Spicy take: Newsletter businesses are about to decline.
Here's how I see it...
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Email lists have been the best way to market for at least 15 years now, but running newsletter-first businesses only got hot a few years ago.
The rise of fast-growth newsletters like theSkimm and the Hustle prompted lots of us to launch newsletter businesses.
And if I had to choose just one channel on which to pin my business, I'd choose email. This was true for me 15 years ago, and it's still true today.
BUT.
I expect email to follow the same fate as Facebook pages, SEO traffic, and all the other channels that no longer make growth easy.
Each became less valuable as 1) it got more crowded and 2) the channel owner changed how it worked.
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We like to think we own our email list — and certainly that's more valid than with, say, a Facebook page or search traffic — but the truth is, email is still at the whim of one company: Google.
Remember when Gmail launched the Promotions tab and marketers scrambled? Surely they'll deliver other improvements to the email experience, and some of those will bury newsletters from brands.
Even if they don't make changes, the increase in noise is already hitting newsletter operators hard. The tools available now make it easier to send newsletters, but with so much noise in our inboxes and on the internet generally, it's becoming harder to maintain open rates and generate new readers.
Think about your own personal habits. How many of the newsletters you subscribe to do you actually read? Even for my favorites, I don't open every one. I've got a business to build and a life to live, and my goal is to stay OUT of my inbox.
In 5 years, email will look completely different. It *has* to evolve, because the always-overflowing, stress-inducing inbox is not working for us.
I appreciate the newsletter business model for its simplicity.
But I don't think it will last forever.
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It's easy to get discouraged, with TikTok up in the air, search traffic dwindling, third-party cookies becoming obsolete... and now I'm saying our favorite way to reach people, newsletters, has a similar fate.
But here's the GOOD news...
*We have figured this out before, and we'll figure it out again.*
Those of us who've been running online businesses for years have reinvented ourselves countless times. The tactics that worked years ago aren't as effective now. New ways of capturing attention have come along, and we've learned how to lean into them, too.
So we can look at these shifts with dread... or we can get excited about the challenges they bring and the opportunities ahead.
The key is to trust yourself to roll with the punches. Pivot when you need to, and ride the next wave that comes your way.
We have figured this out before, and we'll figure it out again.
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I'm Alexis Grant, founder of They Got Acquired.
Check out our free report on content businesses that have sold: https://lnkd.in/e-6FdRPV
Reporter @ Cardinal News | Editor | Podcaster
2yThis is genius. (Says the writer who keeps the print copy of the AP Stylebook at her desk, in this the year 2022.)