Yesterday, I asked for feedback on how people read my blog, and some thoughts on a possible newsletter, and their preferences. Well, the results are now in, so I thought I'd share them here.
The first question was to find out some primary information on how people primarily consume my blog, to provide a foundation for further questions.
Results
114 responses.
- RSS - 61%
- Social Media Links - 25%
- Website - 12%
- Other - 2%
It's clear to see RSS being the clear winner here, which did surprise me a bit, to be honest. I thought it would be a bit more even.
The next was asking for preferences on a method of delivery**.**
Results
85 responses.
- A blog post that’s also sent via email. - 47%
- No newsletter, just blog posts. - 45%
- Separate newsletter on a dedicated platform. - 6%
- A members-only blog post and free email. - 2%
I suppose this was the main question I needed to ask. How would people want a newsletter, and I guess if they wanted a newsletter? The answer here seems to be that all content should be on the blog, and the idea of separating a newsletter or making it members-only wasn't popular at all.
Finally, I wanted to ask about what content people would want in a newsletter.
Results
72 responses.
- An essay that goes deep into a topic/situation. - 35%
- A collection of links, thoughts, etc. - 28%
- One written article per month. - 24%
- Personal updates, current affairs, opinions, etc. - 14%
At first glance, this seems quite even, but I think there's a potential to group together a single article per month and a deep dive/essay per month. Combined, it's seemingly 59% of people that would prefer a single piece of original writing, rather than a collection of links or smaller thoughts. I think this matches what I would prefer to write as well.
Firstly, I was pleasantly surprised with the number of responses and feedback I received from these questions. I think that was mainly because of the kind people on Mastodon that boosted my posts.
Regarding the results, I think overall it shows that the people that read my writing, tend to do so via RSS. And while there are somewhat mixed thoughts on the form a newsletter could take, what I took away from this was that the majority of people would want any content also delivered via the blog/RSS feed as well.
This makes me think that firstly, people seem to be happy with the blog as it is, which is honestly great news. But it also shows me that the people that read my writing, don't want me to start posting content either elsewhere, or via a medium that excludes my blog.
While I don't want to blindly follow the results, it does appear that the best method for the current readers is that any content that forms part of a newsletter is available to read on the blog, regardless of the content.
What I now need to think about, is the type of content that I would like to write about in a newsletter, and how that would fit people's preferences. Along with whether this would be a regular newsletter where the issues are also available on the blog, or simply an option where all blog posts are available to be delivered via email. Similar to how the content is available via RSS.
Anyway, a few things for me to ponder.