LinkedIn is a great platform for building your professional network and engaging with other professionals. One way to increase engagement on LinkedIn is by sending out newsletters to your connections. LinkedIn makes it easy to create, customize, and send newsletters right from their mobile app.
What is a LinkedIn newsletter?
A LinkedIn newsletter is a customized email that you can send to your LinkedIn connections. It allows you to share content like articles, images, links, and more. You can use newsletters to update your connections on industry news, share company updates, promote events, and more.
Newsletters are different from regular emails because they allow you to brand the content and make it look more professional. You can add your company colors, logo, images, customize the subject line and preview text, and track opens and clicks.
Benefits of sending LinkedIn newsletters
Here are some of the benefits of sending newsletters to your LinkedIn connections:
- Build and strengthen relationships – Sending regular, valuable content allows you to stay top of mind with your network.
- Increase brand awareness – Newsletters are a great branding tool to share your expertise and thought leadership.
- Drive traffic – Include links back to your website or blog to draw more visitors.
- Promote events and offers – Spotlight upcoming webinars, conferences, product launches, sales, etc.
- Improve engagement – Newsletters give your connections something valuable and prompt them to actively engage.
- Generate leads – Calls-to-action can lead newsletter readers to reach out for demos, trials, etc.
Step 1 – Enable your LinkedIn Page to publish newsletters
To get started, you need to have a Company Page. This allows you to create, edit and send Sponsored Content newsletters straight from the LinkedIn mobile app. Here are the steps to enable newsletter publishing:
- Open the LinkedIn app and tap on your profile picture.
- Select Admin Tools.
- Choose Company Pages from the menu.
- Tap on your Company Page.
- Scroll down and toggle on “Publish Sponsored Content newsletters.”
Once enabled, you can start creating newsletters from the app. If you don’t already have a Company Page, you can easily create one by going to Pages > Create a Page.
Step 2 – Create your newsletter
Here are the steps to create your first newsletter on LinkedIn’s mobile app:
- Tap the Share button (looks like a box with an arrow).
- Select Sponsored.
- Choose Newsletter and then Create Newsletter.
- Select the Company Page you want to send it from.
- Give your newsletter a title and description.
- Choose an image to represent your newsletter. A branded header image works best. The recommended size is 1536×768 pixels.
- Under Content, choose Add Content to insert text, links, images, etc. Use the formatting toolbar to style your content.
- Preview your newsletter and make any edits needed.
Your newsletter content will likely go through multiple drafts and revisions before sending. LinkedIn recommends keeping newsletters succinct, personal, and text-focused.
Step 3 – Target your newsletter recipients
One of the benefits of LinkedIn newsletters is the ability to target who receives your content. Under Audience in the app, you can select to target your connections or a custom audience. Here are some audience targeting tips:
- Connections – Send your newsletter to all your 1st degree connections. Great for personal branding.
- Recent connections – Engage and share value with new connections.
- Company followers – Share company updates with those who follow your Page.
- Job function – Target by seniority, department, role, etc.
- Industry – Reach those in your target sectors or verticals.
- Interests – Align with readers’ professional interests.
- Location – Send locally or to specific regions.
The more targeted your audience, the better the open and click-through rates will be.
Step 4 – Schedule your newsletter
Under Send, you can choose to send your newsletter immediately or schedule it for the future. Scheduling is great if you want to space out your newsletters or time it for maximum impact.
LinkedIn recommends sending no more than one newsletter per week to avoid over-messaging your audience. Avoid sending on weekends or late at night when engagement is lower.
Step 5 – Customize the sending details
The final step is customizing your newsletter before sending:
- Sender: Choose a sender name, like your personal name or company name.
- Subject line: Grab readers’ attention with a catchy, benefit-focused subject line. Preview text appears below.
- Design: Pick a template and make branding tweaks like adding your logo, adjusting colors and fonts.
- Social preview: Customize the preview image and text readers see when your newsletter is shared.
Take time to optimize these details so your newsletter makes a great first impression and gets opened by recipients.
Step 6 – Send a test and check reports
Before sending your final newsletter, always send a test draft to yourself first. Check that images, links, and formatting render correctly.
Once sent, check your newsletter performance under Activity. Monitor open rate, clicks, shares, post reactions, and comments. Use these insights to refine future newsletters for better results.
Best practices for creating engaging LinkedIn newsletters
Here are some tips to create compelling newsletters that get results:
- Focus on reader value – Inform, educate, entertain, inspire or support your subscribers.
- Keep content succinct – Get straight to the point. Avoid overly long newsletters.
- Personalize when possible – Use first names, share stories, and write conversationally.
- Get visual – Break up text with relevant images, charts, graphics, and videos.
- Utilize hypelinks – Direct readers to helpful resources on your website and other sites.
- Highlight company news – Share company wins, new products, events, etc.
- Feature thought leadership – Establish expertise by sharing insights, data, perspectives.
- Promote content offers – Spotlight blogs, ebooks, webinars, and premium content.
- Mention employees – Help humanize your brand by spotlighting team members.
- Use clear calls-to-action – Provide next steps to guide readers.
Newsletter ideas and examples
Here are some LinkedIn newsletter ideas along with subject line examples:
Industry update
– The latest digital marketing trends this quarter
Thought leadership
– 3 ways to transform your retail customer experience
Behind the scenes
– Sneak peek: Inside our new Silicon Valley headquarters
Educational content
– The beginner’s guide to blockchain in supply chain
Company news
– Announcing our Series B funding and expansion plans
Product launch
– Introducing the new and improved [Product Name]!
Event promotion
– Last chance to register for our annual conference
Nurturing newsletter
– Hope your quarter is off to a great start!
Holiday newsletter
– Happy Holidays! Here’s a look back at our year.
Conclusion
Sending customized newsletters is a great way to engage your LinkedIn connections and build your brand. With LinkedIn’s mobile app, you can easily create, target, schedule, and send professional newsletters right from your phone.
Focus on providing value for your subscribers with relevant content. Make sure to track newsletter performance so you can continually optimize and improve. With a smart newsletter strategy, you can deepen relationships and meet your business goals on LinkedIn.
