What Does the 11 Years in Jail for Elizabeth Holmes Have to Do with Email Marketing?

Hear me out, dear reader…

In a news cycle that included: 

• the downfall of FTX as a fraud
• the 11-year prison sentence of Elizabeth Holmes for her Theranos fraud
• the potential unraveling of Twitter
• the recriminations around Carvana (another fraud)
• more Anti-Semitism, racism, homophobia, and other assorted hate than ever

I question myself on why I am writing about newsletters and reporting about the fully non-scientific survey I fielded on the subject.

The Atlantic had a take. In their “Newsletters” section (keep that in mind), there was a piece by Derek Thompson called, “Why Everything in Tech Seems To Be Collapsing At Once”. His view? “The Industry is having a mid-life crisis.”

And yet, dear reader, those who know me and follow my writing will immediately understand the connection I make between something as mundane as a newsletter—The Atlantic aside—and issues plaguing High Tech in general. My not-so-cynical answer? DIGIBABBLE…the FOMO-inspired con that inflates valuations, ignores history, makes a mockery of People First thinking, negates best practices, and has set back the full power of our digital world by years. 

You see…

Digital is everything. But not everything is digital. 

What isn’t digital today? Even Broadcast TV is digital, the irony of ironies. And, although digital is the source of most/all that we do, the outcomes are far from all digital. Ask Taylor Swift who is probably the savviest marketer in the world…ticket sales system failures aside—not her fault and the result of demand from stellar marketing. 

To that end, and as a follow-up to my survey on email marketing—yes, email is still alive and well and growing—I asked who still opens newsletters sent from businesses. This is what I would call a business-to-person communication. There is no such thing as B2B Apple doesn’t talk to Microsoft…people at both companies talk to each other…there’s a huge and critical distinction that can make or break your marketing efforts.

What prompted me were some statistics I read about the efficacy of newsletters and my own reading of the ones I like. 

My usual weasel caveat to begin…this is fully non-scientific, not projectable, and don’t trade using my info…LOL…but I will continue to point out that these surveys are incredibly insightful and importantly directional, so take it for what you will.

The question was simple—as always—to keep the analysis clear and unambiguous. 

“Do you still regularly open newsletters from businesses?”

• 41% said no
• 33% said yes
• 26% said I do sometimes 

In other words, 59% pay attention to newsletters. This falls in line with the data which suggests that 50% of us buy from marketing newsletters, of one type or another, at least once a month. 

And my bet is that a serious chunk of the “no” vote is actually sometimes, but they don’t want to be labeled “old-fashioned” and stuck with the DIGIBABBLE…although digital is everything when it comes to these newsletters as well. 

As usual, I go straight to the comments because that’s where the gold is.

• “Content is content. Newsletter, blog, podcast…great stories aren’t easy to create.” MY
• “Make it about your customer and you can’t go wrong.” CV
• “More than one person told me that nobody is reading newsletters…but it’s not true…we read valuable content.” VGA
• “I have found some good content in newsletters before; however, it seems like an often-neglected outlet.” ZM
• “Too much irrelevant content floating around. But I’ll open and read if they are from companies I’ve vested interest in just cos I know they have good content.” KP
• “I do if I know who wrote it.” CH
• “Only the really good ones.” LJV
• “There’s got to be a way to do them better.” KA
• “Still generates impressive stats.” JR

And, of course, “They still send those things out? So 20th century.” ASK

What surprised me was the almost total lack of comment by the 41% who voted no…That’s unusual, and frankly, I was looking forward to sharing good thinking. All of this leads me to conjecture that the no is nuanced and probably more in line with the sometimes vote.

Frankly, though, I think the yes is nuanced as well and is caveated by the comments I shared:

• Good content is good content
• Make it relevant and interesting and I’ll read it…even more, I’ll action it
• Don’t send me too many…balance the rhythm
• Give credence to the author…not just anonymous
• They work…if yours doesn’t, it's not the channel, it's your product

My view is back to basics…a theme for my loyal readers…

• if we can strip away the BS and the DIGIBABBLE…
• get over digital as it's a fact, it’s no longer a unique lever…
• be honest and open with each other 
• be People First and foremost

The FOMO of Theranos and FTX will dissipate…Musk will be seen for the genius, visionary, and blowhard that he is, and perhaps we can really make something out of the digital world we live in.  

What’s your view?