How International Intrigue grew 750% last year

Author

Brad Wolverton
May 21, 2024

👋🏻 Welcome to Newsletter Examples, where I highlight the formats, strategies, and best practices of leading newsletters to help you improve your newsletter.

Today, I examine how International Intrigue grew 750% last year through 🔥 meme ads. Total examples: 4 ✅ + 1 ❌. Total reading time: 3 minutes.

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Example 1: Build affinity ✅

I’m no expert on international news, but I read International Intrigue because they make it entertaining and relatable.

Example 2: Work with meme accounts ✅

I heard Aine Stapleton, head of partnerships at International Intrigue, speak at The Newsletter Conference, where she mentioned her newsletter grew 750% last year. I wanted to know more about that, so I called her up. She shared 3 amazing facts:

  1. At the start of 2023, International Intrigue had 8.5k subscribers; by the end of the year, they had 82k.

  2. In the past year, they’ve gotten over 12k new subscribers from deals they’ve done with Instagram meme accounts.

  3. The average open rate across those 12k subscribers? 57%.

Example 3: Show behind the curtain ✅ + ❌

Example 4: Globe trot ✅

International Intrigue appeals to the traveler in me, taking me around the world in interesting ways 🌐…

Hope you enjoyed this week’s examples. I’ll be back next week with a new set!

☮️ -Brad

P.S. Want more insights from Aine? Reply to this email with “meme queen” and I’ll send you my notes from our convo, filled with way more deets than I could fit in this email!

P.S.S. Last week I invited you to share your 3 favorite newsletters (including your own!). I got some bangers—but I’m not sharing until more people fill out this 30-second survey. Who doesn’t want a free mention of their newsletter in front of 1,355 of the world’s best newsletter makers?

Trivia answer: Mauritania.

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