Why Newsletters Are Thriving on LinkedIn as Meta, Twitter Abandon Them

Newsletters have proven to be a tough sector to crack for social platforms, as Meta pulled the plug on its Bulletin off-platform newsletter offering last month, and turmoil-filled Twitter reportedly followed suit shortly thereafter. One platform, however, has seemingly cracked the code of working newsletters into its efforts: LinkedIn.

“Professionals have always come to LinkedIn to find and share their work-related content, and knowledge sharing is something LinkedIn is bringing to life,” product lead for creator strategy Keren Baruch told Adweek. “It’s really been just an explosion here. Members are looking for insights and knowledge to help them advance their careers.”

The Microsoft-owned professional network began rolling out access to newsletters for members using LinkedIn Creator Mode last November, and more than 49,000 newsletters currently reside on its platform, drawing over 150 million subscriptions.

“We continue to be focused on what LinkedIn has always been doing—tangibly helping other professionals on LinkedIn,” Baruch said. “The success of newsletters on LinkedIn speaks to the depth of that mission: Creating a space for professional conversation.”

Baruch highlighted four examples of newsletters thriving on LinkedIn’s platform:

“Newsletters are a way to connect to an audience that’s really supercharged,” Baruch said. “You’re not just sending out an email to an email list, but connecting into a professional network, showing up in someone’s feed and sending out notifications to your audience. The ability to connect into the professional network has truly been a valuable differentiator.”

LinkedIn added newsletters for pages in March, saying at the time that early adopter Insider tallied nearly 820,000 subscribers within 24 hours, while fellow early adopter Zoom saw 10% of its followers subscribe to its newsletter, also within 24 hours.

Later that month, the professional network introduced the ability for member with newsletters to showcase them in the Featured section on their profiles, with the aim of boosting discoverability and subscribers.

And in June, companies gained the ability to add mentions and hashtags in articles and newsletters on the platform. LinkedIn said at the time that when a member is tagged, they will be notified, increasing engagement and reach, while hashtags help push discoverability.

Then-Facebook introduced Bulletin in June 2021 with high-profile writers including Mitch Alborn, Erin Andrews, Tan France, Malcom Gladwell and Jane Wells.

However, parent company Meta said in October that Bulletin will shutter for good in early 2023, with writers able to continue earning subscription revenue up to that point and retain their subscribers’ email addresses, giving those subscribers a chance to follow the writers to different platforms.

A spokesperson for the company said at the time, “Bulletin has allowed us to learn about the relationship between creators and their audiences and how to better support them in building their community on Facebook. While this off-platform product itself is ending, we remain committed to supporting these and other creators’ success and growth on our platform.”

Twitter acquired newsletter publishing platform Revue in January 2021 and integrated Revue into its platform while letting it continue as a stand-alone service.

The ability to subscribe to Revue newsletters via Twitter profiles was introduced last September, with subscribing via tweets following one month later.

However, roughly one week after Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter was finalized, Kaya Yurieff and Erin Woo of The Information reported that Twitter will discontinue its Revue offerings by the end of the year.

Baruch offered the following tips on how to create a great newsletter on LinkedIn:

• Focus on a topic you are truly passionate about. Creators take their core passion, bring it to life through a newsletter and connect with an audience that truly cares about it.
• Develop a consistent posting cadence, as doing so is good for accountability and helps creators continue driving value.
• Connect into the entire system of LinkedIn and leverage the Featured section on your profile to raise awareness of your newsletter.