The Inbox Graveyard Problem And How To Fix It

You know that amazing newsletter you spent so much time writing? The one that you were SO proud of and excited to send to your list?

You sent it, and maybe it had a high open rate, brought in some sales, or got a few replies from your subscribers at the time.

But now? It’s not doing anything for you.

It’s buried in your subscribers’ inboxes, suffocating under thousands of other emails.

Welcome to the inbox graveyard.

What is the Inbox Graveyard?

The inbox graveyard is where all your past email newsletters go to die after they’ve been sent to your list and served their initial purpose.

You wrote them, you sent them, and they got opened. Maybe some subscribers clicked through or replied.

But then… poof.

Now they’re just sitting there in inboxes, getting pushed down further every day, not getting opened again. And they’re completely undiscoverable to anyone who wasn’t on your email list when you originally sent them.

Why the Inbox Graveyard is a Problem

This is what your inbox graveyard looks like if you’ve been sending weekly newsletters for a year straight:

🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦🪦

That’s 52 pieces of content you poured your time and effort into that aren’t doing anything for your business. They’re not bringing in new traffic, and YOU can’t even reference or link back to them easily.

Meanwhile, someone who could genuinely benefit from that content is Googling the exact problem you solved in a newsletter three months ago.

But they’ll never find it. Because it’s not indexed by Google, it doesn’t exist anywhere accessible on the internet, and even if it were, it’s missing the keywords that people are actually searching for.

You already did the hard part. You came up with an idea. Then you wrote the thing, putting your unique spin on it and positioning it to provide to most value for your people. And you’re proud of it!

That problem is that content is now dead because no one can find it, and you’re over here trying to come up with NEW ideas for NEW content.

But if your old newsletters connected with your subscribers once, they can connect with new people, too. They just can’t do that when they’re buried six feet under in the inbox graveyard.

How to Fix the Inbox Graveyard

Some people genuinely aren’t bothered by the fact that their old email newsletters “die” in the inbox, and that’s totally okay. It’s just kind of the nature of email marketing, so if you’re cool with it, no need to fix it.

But if you’ve read this far, I’m guessing it does bother you on some level.

Whether it’s because you’re overwhelmed with constantly trying to generate fresh ideas, or because you want new subscribers to be able to read your past stuff, or even just because you can’t imagine letting your precious newsletters go to rot after writing them – the inbox graveyard is fixable.

Here are two ways you can revive your old newsletter content so it lives beyond the inbox:

Turn your newsletters into blog posts

When you repurpose a newsletter into a blog post, you’re taking content that was only accessible to your subscribers at the time of sending and making it discoverable to anyone and everyone searching on Google.

But here’s the key: you can’t just copy and paste your old newsletter as-is onto your blog. That won’t get you results.

First, you need to figure out which newsletters would make good blog posts.

(Psssst: My Email Repurposing Audit scores your newsletters to determine the best candidates for repurposing if you’re not sure where to start.)

Then, you need to:

• Optimize for SEO by adding relevant keywords people are searching for.
• Expand with more context, examples, or sections so it’s more helpful to readers and fully solves their problem/answers their question.
• Reformat with proper heading structure and paragraph breaks for better skimmability.
• Remove broken links, personalization tags, and out-of-context references that people who aren’t on your email list won’t understand.
• Update the CTA so it’s relevant to what you currently do and drives people to your lead magnet or paid offers.

When you do this right, that amazing newsletter you wrote a year ago becomes an evergreen blog post that lives on your site FOREVER, grows your authority, and works in the background to attract new traffic.

Set up a newsletter archive

A newsletter archive is a place where all your past emails live online – either on your website or a platform like Substack.

Having one makes your past newsletters discoverable and shareable after you send them. If you don’t have the time or capacity for full repurposing, a newsletter archive is a great alternative that doesn’t require that much work to maintain.

This won’t give you the same SEO benefits as optimized blog posts, but it DOES make your newsletter content more accessible.

New subscribers can browse your old stuff. You can reference and link back to past newsletters. And people can read and sample your content before subscribing.

I honestly believe almost every online business owner should have a newsletter AND a newsletter archive.

→ RESOURCE: Email Newsletter Archives: Everything You Need To Know

You Can Bring Your Old Newsletters Back to Life

Your past newsletters don’t have to stay in the graveyard. They can continue working for your business – building your authority, cultivating your brand’s narrative, bringing in new subscribers, and even supporting and selling your offers.

Want help resurrecting your newsletters? They don’t call me the “Queen of Email CPR” for nothin’! Check out my content repurposing services or get in touch to chat about giving your emails new life.