Thank you Tim! I love how writers on Substack are so good about sharing their journeys, so I try to do the same. It’s a wonderful way to manage expectations, and I think that greater level of certainty over what’s to come motivates writers to commit to their Substack.
Thank you Hege! I agree, discovering the three stages of growth has been super motivating to me. With other platforms you are fumbling in the dark at best, trying to figure out how to grow. Here's, the path forward is much clearer. Thanks for reading and commenting!
Great analysis, Mack; thank you! I wish you to enter and exit the second phase as soon as possible so that you enjoy the third and wonder, "Is this possible?" P.S. I'm glad I contributed to your satisfaction! Enjoy a day!
That is a tremendous backstage view. “Substack algos are more favourable toward shared content that mentions Substack”— an interesting observation.
Did you arrive with the previous list, as you've been on the stack for two months and grew circa under 100 here? Maybe that contributes to your lower open rate.
Hi Jana. I’m not sure if Substack’s algos favor content about Substack, just an assumption. I imported a list of around 860 emails from Mailchimp at the end of May. That list had an open rate that fluctuated between 28-32%. Since coming to Substack, the open rate has gradually fallen from 28% down now to 26.5%. But Substack tells me @Neela 🌶️ has an open rate of 25%, when she has engaged with every issue. So that suggests to me that most of the subs I have from active Substack users are likely not viewing my issues via email, instead viewing it on the substack website or via the app.
"But according to Substack, her open rate is 25%. Because Substack is tracking open rate as the percentage of times she opens an email from Backstage Pass. Which is technically the correct way to track Open Rate in regards to newsletter" - I didn't know this, and yes I do read the email first :)
I love this breakdown (very helpful) and I especially appreciate your deliberate strategy in growing your newsletter. It helps me to get more serious here :(
Thank you @Neela 🌶️! I typically read issues on site versus via email, and main reason why is because if I want to Like or comment on the issue (as I do with yours), then the email will redirect me to to the site anyway, so I just come here to read it. I think Substack will eventually ditch open rate for ‘engagement rate’ or something similar.
I think it also depends about what type of newsletter you have. If it's on a niche industry like mine, I think it's a tough to grow 200 subscribers per month.
A followup on something I said in the post. I pointed out that I noticed my traffic from Substack jumped when I wrote my first month's recap post. My assumption is that Substack's algos were rewarding content written about Substack. Yesterday's traffic from Substack was the highest I've had so far, after I wrote a post about my progress on Substack. Today's traffic from Substack is so far looking up a bit over average numbers. As you can see from the graph I included in the post, I got 42 views from Substack on July 4th when I published my first month's recap.
Yesterday I got 60 views from Substack. Another theory, perhaps getting several Likes, comments and shares soon after publication triggers the algo to give the post a boost. This post had a lot of engagement within the first hour or so of publication. This is consistent with what other platforms do with content so its entirely possible.
Or it could all simply be organic and have nothing to do with the algo. I will keep testing and tracking, and see what I can learn. Thanks again to everyone for reading and sharing, I've seen others sharing their progress, just happy to return the favor and I hope it helps.
Ah, thanks Carlo, that’s interesting to hear. It seems like it would be easy for Substack to give us an engagement rate, then break down where subscribers are engaging with the newsletter, like via email or on substack. Maybe that’s in the works?
Thank you Tim! I love how writers on Substack are so good about sharing their journeys, so I try to do the same. It’s a wonderful way to manage expectations, and I think that greater level of certainty over what’s to come motivates writers to commit to their Substack.
That's some great going Mack - 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Thanks Mark, learned a lot, still a lot to go! Appreciate you reading and Liking.
Very useful and informative read Mack. Especially enjoyed the summary of the different phases and what to expect for each one. Motivating! ✨
Thank you Hege! I agree, discovering the three stages of growth has been super motivating to me. With other platforms you are fumbling in the dark at best, trying to figure out how to grow. Here's, the path forward is much clearer. Thanks for reading and commenting!
Great analysis, Mack; thank you! I wish you to enter and exit the second phase as soon as possible so that you enjoy the third and wonder, "Is this possible?" P.S. I'm glad I contributed to your satisfaction! Enjoy a day!
Thank you so much, Mladena! Yes, you always do! :)
That is a tremendous backstage view. “Substack algos are more favourable toward shared content that mentions Substack”— an interesting observation.
Did you arrive with the previous list, as you've been on the stack for two months and grew circa under 100 here? Maybe that contributes to your lower open rate.
Hi Jana. I’m not sure if Substack’s algos favor content about Substack, just an assumption. I imported a list of around 860 emails from Mailchimp at the end of May. That list had an open rate that fluctuated between 28-32%. Since coming to Substack, the open rate has gradually fallen from 28% down now to 26.5%. But Substack tells me @Neela 🌶️ has an open rate of 25%, when she has engaged with every issue. So that suggests to me that most of the subs I have from active Substack users are likely not viewing my issues via email, instead viewing it on the substack website or via the app.
Such an interesting observation. I am 5 months into writing mine. I wondered if there was a method of any measure.
I am going to subscribe to you now.
Hi Sheryl! Thank you for reading and subscribing! And congrats on 5 months, that’s quite an accomplishment!
I'm so late to this party ....
Happy Tuesday, Mack.
Thank you for the shout-out. I adore you more.
"But according to Substack, her open rate is 25%. Because Substack is tracking open rate as the percentage of times she opens an email from Backstage Pass. Which is technically the correct way to track Open Rate in regards to newsletter" - I didn't know this, and yes I do read the email first :)
I love this breakdown (very helpful) and I especially appreciate your deliberate strategy in growing your newsletter. It helps me to get more serious here :(
Thank you @Neela 🌶️! I typically read issues on site versus via email, and main reason why is because if I want to Like or comment on the issue (as I do with yours), then the email will redirect me to to the site anyway, so I just come here to read it. I think Substack will eventually ditch open rate for ‘engagement rate’ or something similar.
I think it also depends about what type of newsletter you have. If it's on a niche industry like mine, I think it's a tough to grow 200 subscribers per month.
Chris that’s a good point, your area of focus can indeed have a big impact on potential audience size and growth rate.
A followup on something I said in the post. I pointed out that I noticed my traffic from Substack jumped when I wrote my first month's recap post. My assumption is that Substack's algos were rewarding content written about Substack. Yesterday's traffic from Substack was the highest I've had so far, after I wrote a post about my progress on Substack. Today's traffic from Substack is so far looking up a bit over average numbers. As you can see from the graph I included in the post, I got 42 views from Substack on July 4th when I published my first month's recap.
Yesterday I got 60 views from Substack. Another theory, perhaps getting several Likes, comments and shares soon after publication triggers the algo to give the post a boost. This post had a lot of engagement within the first hour or so of publication. This is consistent with what other platforms do with content so its entirely possible.
Or it could all simply be organic and have nothing to do with the algo. I will keep testing and tracking, and see what I can learn. Thanks again to everyone for reading and sharing, I've seen others sharing their progress, just happy to return the favor and I hope it helps.
Super interesting read. Thanks for sharing. I also love a good recommendation. I've followed them all!
Thank you Danielle! I can check my stats and I notice that Writers of the Lost Art is one of my referral sources. Thank you :)
This was extremely useful, Mack! So glad to have you to turn to for consistently great advice...and great writing.
Thank you Melissa! Always a joy to hear from you, hope you are having a wonderful week!
This is so insightful! Thank you Mack
Hi Irene, it’s nice to meet you! Have a great week!
I have noticed the same fall on my open rates since I jumped from 50 to 180 subs.
I thought it was down to a lack of interest from some of the new subs.
However I also suspected what you mention in your post.
Perhaps this is something that Substack should address to get a more sensible stat?
Ah, thanks Carlo, that’s interesting to hear. It seems like it would be easy for Substack to give us an engagement rate, then break down where subscribers are engaging with the newsletter, like via email or on substack. Maybe that’s in the works?
You ask good questions Mack.
I love me some experimenting and exploring to see what happens.
Great stuff, keep up the good growth!
Thank you for this! Realism is essential, work is necessary, consistency is key! Appreciate you being in this space!
Thank you Marie for the wonderfully kind comments. Have a beautiful day!