December 9, 2019 | 1 minute read

How to create a winning, repeatable expert-led b2b newsletter by leveraging feedback loops

Passle

I had the pleasure of sitting with a prominent technology lawyer last week who explained to me that he had a handful of key clients (funds and tech companies) that he would love to nurture with a 'go-to' tech newsletter comprising of expertise from his team.

It got me thinking about the newsletters I religiously read:

Fintech Collective VC Newsletter
Cold Brew
Dr Rangan Chatterjee
Andreessen Horowitz VC
The Lawyer

As a consumer of these, all contain relevant and timely insights from genuine experts. So that is all good for me, but how or why do they keep posting?

This is where the feedback loop comes in.

Read the quote below on what a feedback loop comprises, then apply this to a newsletter:

Evidence: Your experts see that their content is read and preferably by who
Relevance: The readers are relevant to growing their business
Consequence: Possibility of opening up new business
Action: Your experts post again

So I strongly believe that the key to a successful newsletter is to firstly make sure you choose a team of experts, select some technology that will deliver the feedback evidence and explain the steps to your experts.

One last thing, if you are worried that your experts might not know what to write about, just ask them what the last thing was that a client needed help with...

Feedback loops Studies have repeatedly shown that when we are presented with data about our own performance we will usually adopt the right behaviour without being told. Creating feedback loops allows people to immediately know if they need to change something they are doing. Feedback loops have 4 elements: Evidence Relevance Consequence Action Think about those radar speed signs you see in small villages that tell you how fast you are going. I bet you usually slow down if they show you are speeding, most people do. Here’s how they take you through the loop: evidence (your speed), relevance (breaking the law), consequence (possibility of a fine and points on your licence) and action (you slow down). The trick is to incorporate feedback loops into your workplace to nudge the right actions.