A robust email list could be an ecommerce business’s best investment. Depending on the survey, email marketing returns as much as $40 for every $1 invested in 2024. The challenge is acquiring and retaining subscribers.

Fortunately, a simple change in perspective can unlock growth.

Many merchants offer a discount — typically 10 to 15% — to encourage signups but then engage subscribers solely with more deals and offers. The merchants train subscribers to buy only when items are on sale.

What would happen if those merchants — retailers, wholesalers, direct-to-consumer brands — approached email marketing like social media?

Content Marketing

Editorial emails are a content marketing tactic for attracting, engaging, and retaining customers. Including tips, instructions, and recommendations expands email from promotional to informative, giving prospects new reasons to subscribe, engage, and buy.

The process is similar to social media marketing and goes something like this:

• Create a compelling and product-relevant editorial newsletter.
• Attract subscribers.
• Include products in each newsletter.
• Optimize for sales.

Content

Step one is to create compelling content related to the products your business sells.

Take Masterbuilt as an example. The company’s products are grills and smokers. Its content and social media marketing focus on recipes — the product and the content work together.

Masterbuild would require little additional effort to produce a grilling newsletter. It could bundle several of its recipes into a weekly round-up.

The approach is a proven winner. Consider these five recipe newsletters and their reported email subscriber counts in March 2024.

Subscribers

The next step is to attract subscribers. Social media algorithms show posts to like-minded users who might follow your business.

But many social media marketers also boost those posts via advertising. Something similar exists for editorial newsletters. Let’s consider four subscriber growth drivers.

Organic recommendations. Substack, which blends editorial newsletters with social media features, was among the first to offer organic recommendations. When someone subscribes to an editorial newsletter, the platform suggests others.

For example, “The Real Heroes of Ecommerce” is a newsletter on Substack from marketer Jason Shepherd. Subscribing to that newsletter produces Shepard’s recommendation of “The Human Voice.”

Paid recommendations. Newsletter publishers can acquire subscribers for about $3 each via Sparkloop, ReferralHero, and others. Recommendations are available only for editorial newsletters, not marketing.

Paid growth. Several newsletter growth businesses have emerged. These agencies — Email Crush, Paperboy Studios, GrowthLetter — place ads in various channels to attract subscribers.

Blog and forms. Let’s not forget your company’s blog and web forms. Double down on promoting newsletters.

Include Products

An editorial email must be worth reading. Don’t skimp on this part. And don’t forget to include products, as follows.

Treat products like sponsors. Editorial newsletters frequently have sponsors. No rule prevents a sponsor from being a company’s own offerings.

Make it a recommendation. Many editorial newsletters recommend products after the main content. Think of these as text ads for your products.

Treat them as editorial. Masterbuilt could publish a weekly editorial newsletter featuring three recipes, an interview with a barbeque pro, and a tip for using the company’s “Autoignite” system. This mention could push a subscriber to place an order.

In each example, set up tracking to attribute sales.

Optimize for Sales

The last step is to optimize the editorial newsletter to produce the most revenue.

• Measure the newsletter’s sales performance.
• Segment subscribers to the products they are likely to purchase.
• Monitor subscriber sources. Focus on folks who subscribed via an organic recommendation if they produce the most sales.

In this week’s newsletter, read about how nonfungible token (NFT) trading volume neared $1 billion in November, and check out new NFT releases from former United States President Donald Trump, FIFA and heavy metal band Megadeth. In other news, find out why NFT platform Enjin transferred 200 million NFTs from Ethereum to its own blockchain. And don’t forget this week’s Nifty News featuring Funko and Disney’s NFTs. 

NFT trading volume nears $1 billion as markets turn bullish: Report

NFTs might be making a comeback as their trading volume almost reached $1 billion in November. According to data tracking site DappRadar, NFT trading volume shifted last month, surging by 125%. This shows that there’s been a shift in user behavior around NFTs. 

In addition, last month also showed a 114% increase in the average value of NFT transactions. The metric showed the average value of NFT transactions went up from $126 to $270.

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Former U.S. President Donald Trump launches “MugShot”-themed NFT drop

Former U.S. President Donald Trump is launching another NFT drop called MugShot. The collection will have a theme focusing on the former president’s ongoing criminal indictments. 

Users who want to acquire the NFTs can use their credit cards or Wrapped Ether (wETH). However, even if collectors purchase using crypto, they are required to provide their Know Your Customer information. 

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Thrash-metal band Megadeth launches NFT collection and metaverse community

American thrash-metal band Megadeth recently announced that it is releasing an NFT collection that would give fans exclusive access to various experiences with the legendary band, both physical and in the metaverse. 

The band announced the drop on X (formerly Twitter) and said it would feature its digital mascot, Vic Rattlehead. Megadeth also revealed that the collection will have 5,000 pieces. 

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FIFA launches NFT collection amid 2023 Club World Cup

The governing body of international football tournaments, Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), will launch an NFT collection ahead of the 2023 Club World Cup in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 

According to FIFA, the collection will feature 100 NFTs, allowing holders to secure their FIFA World Cup 2026 final tickets. In December, 900 other digital collectibles will be issued on the Polygon blockchain and OpenSea. 

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Enjin migrates over 200 million NFTs from Ethereum to its blockchain

Enjin has migrated 200 million NFTs from Ethereum to its mainnet, the Enjin Blockchain. The platform sent over 118 million NFTs in Ethereum and 101 NFTs hosted in an Ethereum sidechain to the Enjin Blockchain. 

Avoiding large amounts of gas fees on Ethereum, the platform took a snapshot and allowed its users to claim their NFTs within their wallets instead of requiring them to burn the ETH-based NFTs. 

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Nifty News: Funko’s Disney NFTs, Sotheby’s auction Bitcoin Ordinals project, and more

Toy manufacturer Funko collaborated with Disney to release NFTs that turn its popular Funko Pop! figurines into digital tokens within the WAX blockchain. Meanwhile, Solana and Bitcoin have been making strides in terms of sales volume, bringing competition to the industry dominated solely by the Ethereum network. 

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Thanks for reading this digest of the week’s most notable developments in the NFT space. Come again next Wednesday for more reports and insights into this actively evolving space.

In this week’s newsletter, read about how Michael Jackson’s first recording is coming to the blockchain and why the nonfungible token (NFT) lending protocol ParaSpace was rebranded to Parallel Finance. Check out how the Rarible ecosystem is furthering its commitment to royalty enforcement, and find out what executives working in the gaming industry think about the future of blockchain gaming in 2024. 

Michael Jackson’s first-ever studio demo to be released on blockchain

An NFT of a track titled “Big Boy (One-Derful Version),” by Michael Jackson, will hit the blockchain through the music platform Anotherblock. The track is the first-ever studio recording of a young Michael Jackson. 

The track was recorded in 1967 when an eight-year-old Michael Jackson recorded his inaugural studio session at One-Derful in Chicago with his brothers. Anotherblock CEO and co-founder Michel Traore told Cointelegraph that dropping the track on-chain will elevate the song beyond being a commodity. 

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ParaSpace to continue NFT lending as it rebrands to Parallel Finance

NFT lending protocol ParaSpace will rebrand into Parallel Finance, focusing more on decentralized finance and NFT lending. Parallel Finance CEO and founder Yubo Ruan told Cointelegraph their beliefs that despite the market downturns, they believe that NFT margin lending remains viable.  

Ruan added that NFT lending serves a “niche yet growing sector of collectors” looking to leverage their investments.

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Rarible’s RARI Foundation taps Arbitrum for royalty-embedded EVM chain

NFT marketplace Rarible’s nonprofit arm, the RARI Foundation, released a testnet for an Ethereum Virtual Machine-compatible blockchain called RARI Chain. According to an announcement, the blockchain will have royalties embedded into its nodes, further solidifying the Rarible ecosystem’s commitment to royalty enforcement.

RARI Foundation executive Jana Bertram said in a statement that it’s necessary to provide creators with tools and environments that contribute to their success. “Our commitment is embedded in preventing the disintermediation of creators from the Web3 growth,” Bertram said.

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Web3 gaming trends in 2024: Execs weigh in on blockchain gaming future

As blockchain gaming continues its rise into the mainstream, executives working in the gaming industry weighed in on potential trends in 2024. Henry Chang, the CEO of the game development company Wemade, said that as developers become more confident, there will be more complex use of blockchain elements within in-game mechanics and gameplay.

Meanwhile, Bartosz Skwarczek, the founder and CEO of G2A Capital Group, believes that there needs to be a true Triple A-rated Web3 game that will act as a catalyst to further the growth of blockchain gaming in 2024.

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Thanks for reading this digest of the week’s most notable developments in the NFT space. Come again next Wednesday for more reports and insights into this actively evolving space.

In this week’s newsletter, read about footballer Cristiano Ronaldo facing a lawsuit after promoting nonfungible tokens (NFTs) tied to crypto exchange Binance, and find out how an NFT collector thwarted a hacking attempt by a person impersonating a journalist. In other news, Azuki DAO is rebranding to Bean, game developer Square Enix announces an NFT collection, and one user claimed tokens worth $11 million in the recent Blur airdrop. 

Cristiano Ronaldo sued for promoting Binance, unregistered securities

Football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo faces a class-action lawsuit for allegedly participating in the sale of unregistered securities in partnership with crypto exchange Binance. The famous football player entered a multiyear partnership with the exchange to promote NFT collections tied to Binance’s NFT-focused arm.  

The legal complaint argued that Ronaldo encouraged his millions of followers to invest using Binance and contributed to its growth. The plaintiffs also allege that Ronaldo’s NFT sales successfully promoted the exchange, leading to a 500% increase in searches after the first sale.

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Asked to get a banana, a BAYC owner narrowly avoids a fake Forbes scam

Pseudonymous NFT trader “Crumz” avoided a scam that could have stolen NFTs from his stash. According to the trader, a person impersonating a Forbes journalist asked for an interview about the Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) collection. 

During the interview, the scammer asked Crumz to click a button to allow them to record the interview and tried to distract him by asking him to say something resembling his BAYC NFT. The scammers took control of his screen, but Crumz thwarted the hacking attempt before he lost anything.

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Azuki DAO rebrands to “Bean” as it drops lawsuit against founder

Azuki DAO, an unofficial decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) made for the NFT collection of the same name, announced it is rebranding to “Bean.” The DAO is also dropping its proposed lawsuit against Zagabond, the founder of Azuki. 

According to Azuki developers, the DAO will become a memecoin project and join the ecosystem of Blast, an Ethereum layer-2 platform. The developers also claimed that Bean has already secured a $10 million investment for its development and acceleration.

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Square Enix announces auction dates for Symbiogenesis NFTs

Square Enix, the developer of popular game franchises like Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts, has started the auction of its Symbiogenesis NFTs. A social media announcement highlighted that the first batch’s schedule is from Nov. 27–28, while a second batch will go out from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4. There will also be a third batch of NFTs to hit the auctions on Dec. 2–3. 

Symbiogenesis is a blockchain game that Square Enix is currently developing. The game will feature Web3 elements such as Ethereum-based NFTs.

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User claims $11 million in Blur token rewards at NFT marketplace’s season 2 airdrop

A user participating in the recent airdrop of the NFT marketplace Blur has claimed tokens worth around $11 million. A wallet with the ENS tag “hanwe.eth” claimed over 22 million Blur tokens in the NFT platform’s season two airdrop. The owner of the address celebrated on social media and posted their rewards for everyone to see.  

While some seemed happy with the results, NFT whale Jeffrey Hwang cursed at Blur after the airdrop, seemingly unhappy with the rewards. Hwang is known to have attempted what some consider the largest NFT dump, which aimed to generate more profits through the airdrop.

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Thanks for reading this digest of the week’s most notable developments in the NFT space. Come again next Wednesday for more reports and insights into this actively evolving space.

In this week’s newsletter, read about the creator of a Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) knock-off pleading guilty to fraud charges, check out how OpenSea’s non-fungible token (NFT) users received a massive phishing email campaign, and how Bitcoin transaction fees flipped Ethereum network fees as the hype for Ordinals resurfaced. In other news, game distributor G2A has launched a gaming-focused NFT marketplace. 

Creator of Mutant Ape ripoff NFTs pleads guilty to $3 million fraud scheme

Aurelien Michel, the creator of the Mutant Ape Planet NFT collection, which copies the popular MAYC collection by Yuga Labs, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in a New York federal court. Michel admitted to defrauding investors of $3 million and performing a rug pull.

The team behind the MAYC knock-off falsely promised rewards and benefits to their investors and intentionally failed to deliver on their promises. They instead diverted the proceeds and used them for personal gain. Michel admitted to the rug pull through social media and now faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison.

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OpenSea NFT users report massive email phishing campaign

Users of NFT marketplace OpenSea have reportedly received emails containing malicious links from attackers pretending to be OpenSea. Community members took to social media, reporting that they received phishing attempts.

Meanwhile, OpenSea assured its users through a post on X (formerly Twitter) that there was no hack. However, a developer responded that while there may not be a vulnerability through the company’s smart contracts, the developer received a phishing email, suggesting that “dev contacts have been exfiltrated from OpenSea.”

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Bitcoin transaction fees flip Ethereum’s as Ordinals hype returns

The average daily transaction fee for the Bitcoin network surpassed Ethereum as the market showed a renewed appetite for Bitcoin Ordinals, a tool for creating NFT-like assets and BRC-20 tokens. On Nov. 20, Bitcoin’s average daily fee reached $10.34, while Ethereum stood at an average of $8.43.

Since Oct. 24, the community has created over six million Bitcoin Ordinals assets, which led to around $30 million in BTC fees being redistributed to the network.

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Game distributor G2A opens gaming-focused NFT marketplace

Digital game distributor G2A launched an NFT marketplace focused on Web3 games. In a press release, the company highlighted that it aims to expand its offerings by diving into Web3.

According to G2A Capital Group CEO Bartosz Skwarczek, the company has been following the development of Web3 gaming since Cryptokitties. Skwarczek said that players are familiar with blockchain gaming, and many are already involved.

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Thanks for reading this digest of the week’s most notable developments in the NFT space. Come again next Wednesday for more reports and insights into this actively evolving space.

In this week’s newsletter, check out Disney’s plans to release a nonfungible token (NFT) platform by the end of 2023 and find out why NFT sales volumes will likely continue their upward trend in the coming months. Read about China’s stance on NFT theft and why the CEO of Roblox “dreams” of interoperability. In other news, find out what caused eye-related complaints at the recent ApeFest event in Hong Kong. 

Disney launches NFT platform with Dapper Labs

Disney has partnered with NFT company Dapper Labs to launch a digital collectible platform called Disney Pinnacle. Using the platform, Disney will tokenize various characters from the Disney franchise, Pixar and Star Wars as digital collectibles.

Fans can trade and collect digital pins once the NFT platform is fully released on the Apple App Store, Google Play Store and for web browsers by the end of 2023.

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NFT sales volume upward trend to continue, industry execs say

Following a recent consistent upward trend in NFT sales volume, Cointelegraph reached out to various professionals working in the industry to get their thoughts on the recent rise in sales. Jonathan Perkins, the co-founder of NFT marketplace SuperRare, said the trend will likely continue for the next six months. The executive believes the bear market is over, and things are finally turning around.

Meanwhile, NFT platform Enjin’s chief financial officer, Oscar Franklin Tan, made similar comments and argued that NFTs have already been established as a unique class of digital assets separate from crypto.

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China declares stealing digital collections like NFTs liable for criminal theft sentence

In a statement published on Nov. 10, the Chinese government declared that those who steal digital collectibles like NFTs would be liable to face theft sentences. According to the announcement, stealing a digital collection intrudes upon the system, which means it also carries out the crime of illegally obtaining computer data and theft.

While China has banned many crypto-related activities, various parties have expressed interest in diving into the NFT space.

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Roblox CEO “dreams” of in-game cross-platform NFTs and digital objects

Roblox CEO David Baszucki has recently expressed his dream of being able to move NFTs and objects across multiple platforms. The executive highlighted that he believes in this idea of users being able to move their collections to various non-native platforms.

The Roblox executive also highlighted that various celebrities could sign up on Roblox and create and sell collectibles for charity if this dream was made into reality. According to the Roblox CEO, these collectibles could also potentially be sold in other marketplaces.

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Yuga Labs confirms UV lights likely cause of eye issues at ApeFest

Following complaints from attendees of the recent ApeFest event held in Hong Kong, NFT company Yuga Labs said that UV-A emitting lights set up in the event were “likely the cause of the reported issues.”

According to the official account of Yuga Labs’ Bored Ape Yacht Club collection, it determined the cause after a joint investigation with the agency that produced ApeFest.

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Thanks for reading this digest of the week’s most notable developments in the NFT space. Come again next Wednesday for more reports and insights into this actively evolving space.

In this week’s newsletter, we dive into the dynamic world of nonfungible tokens (NFTs) and their impact on the digital landscape, as NFT sales have skyrocketed to an impressive $129 million in November, according to data from Nansen. Despite the surge in sales, OpenSea has laid off a substantial amount of staff as it prepares to launch version 2.0 of its platform, and Elon Musk unintentionally made a case for Bitcoin Ordinals. Meanwhile, an OpenSea investor has taken a 90% markdown on their stake in the platform, and don’t forget this week’s Nifty News featuring The Simpsons roasting NFTs.

NFT sales volume jumps to $129 million in November — Nansen data

NFTs have seen a large increase in weekly sales volume, with sales reaching 29,704 Ether (ETH), worth approximately $56 million, and later surging to 68,342 ETH (over $129 million) in a matter of weeks.

NFT marketplace Blur had the highest trading volume in the last 30 days, with 161,433 ETH, which is worth around $305 million, followed by OpenSea with 52,307 ETH, which is around $100 million. When it comes to NFT collections, Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) had the highest trading volume in the last 30 days, at 35,226 ETH, which is approximately $66.7 million.

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OpenSea lays off 50% of staff with severance in preparation for version 2.0 launch

OpenSea announced on Nov. 3 that it was laying off employees as part of its plan to launch OpenSea 2.0 with a smaller team. The company has previously laid off 20% of its employees in July 2022 due to the “crypto winter.” At that time, it had a staff of 230.

According to the company, around 50% of employees would be affected across all functions. Those affected by the mass layoff would receive four-month severance packages, accelerated equity vesting, and six months of continued healthcare and mental healthcare.

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Elon Musk slams NFTs but ends up arguing the case for Bitcoin Ordinals

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has unintentionally highlighted the case for Bitcoin Ordinals, also known as Bitcoin NFTs, during his recent appearance on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. The billionaire pointed out that NFTs are often not stored on the blockchain but are merely URLs linking to JPEG images.

Bitcoin supporters used Musk’s comments to argue in favor of Bitcoin Ordinals, which were launched in January by developer Casey Rodarmor. Bitcoin Ordinals are similar to NFTs but are stored on Bitcoin’s blockchain.

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OpenSea investor marks down stake in platform by 90%: Report

Coatue Management, a tech investment firm based in the United States, has marked down the value of its stake in the NFT platform OpenSea by 90%. The company reduced its investment from $120 million to $13 million, driving down OpenSea’s valuation to $1.4 billion.

Apart from OpenSea, another Web3 firm has also been marked down. Coatue Management also marked down its investment in a Web3 payment provider firm called MoonPay by 90%.

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Nifty News: The Simpsons roasts NFTs, Yuga Labs exec departs after antisemitic tweets, and more

The animated television series The Simpsons has shown an entire segment making fun of NFTs in its Halloween special. In a segment called “Wild Barts Can’t Be Token,” Homer mints Bart on the blockchain. The segment continued to poke fun at the industry and how the fear of missing out fuels the market.

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Thanks for reading this digest of the week’s most notable developments in the NFT space. Come again next Wednesday for more reports and insights into this actively evolving space.

Welcome to the latest edition of Cointelegraph’s Nifty Newsletter. Keep reading to stay up-to-date with the latest stories on nonfungible tokens. Every Wednesday, the Nifty Newsletter informs and inspires you to dig deeper into the latest NFT trends and insights.

 In this week’s newsletter, read about how holders of CryptoPunks nonfungible tokens (NFTs) were offered physical versions of their NFTs for 48 hours. Find out why some artists were ordered to pay Yuga Labs $1.6 million in a copyright lawsuit and why major German companies like Mercedes and Lufthansa are using NFTs. In other news, the CEO of Mintable says the United Kingdom risks regulating NFTs the wrong way.

CryptoPunks holders offered physical versions of their NFTs for 48 hours

Holders of CryptoPunks NFTs were offered the chance to obtain physical prints of their digital artworks via a partnership between the online art store Avant Arte and Yuga Labs, the owner of the CryptoPunks brand.

The sale lasted only 48 hours, with two physical versions of the CryptoPunks being offered. The first is called “Punk-On-Chain,” exclusively for the owners of the punks, and the second is called “10,000 On-Chain,” which is a print collection of all 10,000 CryptoPunks open to anyone.

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How major German firms like Mercedes and Lufthansa are using NFTs

Despite the ongoing slump in the NFT market, several German companies have included NFTs in their business strategy. The German postal service will release its first limited-edition collectible stamp on Nov. 2, 2023, combining NFTs and artificial intelligence.

German automotive company Mercedez-Benz launched its third NFT collection, The Era of Luxury, in September. Its digital collectibles were made to be digital reinterpretations of standout designs over its seven design eras.

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Ryder Ripps ordered to pay Yuga Labs $1.6 million in copyright lawsuit

NFT artists Ryder Ripps and Jeremy Cahen were ordered by a United States district court judge to pay Bored Ape Yacht Club creator Yuga Labs $1.57 million on account of disgorgement and damages, along with legal fees as an end to an ongoing “copycat” NFT lawsuit.

Yuga Labs claimed that Ripps and Cahen had violated copyright laws in creating copycats of its iconic Bored Ape Yacht Club NFT collectibles.

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U.K. risks regulating NFTs the wrong way, says Mintable CEO

The CEO of NFT platform Mintable, Zack Burks, told Cointelegraph in an interview that he believes the U.K.’s government is in danger of regulating NFTs in such a way that misrepresents the technology.

He claims a recent U.K. parliamentary report exaggerates NFTs’ role in copyright infringement and doesn’t recognize their worth more than just being volatile digital pictures.

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Thanks for reading this digest of the week’s most notable developments in the NFT space. Come again next Wednesday for more reports and insights into this actively evolving space.

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