LinkedIn newsletters for your nonprofit digital fundraising and nonprofit marketing strategy.
If you are wondering how to get more views, grow, and fundraise on LinkedIn, creating a LinkedIn newsletter is a great way to raise awareness and fundraise on social media.
LinkedIn has become the most popular social network for professionals. With over 700 million global users, it is now a big player in the social media game.
In this article, I share with you how to get access to LinkedIn newsletters, create a LinkedIn newsletter, some LinkedIn newsletter best practices, and use LinkedIn newsletters as part of your digital fundraising or nonprofit marketing strategy.
What is a LinkedIn Newsletter?
LinkedIn newsletters are very similar to a LinkedIn article post. The main difference is when you post an article, it goes on your timeline, and your connections only discover it by scrolling through their feed.
When you publish a newsletter, your subscribers get notified, which increases the chances of people seeing and consuming your content.
Think of it as a blog post or a regularly published newsletter where users can sign up to receive it. When you publish a post, subscribers get an email, in-app notification, or push notification, depending on their settings. Subscribers are also not limited to followers. You have the added benefit of LinkedIn recommending your newsletter and pushing it out to users they think will benefit from it. As what happens when a new feature is launched on a social platform, LinkedIn is working hard to make sure that newsletters get as much reach as possible.
Imagine your social media married MailChimp, and they had a baby, which is LinkedIn newsletters!
Benefits of LinkedIn Newsletters for Nonprofits:
In addition to extending reach, newsletters are the perfect vehicle to share in-depth content that helps build awareness and show your impact. They can also act as prospect leads by identifying which LinkedIn members are active subscribers. Best of all, the feature is free.
Here are some additional reasons to invest time in LinkedIn newsletters:
LinkedIn Newsletters Expand Your Audience
As mentioned, LinkedIn is pushing newsletters out to a broader audience who are not currently following you.
LinkedIn Newsletters Create Engagement
You can invite people to sign up for your newsletter who would resonate with your topic, improving your engagement.
LinkedIn Newsletters Help Boost Brand Awareness
Suppose you have a dream donor who is passionate about your cause. In that case, they will probably see your newsletter and get passionate about your organization.
LinkedIn Newsletters Help Build Authority
Newsletters are the perfect tool to establish yourself as a leader in your area of focus.
LinkedIn Newsletters Help Generate Donations
Newsletters provide an opportunity to showcase your impact, tell stories, promote campaigns, and much more. According to Neil Patel, a well-planned LinkedIn newsletter can generate potential leads (for us donors) 277% more than Facebook and Twitter.
Setting up LinkedIn Your Nonprofit Newsletter
The first step is checking your eligibility. Here is what LinkedIn says about that:
Have Creator Tool access.
Have an audience base of more than 150 followers.
Have a history of creating original content - you must have created a post within the past 3 months.
Are in good standing regarding LinkedIn’s community policies.
If you meet the criteria and are ready to go, there are a few things to consider:
You can only create and maintain one newsletter at a time.
LinkedIn only allows you to send out one newsletter every 24 hours.
Use images, but stay on brand.
Use your hyperlinks – link back to your website for SEO.
Link to outside sources to build credibility.
Be consistent with your publishing schedule.
Engage, engage, engage – as with all algorithms, they reward content based on engagement.
#1: Turn on LinkedIn Creator Mode
Just log into your LinkedIn account and go to your profile. You'll see a link in the private Resources section that allows you to turn Creator Mode on.
If you haven’t yet created any posts on LinkedIn, start sharing your content now.
#2: Set Up Your LinkedIn Newsletter
Go to create a post as you usually would but click the option to create an article. Inside the publishing editor, click the option to create a newsletter.
In the window that opens, you’ll be prompted to fill in details about your newsletter:
Newsletter name: Choose a name that’s clear, keyword optimized, and conveys the overall value of the information you want to share with your subscribers.
Description: You'll have around 300 characters to work with. Again, focus on writing a clear description and using keywords people are searching for.
Anticipated schedule: Choose how often you plan to send out content to your newsletter—daily, weekly, biweekly, or monthly. And don't worry; LinkedIn won't force you to stick to that schedule.
You can change your details later, but be careful because changing things too drastically may affect your subscribers.
#3: Publish Quality Content to Your LinkedIn Newsletter
If you're like most people, your LinkedIn newsletter strategy consists of little more than cobbling together a few paragraphs of text with an image and hoping for the best. But if you're serious about getting noticed on LinkedIn, it's time to step up your game.
Here are a few tips for creating quality content that will help you stand out from the crowd:
Get a strategy together. I recommend developing a content strategy. It is vital to consistently deliver quality newsletter posts to help build your following and their trust. Followers can unsubscribe just like a regular newsletter. For example, I have a client where we are using weekly LinkedIn newsletters much like a blog. They are a mental health organization, so we post articles on the latest research, always linking to our website because our goal is awareness. I have another client that uses Linkedin newsletters as a quarterly update on their programming and community stats. These link to their program info, which contains information on donating because their goal is fundraising. And my own, which is every two weeks intending to educate.
Get used to the formatting. The formatting can be a bit wonky and has limited options such as text size, h3 headings, quote structure, etc. A few times, I thought I had the perfect layout and then cried when I saw how it looked as an email. Apparently, LinkedIn didn’t get the entire MailChimp DNA with the baby.
Focus on value. Your LinkedIn newsletter should offer something of value to your target audience. Whether it's helpful tips, exciting industry news, or insights into your organization's latest project, make sure there's something in it for your readers.
Be personal. Your LinkedIn newsletter is an opportunity to put a human face on your business, so don't be afraid to inject a bit of personality into your writing.
Use strong headlines. Your headlines should always be attention-grabbing and make people want to read more.
Use images. A picture is worth a thousand words, so include plenty of visuals in your newsletter. A well-chosen graphic can make a big impact and help break up the text.
Include call-to-actions. Make it easy for people to take action on your content by including links and contact information. Always link back to your website or campaign. If you have written a LinkedIn newsletter article on a topical piece that relates to your mission, link back to your website with a call to action to support that mission.
By following these tips, you can be sure that your LinkedIn newsletters will be enjoyable and informative reads for everyone on your list.
#4: Engage and Promote
As with any social media platform, engagement drives views. Make sure to engage with your subscribers and always comments back. I even send a DM to folks who consistently like my posts and sincerely thank them.
Take advantage of the fact that LinkedIn newsletters can be shared by anyone. You can do this by inviting people in your article to share the newsletter and help you reach even more people who would benefit from your information.
You can also promote your newsletter by sharing links to your articles in groups and forums, your company page, and your personal profile.
Ask your employees to share! According to LinkedIn, when employees share content, they typically see a click-through rate double that of their company. People are 3x more likely to trust company information from employees.
LinkedIn newsletters offer a unique way to reach out to current and potential supporters and keep them updated on your nonprofit’s work. They are a great way to stay top-of-mind, show off your organization’s personality, and engage with the world of LinkedIn. If you haven’t tried creating a LinkedIn newsletter yet as part of your social media fundraising strategy, now is the time! If you have any questions, or need help setting up your LinkedIn Newsletter, feel free to contact us at The Cause Specialists.
Prefer to watch, check out our YouTube video on LinkedIn Newsletters: https://youtu.be/N6j_b7bR_fk
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