A 420% increase in website traffic in one day. Is it a coincidence that hours earlier authors Jenn Goldman and Caryn Hirshleifer sent out a newsletter to their subscribers announcing a new event?* No. It’s called email marketing, and if you are unsure of what that is or why a newsletter is part of a cohesive marketing strategy, check out Build Your List: Newsletters as an Author Platform Building Tool in our Learning Center. For those of you who want to see real stats and data, read on.

In August 2024, Caryn Hirshleifer and Jenn Goldman published a book with Greenleaf Book Group called In the Face of Catastrophe. Initially, they signed up for an author splash page, but after discussing their short- and long-term goals with their brand strategist, they added social media and newsletter services. This mother-daughter author team wanted to build a foundation of readers, fans, and followers for Jenn’s burgeoning speaking career and Caryn’s future books.

After designing a branded newsletter, The Rose Report, and agreeing to a layout and cadence, Caryn and Jenn sent out the first newsletter on August 18, 2024—and saw a 420% increase in new users! You may be thinking, But if subscribers signed up on the website, how do we know they’re new users? That’s an excellent question.

Part of the success came from teasing the newsletter on social media. The brand strategist created a system in which all marketing is cyclical and can be used to drive awareness, engagement, and conversion across platform channels. For example, say someone sees the post about the newsletter on Instagram and clicks on the link to the authors’ website to subscribe to the newsletter. The data shows that at least some of the traffic to the website was from social media and vice versa—readers clicked on social media links from the newsletter. Voila—new users and new followers!

Caryn and Jenn, along with their marketing team here at Greenleaf, have sent out five email campaigns in total. It’s just the tip of the iceberg in a growth plan, but we’ve seen amazing results and a significant increase in their newsletter subscribers. Each “send” includes valuable insider information, helpful apps, upcoming events and announcements, and snapshots of the authors’ lives.

Here’s some data to support our findings:

Website Traffic Influence (based on campaign averages)

• Views: +140%
• New users: +300%
• Engagement rate: +47%

Event Engagement (based on campaign averages)

• 44% open rate
• 29% Click through rate (CLR)
• An average of 1.12 different CTAs were engaged with per user

Exciting note: One of the events booked up so quickly that the location had to be moved to a larger event space!

Social Media Links (based on campaign averages)

• 21% of subscribers clicked on a TikTok, YouTube, or Instagram icon

Amazon Buy Links (based on campaign averages)

• 12% of subscribers clicked on the “Buy Now” button

Writing a book is one thing, publishing it is another, and marketing it is, again, another. By the time you’ve reached your pub date, you’re feeling excited, nervous, and tired. Then, some marketing professional has the gall to ask you if you’ve considered creating a newsletter, and all you can think is, For whom?!

Call us eternal optimists, but our answer is “For your emerging fans, of course!” The data doesn’t lie. Whether you’re at the start of your book journey or a seasoned author, your fans want to hear from you. A well-designed, content-rich newsletter is an excellent way to drive traffic to your channels and help you continue to engage with audiences all over the world. (That is one more stat: Jenn and Caryn’s newsletter reaches 10 countries, including South Africa and all the way to Sweden!)

*This article was published with permission from the authors.

Written by Greenleaf's Brand Strategist, Jenny Cribb.