When starting a newsletter from scratch, self-promotion is key.
In almost every case, your first subscribers are going to be people you know - so leveraging your personal and professional networks is important. How do we know this? Some of our most-read Scribers began their journey with just their friends and family as their audience.
But to get more subscribers for your newsletter, you'll need to identify your target audience and spread your message beyond your personal circle. That means direct outreach, networking and of course, social media.
Here's a few pointers on how to effectively get more subscribers for your newsletter.
1. Start with your own network
Your first subscribers will likely be people you know – friends, friends of friends, your parents, etc. Talk your newsletter up every chance that you get. You’re the best spokesperson for your content, and no amount of marketing can replace that.
Reach out to your network: friends and family, alumni and professional networks, or other writers that you follow. Then ask your network to share your newsletter – either a specific post, or your home page – with their network via email and social media.
Just make sure that any page you share has an easy link to subscribe to your newsletter - just like every page on Scriber does.
2. Reach out to potential subscribers
Next, think of ways on how to widen your personal circle, within your comfort zone. This will be different for each individual depending on what you’re comfortable with, but an easy way to start is by attending professional networking events, social hangouts and meetups.
Alternatively, simply logging on to Twitter and interacting with relevant users or conversations to promote your newsletter is another way to get started. As well as the obvious networking benefits of engaging with people directly, taking part in conversations also boosts your visibility to their followers, too.
Which brings us neatly on to…
3. Make the most of social media
One of the best things about Social Media is that it's free to participate. If you don't yet have one, it costs nothing to create an account on one of the big three networks: Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook.
Twitter is especially powerful for audience building as it allows you to engage in conversations relevant to your topic, follow relevant hashtags and create lists of potential subscribers. Twitter tends to move fast, so it’s one of the most difficult networks to keep on top of – but, do it well, and you will reap the rewards.
LinkedIn is all about building your professional network. More serious than other social media networks, it’s a great way to identify both potential subscribers or external contributors for your newsletter. These connections can really make a difference in the early stages of your newsletter.
Facebook's global reach is unrivalled. According to SproutSocial, Facebook now boasts over 2.89 billion monthly active users. That’s a lot of potential subscribers for your newsletter, but be mindful of your audience. Facebook is decidedly less professional than LinkedIn, and less restrictive in its approach than Twitter.
Whichever networks you choose, remember to post frequently and consistently. Build relationships by tagging and mentioning the people you follow and work with. And don't forget to include a link to subscribe in your bio.
4. Be guided by the data
When building a newsletter, being guided by your engagement data is key.
On Scriber, you can access all the important metrics such as open, click and unsubscribe rates, via our easy-to-understand dashboard. You’ll know exactly how many people have opened your email, how much time they spend on it and how many click-throughs you get.
Watching this data closely over time will tell you what’s really working for your audience – and, more crucially, what’s not. It will enable you to refine the content of your newsletter, help you to better structure it for your audience and more.
You can also check out our previous blog post on how to improve your newsletter for more tips.
5. Change your email signature
And finally, one of the easiest things to do to get more subscribers for your newsletter – and often overlooked by many – is to change your email signature to include a subscription link. It’s the ultimate low effort, high reward activity to grow your newsletter list.
It's a great way to signpost your newsletter to your existing network and new contacts alike, and the gains are multiplied when somebody forwards your email to contacts outside of your network.
You can also add extra information such as social handles, or other ways to contact you directly - but don’t go overboard...
Got your own tips to share?
If you’ve got your own tips on getting more subscribers for your newsletter, let us know at social@scriber.to and we’ll add the best ones to this post.