I’m not going to lie, but I know certain things about you the reader, that my software allows me to see. Fully controlled by the compliance of the Popia Act, I can see who opens my newsletters, which pages you read, how long you stay on the page, and when you unsubscribe. That would mean you’re not reading this right now, and that’s fine. Unsubscribing can mean several things, none too sinister, and we don’t have time to dwell.
Wildly Sporadic
About 1,500 readers open the newsletter every single time we publish it, of which the publishing schedule is wildly sporadic, to say the least. This equates to about 20,000 page views monthly when we publish three weekly newsletters.
South Africa is the top reader country, followed by the USA and the UK. Germany is sixth, and Sweden is ninth.
The most significant referrals come from Facebook (St Francis Today), followed by Yahoo Search UK. ChatGPT is in third, followed by Instagram (St Francis Today).
The most popular stories are local stories. Consistently rated highly are the Client Care financial newsletters, What’s On At Supersper, Calibre Crime stats reports, Kouga Municipality announcements that affect St Francis Bay, and the Notes from the Editor series, especially the restaurant revues. In the same breath, the St Francis Property Owners newsletters and updates are some of the most-read articles on St Francis Today.
Sharks and Zuma but no Trump
In general news, articles about sharks usually jump the stats, as does anything related to the municipality wanting to charge for domestic solar systems or having some control or licensing system on domestic solar set-ups. People still like to read about Zuma, although Trump’s articles are not overly popular. Underneath it all, however, the most popular page is the Puzzle page, with the jigsaw the most popular sub-hit.
The most popular day is Tuesday, but this is because we don’t post on Monday. However, content-rich days often beat Tuesdays for page views. 58% of people currently access the page via mobile, with 38% on laptops and the rest on tablets.
After a recent surge in popularity last week, we noticed that 76% of readers were new. This number is fluid, but in the previous 30 days, there has been a weird surge of popularity that might or might not be attributed to the global recalibration of Apple MPP policies (Mail Privacy Protection).
Sales Pitch
Interestingly, community-based newsletters are trending and striving globally as they cut away the noise of social media ad pushing, offer valid local content, and tend to gather readers’ loyalty.
What is good for St Francis Today is that studies consistently show that email marketing still way outperforms social media accounts, according to Forbes. It is estimated by Forbes that, in 2024, 81% of US companies were using or engaging with external newsletters as part of their marketing strategy.
To advertise – craig@truthcollective.co.za
So, thanks to all of you who read the St Francis Today newsletter so regularly.
Feel free to comment.
The Editor
Further reading: Shark Sightings, Shark Warnings, Shark Dramas – Notes From The Editor
Clearly Round The Bend – Notes From The Editor
I said what about breakfast at Nevermind? – Notes From The Editor
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