How did you land on this formula for format, tone, and content?
I always start from a place of “what would I want from a newsletter like this”.
Geekout’s aim is to be a weekly one-stop-shop for busy social media managers wanting a comprehensive round-up of all the week’s social media platform news and updates.
I remembered how hard it was to keep up to date on all the changes and new stuff happening on the big platforms like Facebook and Twitter. I would spend hours every week checking RSS feeds, Tweets, and blogs to make sure I was on top of things. Geekout’s goal is to do that all for you. And with a bit of personality and expert insight.
The newsletter format is shaped like a funnel. It starts very wide with a summary of the big stuff I spotted that week, plus lots of light-hearted and fun stuff to draw people in without it feeling like a heavy read. As you scroll through, the newsletter goes from talking in detail about the biggest news stories at the start, to a quick link list of all the other stuff people may want to skim or bookmark for later.
We intentionally built in sections which would appeal to advertisers, such as the ’Tool of the Week’ or the ‘Hidden Gem’ spots.
I want people to open Geekout each week and feel like it’s a fun read with a sense of personality and humor, but jam-packed with useful links and insights readers can benefit from in their professional life.