In the e-newsletter world, a subscriber list of 10,000 – 20,000 readers is pretty impressive. A few publishers, such as Larry Chase, have over 40,000 subscribers. So I was amazed when I learned Red Hat boasts a subscriber list of 800,000 people for its e-newsletter, “Under the Brim” (UTB).
Red Hat, for those of you unfamiliar with the open source movement, is the leading provider of Linux software and open source technology. Linux is an operating system (OS), just as Windows is — except its code is “open” to change by programmers and developers.
One would think a newsletter written for the company’s target audience, IT folk, developers, and large companies such as Amazon.com, would be dry, boring, and technical. Indeed, many such newsletters are.
But Red Hat’s “Under the Brim” made me sit up and take notice. Written in a lighthearted, self-deprecating voice, the newsletter features the typical topics you’d find in a newsletter written for IT professionals, with one major difference.
It’s written in plain English. Says Chris Grams, Red Hat Marketing Communications Manager, “This was a conscious decision on our part. Even though our audience is technical, they’re real people. I don’t like reading marketing-ese or technical lingo, so why would our subscribers?”
He went on to add, “Developers and technology enthusiasts make up the core of the open source movement. We depend on them for new source code and applications. Plus, they’re our future customers. And of course, we have to write to our enterprise customers as well. We try to maintain a balance between levity and staying on message.”
The proof, as they say, is in the pudding. “Your task: In 25 words or less, tell us what has been your greatest open source triumph. Bonus points if you can do it in one grammatically correct sentence using all 25 words. The winner will receive a copy of Red Hat Linux 9 Professional.” — UTB Contest 43, April 2003 “Under the Brim” started life four years ago as a print newsletter that went out to Red Hat partners, about 200 in all. When Grams took the job at Red Hat, they had 30,000 email addresses but weren’t doing anything with the data. Grams turned the print newsletter into an e-newsletter and asked people to opt in whenever they purchased anything from the Web site.
Each issue features links to technical articles, sign-up forms for Webcasts, and information about new products and services.
The proof that Grams and his team are doing a good job comes not only from click-through rates, which are high at about 45%, but in the response the newsletter generates.
Monthly contests, reports Grams, can generate 500 or more responses. Sign-ups for Webcasts and training classes range from 200 – 800 each month. And Grams’s team is constantly getting positive feedback on the newsletter itself.
But what the newsletter has really achieved is true one-to-one communication.
For years we’ve all read how the Web was going to change the way we communicate with each other. But for many companies, with tired marketing language and e-newsletters that push products and services without building customer relationships, it’s still business as usual.
“The choice is simple: Pick Red Hat Linux if you want to try Linux at home. But when deploying Linux servers in your organization, choose Red Hat Linux Advanced Server.” –UTB, January 2003 When asked if he had any advice for companies who may be hesitant to be more “casual” in their B-to-B newsletters and Web content, Grams said, “Of course, UTB’s personality is brand-driven. “Open source was founded on freedom and freedom is one of our corporate values. So not all companies can be as free as Red Hat. But I’ll add this: If no one is reading your marketing copy, you’re not selling any products. Taken from that perspective, how can you afford not to try something different?”
Thank you, Chris, for your time on this article. To learn more about Red Hat and to subscribe to their newsletter, go to http://www.redhat.com.
Click here to sign up for FREE B2B newsletters from Murdok!
Dianna Huff specializes in results-oriented B-to-B marketing writing.
For your free “Top Ten Marketing Writing Mistakes” list and a complimentary
subscription to Dianna’s monthly e-newsletter, “The MarCom Writer,”
go to http://www.dhcommunications.com/resources.htm.
