Challenge
Source North America, a stocking distributor of equipment, parts and materials for gas stations, convenience stores and petroleum and chemical handling facilities, wanted to create a newsletter that would fulfill two critical needs:
- Keep their customers engaged and informed about important fueling topics
- Establish their brand as a preeminent thought leader in the world of retail and fleet
fueling
Solution
Working collaboratively with Source’s VP of Marketing, DeanHouston’s dedicated content writers, designers and web development team came together to launch a bi-monthly newsletter: SourceLine. To distinguish the newsletter from other fueling industry newsletters, our content strategy focused firmly on industry trends – not product plugs or sales promotions.
Results
Since its inaugural issue, SourceLine has experienced significant growth on a number of fronts. The newsletter can be downloaded and viewed as a simple PDF or digitally on the Source website.
“We opted to create the newsletter as a PDF to address a large cross-section of our audience,” said Joe O’Brien, Vice President of Marketing at Source North America. “For DeanHouston to take that and simultaneously make it a digital newsletter – it’s amazing how seamless the whole thing is. We could not do this without them and their expertise.”
Email open rates have more than tripled since the newsletter’s early days – from 11% at one point to a consistent 36.6% average over the last two years. With each new issue, Source continues to expand its list of subscribers and raise its profile on a global stage.
“To this day, it stuns me how many random people even around the world find Ace Tank’s free chart builder and use it because we put an announcement about it in our newsletter,” O’Brien added.
SourceLine takes the “leader” aspect of “thought leadership” very seriously, according to Senior
DH+ Content Marketing Writer Nikki Roller. “A lot of times SourceLine will feature a topic that the industry trade publications haven’t covered yet,” Roller said. “That just goes to show Source really has their finger on the pulse of the industry.”
SourceLine articles are also cross-promoted on social media to increase Source’s following and reach. Additionally, building a library of useful, SEO-friendly content on the website has made Source a trusted reference on relevant topics for the industry – such as regulatory issues and
funding opportunities.
Another benefit of Source’s Newsletter is the opportunity it’s provided O’Brien. Today he appears as a regular guest columnist in Fuels Market News as a trusted expert weighing in on a wide range of subjects from EV adoption and E-fuels to the incentives fueling ethanol expansion.
“We want people to think of Source and go, ‘They know what they’re doing” O’Brien said. “If
you can make the general customer base in your industry associate you with someone that can give them an answer, to me that is invaluable.”