Table of Content
- Who is this strategy for?
- Background
- The experiment
- Results
- How you can apply it to turn your Substack followers into subscribers
- Useful tips & Watch-outs
Today, I’ll share an easy-to-apply yet inspiring growth strategy that I’ve recently experimented with. We’ll go through how you can turn Substack followers into subscribers.
I’m a huge advocate of doing things that don’t scale. This is the way to capture high-quality subscribers and create an engaged audience.
Although I’ll focus on Substack followers, you can apply the same logic to turning your LinkedIn or X followers into subscribers.
This is to show that sometimes, we get blind to the opportunities just in front of us.
This is all about leveraging low-hanging fruits.
This is to show you that, sometimes, it’s simpler than you might think.
I’m also trying new strategies on LinkedIn and will write about them after seeing the results.
Ok, let’s dive in.
Who is this strategy for?
- Creators who are using Substack to send newsletters
- Creators who switched from Substack to another ESP but still keep the Substack webpage open
- Anyone who wants to get some inspiration about “smart outreach strategies” to grow a newsletter
Background
Since Substack launched the “Follow” feature, Substack writers have observed that there are people who follow them on Substack but don’t subscribe to their newsletters. I will call them “followers – not subscribers”.
From the pessimistic side, this is a problem because the main objective for a newsletter creator is always growing the email list.
On the other hand, these people follow certain creators because they are interested in either their content, a Substack Note, or the profile description.
Whatever the reason is, it should be easier to convert those followers into subscribers than any random people hanging out on Substack.
To test my hypotheses, I did a small experiment for you.
The Experiment
I normally use Beehiiv to send emails. However, when I switched from Substack to Beehiiv, I didn’t turn my Substack page off because the recommendations feature still works and brings subscribers. I use the “publish only to web” option and continue adding my recent articles to keep it updated for anyone visiting my Substack page.
So, I had 180 people who followed me on Substack but didn’t subscribe to Newsletter Circle.
To measure the conversion rate, I sent DMs on Substack to 100 of these 180 “followers—not subscribers” and I invited them to subscribe to Newsletter Circle.
Here is the message I sent:
“Hi [name], thank you so much for following me!
I’m also running a newsletter, called Newsletter Circle, to help newsletter creators start/level up their newsletter businesses. I share how successful newsletter creators built their publications from scratch through weekly interviews and insightful articles.
If you want to receive all those insights directly, you can subscribe using the below link.
Hope to see you on board!”
I added my Substack address to make it easier for them to subscribe if they use the Substack App. I can import them to my Beehiiv list easily.
I also used Toggl, which is a time-tracker tool, to see how much time it will take to finish sending DMs.
Results
In total, it took me 60 minutes to send DMs to 100 people.
In return, 12 out of 100 people subscribed to my newsletter. So, the conversion is 12%, which I believe is pretty good.
I didn’t send a follow-up message, which might also increase this rate.
Imagine, if you have 500 “followers – not subscribers”, you can get 60 subscribers in 5 hours. This is not something we all see every day.
I also believe that engagement will be higher among this group, which I will measure. So, it’s worth giving it a try.
How you can apply
1. Assess the potential
Go to your Substack dashboard to calculate how many “followers – not subscribers” you have.
2. Find “followers – not subscribers”
Go to your profile and click “See followers”. In the new page, if you click “Followers” again, you’ll reach the list of “followers – not subscribers”.
3. Send DMs one by one
Prepare a message that is ready to send in a separate place. Then, DM each “followers – not subscriber” separately by changing the name in the intro. This is critical for personalization.
4. Use a time-tracker tool
Measure how much time you spend sending messages. Everyone has a different pace; see yours.
5. Track the results
After one week,look at the number of subscribers coming from outreaches and calculate your conversion rate. Take the time you invest into consideration. In the end, it’s totally up to you to continue investing time in this strategy.
Useful Tips & Watch-outs
1. Iterate
You might experiment with the message copy to increase the conversion. Don’t make a conclusion too early.
2. Be quick
Send messages to new followers within the same week they follow you. The earlier you message, the easier it is for them to remember you and the higher the conversion.
3. Dedicate a regular time
This might be a task leading to distraction. So, choose a certain day & time dedicated to send DMs to new followers and reply to the responses you get.
4. Update your Substack
If you’re an ex-Substack user, make sure that your Substack page is updated with your recent posts before starting DMs. People will probably check your newsletter page before subscribing. Don’t make them think that you’re not an active writer.
