How to Evaluate Newsletters for Your Marketing Channel Strategy

Introduction

Newsletters have always been a core marketing tool. These days, they extend beyond simple emails to platforms like Substack or Beehiv, in-app alerts, or even social media posts. Wherever they appear, newsletters help you speak directly to subscribers so you can offer valuable insights and updates.

What Are Newsletters?

At their heart, newsletters are consistent communications delivering curated or original content. They can take the form of weekly updates, monthly thoughts on your industry, or promotional announcements. They’re a practical way to nurture ongoing relationships with potential and existing customers. If you’re unsure where they fit into your broader plan, see our article on what is a marketing channel.

Marketing Channel Strategy

It’s smart to decide on each channel with a clear purpose. Michael Porter once said, “The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.” That advice applies here. If newsletters align with your bigger picture, great — if not, move on. Need more on building a targeted approach? Read our marketing channel strategy guide.

Are Newsletters Right For Your Business?

Below are five points to help you decide if newsletters deserve a place in your channel mix.

• Goal Fit. Do newsletters help you meet key goals like lead nurturing or repeat engagement?

• Customer Fit. Are your target customers willing readers who welcome email or platform-based updates?

• Founder/Team Fit. Will your team consistently produce relevant, high-quality content?

• Model Fit (ARPU and CAC Dynamics). If your Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is high enough, does the effort justify your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)?

• Unique Advantages. Can you share insights or data that are hard to find elsewhere?

Our Opinion On Newsletters

Newsletters are still a powerful way to bring prospects and customers closer. The standard is higher now, though. Riders on Substack or Beehiv show that a clear niche and strong “why” are essential. Explain what unique takeaways or benefits subscribers can expect, and make it obvious from the start.

Remember, newsletters needn’t be limited to email. You can deliver them in audio formats, via social media, or within your app. The crucial factor is value. Readers come back if you deliver real insights that genuinely help them.

Other Growth Channels To Consider

Experts often suggest focusing on a single, effective channel rather than spreading yourself too thin. As Brian Balfour said: “Don’t diversify yourself in too many channels; it’s like a death sentence. You should be focusing on the single and most efficient one.” If you’re weighing up other options, explore our 19 traction channels or 20 acquisition channels for inspiration. Evaluate them with the same rigour you’d apply to newsletters.

How Growth Method Helps

Even the best newsletter strategy benefits from a systematic approach to experimentation, analytics, and reporting. Growth Method is the only work management platform built for growth marketers. It unites ideation, experimentation, and results-tracking in one place, enabling you to:

Ideation

Submit and categorise ideas efficiently, ensuring every suggestion follows best-practice hypotheses. You can collaborate with your team and keep ideas aligned with overall goals.

Experimentation

Run structured experiments through four stages — building, live, analysing, and complete. This proven process boosts your experiment velocity and drives faster learning.

Reporting

Easily present data-driven outcomes, from high-level strategies to specific experiment results. Show stakeholders exactly how different channels, including newsletters, perform.

“We are on-track to deliver a 43% increase in inbound leads this year. There is no doubt the adoption of Growth Method is the primary driver behind these results.” Laura Perrott, Colt Technology Services

The future of marketing focuses on efficiency and ROI. Growth Method is built to help you unlock both. We help you implement a systematic approach to finding, testing, and optimising your growth channels — all without juggling multiple tools.

Growth Method is the only work management platform built for growth marketers. We help companies implement a systematic approach to grow leads and revenue. Book a call today at https://cal.com/stuartb/30min.