In this episode of Content Logistics, Jeremiah Rizzo sits down with Camille Trent, Director of Content & Community at PeerSignal & Keyplay. The conversation stems from Camille’s appearance on the Databox podcast, Metrics & Chill. They delve into the art of crafting a compelling newsletter, with Camille sharing her unique approach to data analysis and content creation.
Camille emphasizes the importance of understanding the data and finding the story within it. She explains how she breaks down the newsletter into segments, starting with social proof and a recap of the previous week. She also highlights the importance of linking out to related posts, creating a growth loop for the content.
The conversation also explores the evolution of their newsletter. Camille shares how she and her team continually refine their content based on feedback and data analysis. She also discusses the results they’ve seen, including a significant increase in subscribers. This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to improve their content strategy and engagement.
Featured Guest
Key Insights
Doubling Down on What Works
Camille and her team at PeerSignal & Keyplay found that their newsletter was the most popular piece of their content strategy. They decided to double down on this, using it as a primary marketing channel and a way to distribute curated insights and unique research points. The newsletter also served as a growth loop, linking out to related posts and promoting their product. This strategy proved effective, garnering good responses from the community and customers alike.
The Power of Hypothesis-Driven Content
Camille emphasizes the importance of acting like a scientist when creating content. This involves forming a hypothesis about what they think they’ll see in the data, based on trends and their own insights. They then use supporting questions to test this hypothesis, without caring whether it’s correct or not. The goal is to find answers and create a story around the data, making the content more engaging and valuable for their audience.
The Importance of a Well-Balanced Newsletter
Camille shares her approach to crafting a compelling newsletter. She breaks it down into segments, starting with social proof and a recap of the previous week. She also highlights the importance of linking out to related posts, creating a growth loop for the content. The newsletter also includes a variety of images to break up the text, and a balance of qualitative and quantitative data. This approach ensures the newsletter is digestible and engaging for the reader.
Episode Highlights
The Role of LinkedIn in Newsletter Distribution
In this segment, Camille discusses the role of LinkedIn as a distribution channel for their newsletter. She explains that LinkedIn has been an effective way to distribute their newsletter, and they aim to replicate the success they’ve seen on the platform.
“I don’t think that thinking about LinkedIn as a distribution channel is exactly right. But that had been an effective way for us to distribute the newsletter thus far.”
The Importance of Storytelling in Data Analysis
Camille emphasizes the importance of storytelling in data analysis. She explains that while data is important, finding the story within the data is what truly engages the audience.
“Like having, so we decided kind of like having a hypothesis at the beginning of like, here’s what we think we’re gonna see in the data, you know, based on what it feels like is happening in our feeds and, you know, in the news.”
The Structure of the Newsletter
Camille breaks down the structure of their newsletter, explaining how they segment it into social proof, a recap of the previous week, and links to related posts. She also discusses the importance of creating growth loops within the content.
“So we’ll have that at the beginning. So that’s kinda like the italics at the beginning. In the intro we always link, within the first like three lines, out to his posts.”
The Results of Their Newsletter Strategy
In this part, Camille discusses the results they’ve seen from their newsletter strategy. She reveals that they added about 6,000 subscribers in a month, nearly doubling their subscriber count in 45 days.
“Yeah. So about 6,000 in a month. And like I said, I’m looking at the actual like track record here, but in real time. We’re pulling it up in real time, but added about 6,000 in a month.”
