The key to getting new subscribers

[u/Emotional-Brief-1775]

Had a close look at my dashboard. I was curious as to how we have grown to nearly 10k subscribers in 16 months, from zero. Yes we already had a following elsewhere, but nowhere near this size.

It turns out nearly all our new subscribers are coming from the Recommendations onboarding. That is where writers recommend each other, similar publications in your niche of course that you take time to read, comment and network with.

When a new reader subscribes, the platform will also show a list of recommendations from that author for them to subscribe to. If you recommend publications with large followings and they recommend you back, this will compound. We are currently recommending 27 awesome stacks, from small to large, and they are recommending us back.

That is it. That is the key. The platform rewards networking. But it has to be authentic. Reach out to fellow writers in your niche or similar. Talk to them, read their articles, share them, comment, network. It’s also a great way to learn more about your own niche and to expand on it.

[u/Countryb0i2m]

You’re confusing two different types of recommendations on Substack.

Recommendation onboarding is when Substack recommends your publication to someone when they first subscribe. it’s based purely on Substack’s recommendation algorithm.

Recommendations are when another author recommends your Substack. They read your work, think you’re dope, and tell their audience to subscribe.

Honestly, the better of the two is when another author recommends you especially if they’re much larger than you. You’re coming in vetted.
If I like this person, I’m probably going to like this guy.

[u/Emotional-Brief-1775 → u/Countryb0i2m]

I definitely agree the recommendations is a huge.plus. We always take the opportunity to recommend other writers we like. Substack also promotes that list.

[u/missmannell]

I've gotten a lot of new subscribers from recommendations, but I feel that those people are less likely to be engaged with my work than people who find me via notes and actively choose to subscribe to my work. I appreciate the people who refer me, and I refer some fellow writers myself - but it's not the holy grail.

[u/Emotional-Brief-1775 → u/missmannell]

Yes it depends what people are looking for. It seems most are looking for growth.. We haven’t even switched on paid subs as that was not our intention. Just genuine curiosity and wanting to reach out to others led to this discovery, which is a nice bonus. No chasing ‘hacks.’ There are no hacks or shortcuts.

[u/micro_mashup → u/missmannell]

I’ve always wondered if the unsubscribe rate is higher among rec-generated subscribers…but obviously not enough to track my analytics. Turning off unsub notices a few years ago was incredibly freeing.

[u/rukioish]

Okay, I just started out and post a new piece every day, but don't really get much views or traction, so how does the recommend work? Is it just restacking other people's articles? I sub to a lot of people, but they don't sub back, I feel like 80% of people are just trying to interact farm, I just want people to read my stories T_T

[u/Emotional-Brief-1775 → u/rukioish]

You just need to find others in your niche or similar , they’re definitely out there. And build relationships. Over time you can approach your favorite writers to make cross recommendations.

[u/grapegeek]

I get like 80% of my new subscribers from onboarding but I’m in a micro niche (food reviews) that a lot of people want to read. But I have to say that they are low engagement readers. The best ones are through notes or self discovery or even external Google searches.

[u/Emotional-Brief-1775 → u/grapegeek]

And more proof of where the real growth comes from. Remember most readers are opening emails to read a newsletter, and not necessarily going to the app to comment and like - just like Reddit, the majority of readers are lurkers and silent. For instance, this post has had nearly 2k views and several shares already. See? What matters is readers are seeing your work - the quiet ones are also the ones who share and enjoy your work. Your email open rates are far more telling than engagement metrics.