Best Newsletters for Marketers 2021
6 min readSome think we’ve already reached peak newsletter, but signing up for a few more couldn’t possibly hurt, right? Especially if they help you save time or do your job better.
So we rounded up some of the best newsletters that marketers should consider subscribing to right now — whether they want to get inspired, stay on top of industry news or gain actionable insights from colleagues in the trenches.
The best part? All of them are free (or have a free version, at least).
This list is by no means exhaustive — and not every entry is applicable to every kind of marketer — but it should offer a solid starting point.
2PM
About: 2PM’s newsletter provides curation, summary and analysis of the most important stories at the intersection of media and commerce. It also includes original essays and data insights by Web Smith, an investor and advisor of several companies.
Audience: 2PM says it’s for “deep generalists and the intellectually curious.” Startup founders (especially those in e-commerce), brand marketers and brand strategists would like it.
Frequency: Once a week for regular subscribers, three times a week for paying members.
Sample: No. 390: Enter MrBeast
The B2B Bite
About: Jason Bradwell is on a mission to change the way people think about B2B marketing. It doesn’t have to be boring or buttoned-up, declares his newsletter’s about page. He proves it by curating and breaking down a few stories each week meant to inspire B2B marketers.
Audience: B2B marketers and startup leaders.
Frequency: Weekly.
Sample: Why Every B2B Org Should Be Selling T-Shirts
BrandStreet
About: If you’re trying to grow your brand into a household name, BrandStreet offers a community to guide you on that path. Readers can subscribe to its weekly email, which rounds up several items “to help you build smarter and better,” along with its two additional newsletters, one from each of its co-founders, communications veterans Ari Lewis and Chris Berry.
Audience: Anyone building a brand through earned media, content marketing and social media.
Frequency: Weekly.
Sample: The articles on BrandStreet’s site provide a taste of its point of view.
The Brief
About: The Brief provides a quick-to-read digest of the day’s most essential stories about digital marketing, strategy and social media. It’s written by Junction, a digital strategy agency, and hits inboxes every Monday to help readers start their weeks up to date with industry news.
Audience: Marketers who want to keep up with news and trends.
Frequency: Weekly.
Sample: Subscribe to read.
Chantelle’s Marketing Newsletter
About: Written by marketing strategist Chantelle Marcelle, this newsletter spotlights emerging ideas and trends, curates interesting marketing articles and surfaces research and case studies that marketers should be paying attention to.
Audience: Brand marketers.
Frequency: Weekly.
Sample: Subscribe to read.
The Daily Carnage
About: If you want to start each morning with a quick read that curates a handful of the biggest marketing headlines of the day, you’ll want to check out The Daily Carnage. It also includes a shot of analysis and fun stuff, like a vintage ad and a quote of the day.
Audience: Marketing leaders, people who open too many browser tabs.
Frequency: Daily.
Sample: One Condiment to Rule Them All
First 1000
About: This one’s niche. Each issue explains how a different tech startup got its first thousand customers, providing a quick history lesson on companies like Snapchat, Doordash and Etsy, and the various marketing strategies they employed to grow into success stories. Much more fun than Wikipedia.
Audience: Startup founders, growth marketers, brand builders.
Frequency: Weekly.
Sample: Spotify
Geekout
About: Whether you run your company’s social media strategy or just want to keep up with the latest Facebook or Twitter news, Geekout provides a weekly digest to keep you in the know. It’s written by Matt Navara, a social media strategist, and he provides original, succinct analysis in every issue.
Audience: Social media marketers.
Frequency: Weekly.
Sample: TikTok Needs to Stop Doing This
The Growth Newsletter by Demand Curve
About: This newsletter curates marketing insights and growth tactics from members of the Demand Curve community, which is made up of growth marketers and startup founders. Each issue is bite-sized, actionable and features new voices from people in the trenches.
Audience: Startup founders and growth marketers.
Frequency: Twice a month.
Sample: The Growth Newsletter — #010
Lenny’s Newsletter
About: Lenny Rachitsky, previously a growth product manager at Airbnb, writes a weekly advice column for leaders in tech. He addresses reader questions and shares his perspective on topics like growth, product and people management.
Audience: Growth marketers, product managers, startup founders.
Frequency: Weekly (paid) or monthly (free).
Sample: How to Kickstart and Scale a Marketplace Business
Market Mix
About: If you’re a current — or aspiring — marketer in the cryptocurrency space, Market Mix is aimed squarely at you. Brad Michelson’s newsletter tackles subjects such as brand building, performance marketing and influencer strategy — all written by someone who’s helped build fintech and crypto brands.
Audience: Marketers in crypto and fintech.
Frequency: Weekly.
Sample: Referrals Are the Ultimate Growth Hack for Crypto Marketers
Marketing Brew
About: Written with the trademark smirk of its parent newsletter, Morning Brew, this thrice-weekly newsletter highlights the biggest news items in the advertising and marketing world — along with fly-by commentary and big-picture context — to help busy marketers stay oriented in a fast-moving industry.
Audience: Marketing and advertising professionals, especially those who are Millennials or Gen Z.
Frequency: Three times a week.
Sample: The Driest January
The Marketing Mind Meld
About: Marketing is really all about tapping into human psychology, which is why The Marketing Mind Meld explores the relationship between human behavior and successful marketing. Written by growth marketer Kushaan Shah, the newsletter answers questions like what makes memes sticky, and how scents can influence what we buy.
Audience: Brand marketers, curious people.
Frequency: About every week or so.
Sample: #21: What Can Pollination Teach Us About Branding?
Raisin Bread
About: This newsletter, “baked” by freelance marketer network MarketerHire, curates relevant news, discusses up-and-coming trends and features exclusive Q&As and interviews with some of marketing’s top leaders, such as Cameo’s Greg Caplan and ShipBob’s Casey Armstrong.
Audience: Brand marketers.
Frequency: Weekly.
Sample: Mafia Marketing
#SEOFOMO
About: Whether you’re a newcomer to SEO or a veteran who likes to keep up with ever-evolving best practices, this newsletter offers resources and tools designed to help build out your skills. It also includes an SEO job board if you’re looking for a change of scenery or trying to break into the industry.
Audience: SEOs and digital marketers.
Frequency: Weekly.
Sample: Subscribe to read.
The Sociology of Business
About: Written by executive strategist Ana Andjelic, the Sociology of Business is intended to help marketers see the big picture over time, rather than give them tips and tricks to start using today. Each issue explores new consumer trends and evolving tastes, and how brands can keep up and position themselves for success.
Audience: Brand strategists, culture observers.
Frequency: About three times a month.
Sample: The Taste Map
This Week in AdTech
About: Adtech is a notoriously confusing and rapidly changing industry. This newsletter, from Canadian adtech consultancy AdProfs, attempts to make it just a little bit easier to keep up. Each week, it rounds up and summarizes relevant articles.
Audience: The busy ad tech professional.
Frequency: Weekly.
Sample: Subscribe to read.
Total Annarchy
About: This newsletter, written by Ann Handley of MarketingProfs, is written in the style of an old-fashioned, snail-mail letter: It’s personal, voicey and reads like it’s actually addressed to you. It’s also full of marketing and writing insights from someone with decades of experience.
Audience: Brand storytellers and copywriters.
Frequency: Every other week.
Sample: Brand Storytelling Template; My 2 Proven Ways to Increase Open, Click Rates
VeryGoodCopy
About: Leave it to a copywriting newsletter to be extremely compact yet still effective enough that you learn something every time you read it. VeryGoodCopy provides short articles dispensing nuggets of copywriting wisdom and occasional interviews with successful marketers and writers.
Audience: Copywriters and content marketers.
Frequency: Weekly.
Sample: Subscribe to read.
