marketing campaigns. 

3. Divide Your List 

As you grow your list, you may find that some content is relevant to only parts of your audience base. You can always segment your list to ensure that you only send the information of value to those you want to reach at that time. 

Furthermore, you may break down your marketing lists based on different segments of the sales journey, such as prospective customers versus customers you wish to retain. 

4. Choose Your Topic

Based on your current goal, decide what topic you’ll base your curated content newsletter on. Once you have an idea of what you wish to send out, you can start finding it from existing sources. 

5. Gather Content to Send Out

Curating content on the web follows the same kind of process as sifting through sand to find seashells. There’s a lot to get through, but when you remain focused on the goal, you can come across valuables. 

It may be the case that you want your own users and audience to generate content for you to send to the masses. You can also make use of content curation tools to help you with the process. 

For example, Publicate’s web-based email builder can enhance your content creation abilities by scraping the web and automatically inputting images and titles into your newsletters of the content you want to curate. 

6. Send Your Curated Content Newsletter

Once your email newsletter is nicely designed and laid out, you’re ready to send it! Be sure to add a captivating subject line to grab the attention of your readers. 

You can use Publicate to design and export your email to send using whatever email service provider you want. Once your email is created in HTML using templates, you can export the HTML to your email service provider and also monitor its success with access to advanced analytics. 

Why Use User Generated Content for Your Curated Newsletter?   

Did you know that 88% of consumers trust reviews as much as they do personal recommendations? That’s to say that reading something from a total stranger about your company can greatly impact a prospective customer’s actions and persuade them to become a customer of yours. 

This notion of social proof can be utilized as a form of curated content with the use of user-generated content. For example, if your goal is to increase sales, then sending out an email newsletter with testimonials or user reviews can help you achieve said goal. 

What are Curated Content Newsletter Best Practices?   

Curated content newsletters are an art form in themselves. Here’s how to create a masterpiece: 

1. Aggregation -> Curation 

Rather than pulling together everything you come across (aggregation), focus on curation. Curation adds the level of intent and context into the picture. The best way to do this is to answer how the curated content will add value to your audience. If it’s not aligning with their interests or your brands, it’s better to leave it out. 

2. Individual -> Collective 

Curated content newsletters can be optimized through involving multiple people and perspectives. Get a team together to help narrow down curated content options. It helps to bring together people from different departments in this process because they interact with customers on different levels. 

3. Curation + Creation 

It may be worthwhile to designate curated content versus created content, especially when you combine them both in the same newsletter. As with any curated content, be sure to cite the source to provide credit where it’s due. Or, you can separate curated content from original content newsletters to track opt-outs and click-throughs from each separately. 

4. Curation with Context 

When you curate content, add context as to why it’s relevant or link it to your brand with a snipper of original content. The value add here is that you can drive traffic to your original content source rather than moving people away from your brand’s assets. 

The Bottom Line

Regardless of your industry, curated content newsletters can help your brand be better able to connect with your audience. It helps to build trust and establish a level of familiarity within your relationship to customers. 

For any email newsletter you want to send, consider how you can incorporate curated content to maximize its value! 

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