Let’s talk about love and email newsletters, y’all.

It’s a thing.

Really.

Unless you’re being totally sloppy about who you give your email address to, your inbox probably has at least one newsletter subscription you enjoy.

Maybe it’s about a topic you’re really into.

Or provides educational information that helps you with your job.

Or the writer just seems to get you.

Whatever the reason, it’s not too far a stretch to say you love that newsletter. And if you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you want to deliver a lovable newsletter, too.

In Lovability, Brian de Haaf, Co-Founder and CEO of Aha!, writes about the importance of the complete product experience (CPE). The premise of Lovability is that businesses should put their customers’ experiences first and make sure they’re actually lovable.

Brian explains that lovability shows itself in three ways:

1. Hugs: When customers “express feelings of affection for your product and want to get closer to it, your employees, and your company.” (p. 73)

2. Love Notes: When customers “send your company expressions of their delight with your people, products, and CPE.” (p.74)

3. Megaphones: “Customers who love your CPE will tell friends and colleagues how wonderful you are, becoming your most powerful and effective marketers and advertisements.” (p.74)

I’d like to share an experience we had with lovability in the weeks leading up to the launch of Opt In Weekly and the days that followed.

Calvin, our product manager at Curated, shared a customer message with the team in July. I quickly requested we get it on the homepage of the website:

“I’ve been using your service for over 6 months now to curate my Software Testing Newsletter, and even though I was tempted by other trendy services such as Substack and Revue, honestly, you’re still the king for this kind of format. Loving all the features that allow me to quickly add links and compose the newsletter so easily each week!”– Dawid Dylowicz, Software Testing Weekly

This message accompanied Dawid’s request for a feature release that we now have in the product roadmap.

I then connected with Dawid on LinkedIn and engaged with his posts, letting him know I was new at Curated and that we really appreciated his feedback. He has a great strategy for announcing his newsletters on social media that includes tagging the authors of the content in the newest issue. Genius.

If I see his posts on LinkedIn, I like and share them. It’s a great newsletter for people interested in software testing and he’s doing a really nice job showcasing what can be done with Curated. No brainer.

Here’s the really good part, though.

After the first issue of Opt In Weekly, Dawid took time to send me a personal email with this lovely response:

“Hey Ashley,

That’s great stuff!

I’ve been following you on LinkedIn since you invited me to connect and I must say I feel more bond with the Curated brand now.

I mean, now I can see who’s behind it and it gains my trust. Plus I feel reassured I chose the platform well.

That’s purely thanks to your constant online presence that brings great value every time.

And now, this newsletter makes it even better.

Your boss is a lucky guy to have such a talented old friend.

Just my two cents.

Dawid

PS. I was about to recommend Twitter to you as your LinkedIn post format would perfectly fit on this social media but I can see you’ve already created an account. Can’t wait to see your content there!”

So many hugs, love notes, and megaphones, right?

Aside from the fact that Dawid is delightful proof of the value in pulling back the curtain and making sure to connect with customers, his encouragement about Opt In Weekly is part of what inspires me to keep it lovable by staying reader-centric and authentic to what I want to achieve: loading you up with really good resources for making your newsletter amazing.

This issue delivers, I hope.

Ashley Guttuso