What is it?
One powerful way to expose your newsletter to new audiences is by earning organic media coverage.
This isn't a typical guest posting strategy where you’re directly pitching publications yourself.
Earned media tends to be more organic, with journalists, podcasters, and influencers in your niche picking up on content of yours that they genuinely deem newsworthy.
If you want to help this along, you can start thinking about content that looks at your niche through the lens of current events or trending news.
Distribute your trending content through your owned channels (maybe along with a press release), and let it pique media interest naturally.
If you end up getting featured in major outlets, it instantly exposes your newsletter to massive audiences of potential new subscribers.
The Good and the Bad
Examples of how to crush it
Stratechery
Stratechery, a tech newsletter, has been cited by major industry blogs like TechCrunch, Wired, and The Verge.
Ben’s insights are also often discussed on tech podcasts and by industry leaders on social media.
The Skimm
The Skimm, a women's news roundup, has been featured on shows like The Today Show, in publications like The New York Times, and has been endorsed by celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey.
These features significantly boosted their visibility among their target audience, leading to more organic sign-ups.
Girl’s Night In
Girls’ Night In, a women's self-care newsletter, has been featured in publications like Vogue, Refinery29, and The Washington Post.
They have also been mentioned by popular influencers on Instagram and other social media platforms.
This accumulation of earned media helped Girls’ Night In grow to over 150,000 subscribers.
Extra Points
When Matt launched ExtraPoints, he had to find scrappy, cost-effective ways to build an audience quickly for his niche college sports publication.
He reached out to booking agents for college radio and sports reporter friends, and distributed press releases to get on their radars.
Getting on major college radio shows, on regional TV, and getting 'earned media' that further establishes myself as an expert in my space has been very important.
Within just 18 months, ExtraPoints had rapidly grown to 16,000 subscribers, including over 3,000 paid members.
