Newsletter
NOOZ-let-ur
A recurring email to subscribers with curated content, insights, or updates. The most valuable owned audience channel in B2B marketing.
A newsletter is a recurring email sent to subscribers who opted in. It might be weekly, biweekly, or monthly. The content might be original writing, curated links, company updates, or a mix.
In B2B marketing, the newsletter is the most valuable owned audience. Unlike social media followers (where algorithms control reach), email subscribers are yours. You control the distribution. You control the message. You control the timing. A list of 10,000 engaged subscribers who match your ICP is a direct line to your market.
The best B2B newsletters feel personal. Track open rates and engagement to understand what content resonates. They read like a smart person sharing useful insights, not a company broadcasting promotions. Prashant's newsletter, Emily Kramer's MKT1, Lenny Rachitsky's newsletter, and Kyle Poyar's Growth Unhinged work because the voice is human and the content is genuinely useful.
Examples
A newsletter as a demand gen channel.
Weekly newsletter to 8,000 subscribers. Open rate: 42%. Click rate: 8%. Each issue includes 2 original insights and 1 product-related update. Monthly demo requests from newsletter readers: 25. The newsletter is the third-largest source of pipeline after organic search and events.
Growing a newsletter audience.
Month 1: 200 subscribers. Month 6: 1,500. Month 12: 5,000. Growth drivers: blog post signup CTAs (40% of new subscribers), social media promotion (30%), and referral program (20%). The team focuses on content quality over subscriber count.
A newsletter with high unsubscribe rate.
The company sends a weekly newsletter that is 90% product updates and 10% useful content. Unsubscribe rate: 3% per email. At that rate, the list shrinks 60% in a year. They flip the ratio: 80% useful content, 20% product updates. Unsubscribe rate drops to 0.4%.
In practice
Read more on the blog
Frequently asked questions
How often should you send a newsletter?
Weekly or biweekly for most B2B companies. Weekly if you have enough quality content. Monthly if you do not. Consistency matters more than frequency. Pick a cadence and stick to it. Your audience will expect it.
What makes a good B2B newsletter?
A human voice, genuinely useful content, and respect for the reader's time. The best newsletters teach something in every issue. They are concise. They link to deeper resources for those who want more. They feel like a recommendation from a smart peer, not a corporate broadcast.
Related terms
The percentage of sent emails that actually reach the recipient's inbox. The foundation of every email marketing program.
The percentage of delivered emails that recipients opened. A proxy for subject line effectiveness and sender trust.
Marketing channels you control: your website, blog, email list, documentation, and social accounts. Content you create and distribute yourself.
Creating and distributing valuable content to attract, engage, and convert your target audience. Education as a marketing strategy.
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