As a creator, the number one way we can grow our newsletter is by using discovery platforms (social media).
We CAN move to paid acquisition as well, but that generally takes place after we have a proven monetization strategy and know our subscriber LTV (lifetime value).
The world's largest media-brand newsletters generally get the majority of their growth from paid acquisition (once they've proven the concept and monetization structure for their newsletter); but this is a bit different for creator newsletters.
The world's largest creator newsletter grow primarily from organic discovery platforms, and then some decide to make their way into paid acquisition to scale faster.
Quick Timeout: If you're unfamiliar with the difference between a Media Brand Newsletter and a Creator Newsletter, I recommend reading these deep dives:
It's also important to remember that there are only three core ways to grow our newsletter.
Each are done at different stages of our journey.
And none of them are magic...
The Three Ways To Grow Your Newsletter (And When):
- Organic Growth: 0-100K+ Subscribers
- Internal Growth: 3-5K+ - 100K+ Subscribers
- Paid Growth: Proof Of Monetization - 100K+ Subscribers
Internal Growth is referring to a referral program inside our newsletter, and the 3-5K+ is generally the lowest point I even recommend testing it. It's definitely not magic, and most creators don't start seeing much impact until 20-30K+ subscribers.
That really leaves us with our the two core options: Organic and Paid.
And unless you have already proven your monetization strategy and calculated a solid LTV per subscriber, you don't want to start using paid acquisition.
(Even then can be extremely daunting to dive into paid growth.)
See what I'm getting at here?
This leaves us with none other than: Organic Growth.
I WON'T be teaching you how to grow on social platforms, but I WILL be teaching you the top CTAs (Call To Actions) to drive subscribers from them.
I will have a big emphasis on written platforms like Threads, Twitter and LinkedIn being that these not only drive the highest quality subscribers (they are already on written platforms, and prefer reading their content); but also because those are my preferred platforms to grow, and where most of my subscribers come from.
Let's get into it.
Quick Timeout: We have done a massive deep dive on the top lead magnets (and which to avoid at all costs) that will also be extremely relevant for this guide.
Pre-Newsletter CTA
One of my favorite CTAs is the Pre-Newsletter CTA.
This allows you to use your newsletter as the lead magnet, without actually needing a lead magnet.
If you have already gone through my list of the top lead magnets you'll know I actually prefer NOT using any lead magnets, unless they are directly leveraging the newsletter content.
Here are three examples of this:
- Pre-Newsletter CTA: This is when you leverage upcoming newsletters while also using psychology like FOMO and urgency. I will be breaking this down in more depth in this section.
- A Past Newsletter: You offer an incentive like "The Ultimate Guide To Lead Magnets" (my example) that is actually a past newsletter deep dive being sent to your audience. This teaches your subscribers that your newsletter content = the value.
- Post Newsletter CTA: A "Post" Newsletter CTA is a call to action that comes almost directly after the newsletter has released, usually a day or two later. I will go into more depth on this in the very next section.
In this section we're starting with a Pre-Newsletter CTA.
This is one of the most powerful ways to drive newsletter growth.
Here's how it works:
- The day before (most effective 24 hours before) your newsletter goes live you write post "teasing it".
- You use scarcity to create urgency to sign up for your list to be able to make sure the content you're teasing lands in their inbox.
- This allows you to use the newsletter as a lead magnet (incentive) 1X per week and drive subscribers that quickly learn that they receive value by opening your emails.
We saw both the Pre-Newsletter CTA and our next topic, the Post Newsletter CTA, as part of Justin Welsh's content operating system (and repurposing strategy) in our deep dive on how to build a newsletter content flywheel.
Post Newsletter CTA
Next up is our Post Newsletter CTA.
This call to action is not nearly as popular as the pre-newsletter CTA, but can be just as powerful if done right.
Note: There is one big contingency to the post-newsletter CTA. This isn't a CTA that drives subscribers directly to a landing page to collect sign up, so you should only be using it if you have your website optimized to make sales and collect more emails with additional CTAs on the newsletter/article page. We discussed how creators do this in our deep dive on how your newsletter should interact with your website.
As you can tell from the image above, this CTA is actually sending people directly to a newsletter that has already been sent out to your list.
For example, people can read all of my deep dives after they have already been sent out as weekly Saturday newsletters.
This is one reason I always recommend starting your newsletter as early as possible. You are building a database of resources!
That said, this specific CTA usually comes in 24-48 hours after your newsletter was sent out to drive some more scarcity and urgency to sign up to make sure they don't miss future newsletters.
Final Note: I recommend using this call to action after you've already built up a bit of a database of resources for people to go through when you send them to your website and once you already optimize your site with opt-ins to collect their emails once they're there.
Comment Section CTA (With Link)
Next up we have one that you probably have seen if you're active on Threads or Twitter.
This is the comment section CTA that drives people directly to your newsletter landing page.
The reason I'm calling this one "With Link" is because in the next section we're going to discuss how you can do this without a link.
The reason you want to sometimes have CTAs without a link is because discovery platforms like Threads, LinkedIn and Twitter HATE when we drive people off of their website/app.
That's why they're constantly making it harder for us to add links; and just another reason our newsletter is so important.
The CTAs you see above are almost always added to your post some duration after the original post was made.
This can be 1 hour later, 6 hours later, or even 12+ hours later.
The duration is dependent on what we think the algorithm is allowing for.
If the algorithm is pushing back on content that has links, we usually don't want to add it to our original posts; but it is important to also test to see if we are getting a pushback for links that are added an hour or so after as well.
I like to keep it safe and add the link CTA 4-6 hours after I post.
There are some scheduling websites and tools that will do this for you automatically, and even allow you to test different CTAs and copy.
Additional Note: You can decide if you want to use this CTA to drive subscribers to your landing page and have the newsletter itself be the incentive for subscribing, or you can also add in a lead magnet like you see from two of the images I included above.
Either way, it's important to test different pages and know where and why your subscribers are being added to your list so you can track accordingly.
Comment Section CTA (No Link)
This next call to action isn't here to drive tons of subscribers.
If the main goal is to get subscribers, a short CTA with a direct link to our landing page is ALWAYS going to be more powerful.
That said, I wanted to make sure I included this CTA here so you have something you can include in your posts (especially longer threads and high value posts) immediately after posting [since you will not be including an immediate link to avoid being punished by the algorithm].
I usually only add this type of CTA after I post a thread that has 4+ posts, or a longer carousel on LinkedIn.
This CTA tells my audience and people who found my thread/carousel useful a little bit about me and then shares my profile link to make it easy for them to go there and either follow or subscribe to my newsletter.
This small nudge has driven thousands of extra followers, hundreds of subscribers, and tons that have eventually subscribed to my newsletter after following.
Consider testing this out for your long form content on social.
Testimonial CTA
The rest of our CTAs aren't unique to one specific creator and can be taken and implemented almost immediately.
This Testimonial CTA is something I have only really seen Katelyn Bourgoin master, though.
Katelyn has an ingenious way of sharing her newsletter testimonials to do two different things:
- Drive more newsletter subscribers.
- Collect more newsletter testimonials.
On podcast interviews she has discussed how she started sharing newsletter testimonials that she thought were witty and awesome, and by doing it other people wanted to also get a shoutout for an awesome testimonial.
This created a flywheel that Katelyn could use to drive and collect on repeat.
Katelyn is a incredible marketer and psychology wiz, so not everyone will be able to pull his off as masterfully as her; but if you can...this is definitely something I would recommend taking advantage of.
You can also read more about another social proof loop that Katelyn uses to get more testimonials for her courses in my deep dive on social proof loops here.
Which CTAs Should YOU Use?
You should be able to go through this list and begin implementing every single one of these newsletter CTAs to drive more subscribers from your organic discovery platforms.
BUT, I also want to give you a little cheat sheet breakdown of the most optimal places and times to start using each one of these:
- Pre-Newsletter CTA: You should be immediately implementing this tactic every single week, 24 hours before your newsletter goes out. This is THE most powerful tactic on the list.
- Post-Newsletter CTA: You should only implement this tactic after you have optimized your website with additional CTAs and resources to collect your audience's email and drive sales.
- Comment CTA with Link: You should be immediately implementing this tactic under nearly every single post, but making sure that you give some time after the original post so you aren't punished by the algorithms (algorithms don't like external links).
- Comment CTA without Link: You should be immediately implementing this tactic under your long form threads/carousels before you eventually add your Comment CTA with Link.
- Testimonial Flywheel CTA: You should be implementing this tactic as soon as you feel like you can leverage it to create a flywheel to continue using it. BUT, you can also consider using one-off testimonials to drive subscribers.
Organic growth isn't going anywhere.
Reach may be down on platforms, but that doesn't mean you should neglect your discovery platforms.
They can and will still be powerful tools for growing your newsletter and even building authority and leverage in other areas.
