My whatiscalledthinking.Substack.com just passed 100 paying subscribers. What’s the best way to try to convert non paying subscribers? (I have 750 total)
My whatiscalledthinking.Substack.com just passed 100 paying subscribers. What’s the best way to try to convert non paying subscribers? (I have 750 total)
Whew! This is a meaty topic! The non-specific and abstract but most true answer is: it depends on your topic and audience.
Beyond that, I'm going to give you the full list of tactics we have on file at Substack HQ. Prepare thyself:
Here, we list some tactics for doing that - feel free to try what sounds like a good fit for your publication and readership:
*Highlight subscriber benefits*
Tell readers about the paid subscription - Readers need to understand that the writer is running a publication with paid subscriptions involved, so tell them that somewhere – on your About page, at least, but perhaps also in a note at the bottom of every post (and pair it with a subscribe button). Make sure to include a personal note as well, just like you do in your announcement post. TrueHoop does a good job of explaining why paid subscriptions matter, and The Isolation Journals clearly list subscriber benefits.
Experiment with new language in preambles: Edit your email header and footer from your Settings page to encourage your current free readers to subscribe. You can explain subscriber benefits, write a personal note, or link them to previews of old paid posts. It can be useful to change these up semi-regularly so readers don’t just gloss over the message.
Interview one of your paid subscribers (maybe someone who’s reached out to you before to say thanks?) about how your newsletter has helped them. Send the edited interview to your free subscribers, and encourage the interviewee to share it through their networks.
Even if you don’t do a whole interview feature, testimonial quotes/clips can also be added to your about page, preambles, etc.
This is even more effective if you interview a subscriber who has a large and/or overlapping audience themselves (see Delia Cai’s strategy for “Borrowing other people’s audiences”).
*Target high-potential free readers*
Use the subscriber dashboard to send your most active free readers (e.g. most opens over the past 30 days) a personal email asking to become a paid subscriber. I recommend making the ask in your authentic voice - be honest about the costs that go into the production of your free content, and how much it’d mean to have them as donors. Video example here.
*Offer free trials or free previews*
Unlock old paid content: You may also want to “unlock” some of your old-but-good paid posts via editing the post settings. This allows you to share them as examples of paid subscriber benefits in your about page, targeted emails to subscribers, welcome emails, etc. (Example.)
Give your free audience a free 2 weeks of paid posts, either resharing old posts or as a “trial period” for the new paid posts. Since you publish your paid posts more frequently, this will demonstrate value to them, and allow you to launch a new conversion campaign for your large free audience. You can also do this via emails in the subscriber dashboard if you don’t want to share them to your Substack site.
Provide an instant free trial for new subscribers: You can edit the welcome email that goes out to new free readers to offer them a link to a credit card free trial. This might get a lot more free readers to test out the paid subscription faster, and they can still cancel in order to avoid being charged. This strategy is an alternative to just unlocking old paid posts.
Remind readers what they’ve missed. Send an email to your free list highlighting and teasing some of your best paid posts that they can unlock with a subscription. Example: Noahpinion.
*Re-launch to readers*
There's no reason a writer shouldn't re-introduce themselves to their readers by sharing who they are and what they care about, and get into the mission of the publication, from time to time.
This can be a dedicated post, perhaps positioned as a "welcome" to new readers. It could also be at junctures like the six-month mark of publishing the newsletter, the year mark, before the holidays/new year, etc; or if you plan on introducing a new content line for paid subscribers. It can also be framed as "what this community has accomplished" together, and paired with a discount code.
*Offer discounts*
Some writers haven't experimented with discounts, and these can be a huge driver of subscriptions. It's worth trying and pointing to people who have done it successfully.
Pomp sends discounts to his free-only list, which is a popular and successful way to get in front of would-be subscribers.
You can use the subscriber dashboard to target your most active/engaged free readers with a special offer.
My whatiscalledthinking.Substack.com just passed 100 paying subscribers. What’s the best way to try to convert non paying subscribers? (I have 750 total)
Whew! This is a meaty topic! The non-specific and abstract but most true answer is: it depends on your topic and audience.
Beyond that, I'm going to give you the full list of tactics we have on file at Substack HQ. Prepare thyself:
Here, we list some tactics for doing that - feel free to try what sounds like a good fit for your publication and readership:
*Highlight subscriber benefits*
Tell readers about the paid subscription - Readers need to understand that the writer is running a publication with paid subscriptions involved, so tell them that somewhere – on your About page, at least, but perhaps also in a note at the bottom of every post (and pair it with a subscribe button). Make sure to include a personal note as well, just like you do in your announcement post. TrueHoop does a good job of explaining why paid subscriptions matter, and The Isolation Journals clearly list subscriber benefits.
Experiment with new language in preambles: Edit your email header and footer from your Settings page to encourage your current free readers to subscribe. You can explain subscriber benefits, write a personal note, or link them to previews of old paid posts. It can be useful to change these up semi-regularly so readers don’t just gloss over the message.
Interview one of your paid subscribers (maybe someone who’s reached out to you before to say thanks?) about how your newsletter has helped them. Send the edited interview to your free subscribers, and encourage the interviewee to share it through their networks.
Even if you don’t do a whole interview feature, testimonial quotes/clips can also be added to your about page, preambles, etc.
This is even more effective if you interview a subscriber who has a large and/or overlapping audience themselves (see Delia Cai’s strategy for “Borrowing other people’s audiences”).
*Target high-potential free readers*
Use the subscriber dashboard to send your most active free readers (e.g. most opens over the past 30 days) a personal email asking to become a paid subscriber. I recommend making the ask in your authentic voice - be honest about the costs that go into the production of your free content, and how much it’d mean to have them as donors. Video example here.
*Offer free trials or free previews*
Unlock old paid content: You may also want to “unlock” some of your old-but-good paid posts via editing the post settings. This allows you to share them as examples of paid subscriber benefits in your about page, targeted emails to subscribers, welcome emails, etc. (Example.)
Give your free audience a free 2 weeks of paid posts, either resharing old posts or as a “trial period” for the new paid posts. Since you publish your paid posts more frequently, this will demonstrate value to them, and allow you to launch a new conversion campaign for your large free audience. You can also do this via emails in the subscriber dashboard if you don’t want to share them to your Substack site.
Provide an instant free trial for new subscribers: You can edit the welcome email that goes out to new free readers to offer them a link to a credit card free trial. This might get a lot more free readers to test out the paid subscription faster, and they can still cancel in order to avoid being charged. This strategy is an alternative to just unlocking old paid posts.
Remind readers what they’ve missed. Send an email to your free list highlighting and teasing some of your best paid posts that they can unlock with a subscription. Example: Noahpinion.
*Re-launch to readers*
There's no reason a writer shouldn't re-introduce themselves to their readers by sharing who they are and what they care about, and get into the mission of the publication, from time to time.
This can be a dedicated post, perhaps positioned as a "welcome" to new readers. It could also be at junctures like the six-month mark of publishing the newsletter, the year mark, before the holidays/new year, etc; or if you plan on introducing a new content line for paid subscribers. It can also be framed as "what this community has accomplished" together, and paired with a discount code.
*Offer discounts*
Some writers haven't experimented with discounts, and these can be a huge driver of subscriptions. It's worth trying and pointing to people who have done it successfully.
Pomp sends discounts to his free-only list, which is a popular and successful way to get in front of would-be subscribers.
You can use the subscriber dashboard to target your most active/engaged free readers with a special offer.
Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
That's a fantastic conversion rate - well done!