11 Tips to Skyrocket Your Substack Growth
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11 Tips to Skyrocket Your Substack Growth
The other day I was thinking about all the learnings I had in my almost 6 months now on Substack.
And there are a few things, I wish somebody would have told me right from the start.
It’s not rocket science, but it is handy to know.
That’s why I sat down and listed my 11 key insights for this platform.
I summarised them here, but if you want the full version with pro tips and examples, you can download them here.
If you want to have a quick look into it first, here we go.
Lesson 1: Build a Bold Publication
Create Your Publication:
Your Online Home Start with Your Own Publication: Instead of posting under just your name, having a dedicated publication gives you a professional identity and access to useful tools like a dashboard with insights and a personalized homepage. To set it up, go to your Substack profile, click settings, and scroll down to "Create Publication." It's simple, and you can add more publications later as your interests grow. Once this is set up, you will be able to access your Dashboard.
Organize with Sections and Tags: Use sections to group posts into categories and create separate mailing lists, like for travel, finance, or wellness. Tags are simpler, helping categorize posts by theme, but offer less flexibility. You can set both up in your dashboard.
Lesson 2: Grow Daily with Notes
Use your notes (like tweets) to bring readers along on your journey. Share personal anecdotes, behind-the-scenes thoughts, or little insights that add depth to your writing. This is where you connect on a more intimate level. I personally recommend writing 2 notes per day.
Lesson 3: Perfect Bios for Impact
Establish Credibility Personal Bio: This is your chance to share who you are and why you’re the right person to write about your chosen topics. Keep it brief but impactful. Mention what you do and add some proof — like how you’ve helped 1000 clients, been an online writer for 5 years, or generated $100k in revenue as a marketing guru. These details help build trust and establish your credibility.
Publication Bio: This is where you can be specific about what your newsletter offers. How often will you send it out? What topics will you cover? What value can subscribers expect? For example, you might say, “Join my Friday newsletter for one actionable tip each week on marketing your business through online activities.” This clarity helps potential subscribers understand what they can gain by signing up.
Lesson 4: Turn On Payments, When and How
How to Set Up Payments on Substack:
Go to Dashboard > Settings > Payments to set up paid tiers.
Offer up to three features for paid subscribers (monthly, annual with discount, founding member perks).
When to Go Paid:
Consider adding a paywall at around 100-300 subscribers.
Expect a few early paid subscribers (0.5-1% of audience), but real growth tends to start after 3,000 subscribers when the conversion rate increases.
Balancing Paywalled and Free Content:
Use a Freemium model, mixing free content to grow your audience and premium content for monetization.
Offer teasers or excerpts of paid content to encourage free subscribers to upgrade.
Prioritize free content when growing your audience.
Identify high-performing free posts and turn them into paid content later to drive engagement and conversions.
Paid Features Could Include:
Paywall posts or parts of posts to incentivize free users to upgrade.
Include digital products (e.g., mini-courses, ebooks) in subscriptions.
Offer personalized coaching to paid subscribers for additional value.
Lesson 5: Clarify Your Value to Convert
To turn readers into paying subscribers, know who they are, what they care about, and how you can help.
Know Your Audience: Understand their challenges and goals to make your content more relevant.
What They Value: Decide if your writing is entertaining, informative, or educational, and focus on what your readers prefer.
Solve Problems: Offer solutions to their issues, showing why your content is worth paying for. Being clear about your value makes it easier to get readers to subscribe.
Lesson 6: Powerful CTAs that Drive Action
When creating calls-to-action (CTAs) for your buttons, don’t limit yourself to the usual “subscribe” or “leave a comment.”
Mix it up and make your CTAs fun and engaging. This adds personality to your content and can capture your readers' attention.
Be Creative: Instead of just saying "subscribe," try "Join the adventure" or "Unlock exclusive content." For comments, say "Share your genius" or "Tell us what you think"
Create Urgency: Use phrases like "Sign up now" or "Boost your knowledge today" to encourage immediate action. Fun and urgency together make for CTAs that not only drive action but also make the experience more enjoyable for your readers.
Lesson 7: Create Urgency with Emails
If you want more people to sign up for paid content, creating urgency is key. Adding limited-time offers or special deals can give people a reason to act fast instead of putting it off.
For example, you can use holidays like Christmas, Easter, or special themed months to offer discounts for a short time.
You could also limit the number of spots, like “only 100 available,” to make it feel exclusive.
Another way to boost sign-ups is by offering bonuses for those who join early, like access to a special bootcamp or a one-time event. When people know they might miss out on a good deal or a special offer, they’re more likely to act quickly. We all respond to urgency—it’s just human nature.
Lesson 8: Become a Bestseller Fast
On Substack, reaching 100 paid subscribers unlocks some exciting perks.
You get the official "Bestseller" badge after your name and gain access to exclusive features like hosting live events. This is Substack’s way of incentivizing creators to grow their paid subscriber base, which aligns with their business model. Substack earns 10% of everything creators make, so the more paid subscribers you get, the more both you and Substack benefit.
Lesson 9: Get Found - SEO Made Simple
It's easy to miss, but Substack has built-in SEO tools for each post. When writing, click the settings button in the lower right corner, scroll down, and find the SEO option.
Here, you can customize the SEO title and description, corresponding to the meta description. Substack usually pulls the first sentence of your post for SEO, but that’s not ideal. Instead, write a short summary to help your article get found in search engines like Google.
Lesson 10: Multiply Your Value with Content
Expand the value you provide by incorporating additional content formats like podcasts live sessions, and YouTube videos. Offering diverse content can attract a wider audience and keep your current subscribers more engaged. Podcasts allow you to connect on a more personal level, while live sessions offer real-time interaction with your community.
Lesson 11: Build Paid Communities with Chat
Substack offers a great way to build communities through its chat feature, where you can mix free and paid chats.
By offering some chats for free and reserving exclusive discussions for paid members, you can create a strong incentive for people to sign up. Chats are a great way to build your community and have people support each other.
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If you want PRO TIPS and EXAMPLES for each of the lessons, you can find a downloadable guide here.
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I feel like every other one of your articles I am saving haha. But that’s a good thing!
Great advice as always, Claudia! I didn't know about the SEO settings until reading a previous post from you weeks ago. I have experience in SEO copywriting so that was so helpful to find out!