How BT is using e-mail newsletters to diversify its content offerings

IF YOU are in your early-40s like me, or slightly older, the word “newsletter” might conjure the image of a printed mini-magazine distributed in your neighbourhood or office, one that updates you on the latest localised happenings.

And if I brought up e-mail newsletters, you might think of electronic direct mail (EDM), the type that often floods your inbox and is as easily disposable as a paper flyer.

The truth of the matter is that, in an increasingly competitive news landscape, e-mail newsletters provide a new platform for media outlets to grow their subscriber numbers and engage more deeply with existing ones.

Many media outlets offer separate e-mail newsletters for their most popular areas of coverage. Typically, readers interested in a specific subject will sign up for the newsletters of their choice, which they will then receive in the inbox. These can range from daily newsletters, offering summaries of the latest news topics, to weekly sendouts or even ad hoc newsletters created to cover major events.

The last half-decade or so – and particularly the Covid-19 pandemic – has seen a newsletter boom, driven by a number of factors. Journalists yearning for independence and the ability to connect directly with their audience, while eschewing the pressures of page-view metrics, flocked to platforms like Substack to produce content for their subscribers.

Meanwhile, media startups like Morning Brew and Semafor have also emerged, with newsletters as their primary content offering.

While some have argued that the boom may be over in the Western media market, more traditional news outlets like The New York Times and The Atlantic continue to use newsletters as a means to engage with their customers.

The Business Times (BT), too, is embracing newsletters. Why? Because they allow us to provide more value to our existing subscribers in the form of exclusive, high-quality content, while also gathering feedback on what they wish to see in our publications.

As they conveniently arrive in inboxes with regularity, our newsletters encourage subscribers to develop the habit of reading BT material. Think of it as a digital substitute for, or an accompaniment to, your morning newspaper.

Another benefit to newsletters is that they give our subscribers the opportunity to curate the type of content they receive. Whether it is startups and the technology sector or South-east Asia business developments, readers get to pick the topics that are most important to them while avoiding distracting news. It is this kind of content customisation that we look to offer subscribers as our publication evolves.

Moving forward, we will be reviewing and revamping our other existing newsletters, such as those covering small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and technology. Plans are also in place to improve our newsletters’ user experience and increase their discoverability.

For a preview of what’s to come, we can look at three of our recently launched weekly newsletters, covering the property, ESG (environment, social and corporate governance) and young audience segments.

The Property Insights newsletter, written by deputy news editor Michelle Low and senior correspondent Leslie Yee every Tuesday, provides subscribers with a weekly, exclusive analysis of the latest property sector developments, such as en bloc sales and the state of private home prices.

Meanwhile, our ESG Insights newsletter offers an in-depth look at both local and regional ESG news every Friday. Helmed by veteran journalist and deputy news editor Kenneth Lim, it breaks down complex issues – such as the state of Singapore’s sustainability funding – with the help of eye-catching infographics and, occasionally, even cartoons.

Also available is our Thrive newsletter, which is part of a larger effort aimed at growing a new generation of BT readers. Led by Thrive editor Vivien Shiao, it targets tertiary students and new jobbers every Friday, offering content on money, career and life issues.

By reaching out to GenZ, we hope Thrive will provide them with tools to navigate the working world while also nudging them into eventually becoming BT subscribers.

All three newsletters offer commentaries, articles and analyses that you would not currently find in our print and online editions. And thanks to the healthy open rates that we have been seeing, we know we are on the right track when it comes to offering subscribers the kind of content they want.

However, several challenges remain as we explore this new frontier.

The newsletter boom means we have to work extra hard to distinguish ourselves from the sea of competitors. This could mean drilling down into our slate of content to come up with more niche offerings, or using newsletters to fill gaps in our coverage. We are also looking into how the design and user experience aspects of our newsletters can be improved.

On the technical side, we also face the issue of ensuring that our newsletters appear as they are meant to across the multitude of e-mail providers, from Gmail, to Hotmail and Yahoo Mail. This is partly why we engage in rigorous user assurance testing for all our newsletters.

Lastly, while we are highly interested in how readers interact with our newsletters – such as how often they are opened or shared – we also remain respectful of their digital privacy. To this end, we rely on surveys and open, honest feedback from our newsletter subscribers to better shape our content.

If you haven’t already subscribed to one of our newsletters, I highly encourage you to visit our sign-up page and pick one – or a few – that interests you. Get a sense for yourself what we are trying to do and let us know how we can improve to suit your needs.

After all, building deeper relationships and giving greater value to our subscribers is what this whole newsletter project is all about.

dhanyo@sph.com.sg

Off The Record is a monthly column by BT’s editors on the modern news industry from an insider’s perspective. We welcome feedback and suggestions at btnews@sph.com.sg.