A guide to growth with subscriber referrals
The subscriber referrals feature is a simple way for you to grow your audience on autopilot. This tool allows publications with free or paid subscription options to reward subscribers for spreading the word about your Substack.
Some writers like
are already seeing growth in the first week after announcing referrals to their subscribers.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through:
How to set your rewards
How to write a great reward email
How to announce referrals to your subscribers—the most important step!
How to remind subscribers
What is a referral
How to set your rewards
Subscriber rewards can be set at three tiers. You can set the number of referrals subscribers must make before they unlock a reward. While it might be tempting to offer swag, handwritten notes, or something personalized, we encourage writers to choose rewards that do not require ongoing management or create new work. We’ve designed subscriber referrals so you can set it and forget it with little to no ongoing management.
To do: Set up your rewards from the referral section of your settings.
For paid publications, you can simply set the default reward to a complimentary paid subscription to your publication. An automated comp as the reward can range from 1 to 12 months. Once a subscriber unlocks the first-tier reward, further rewards will be stacked on top (e.g. if the Tier 1 reward is a one-month comp and the Tier 2 a three-month comp, the subscriber will receive four months complimentary access).
Free and paid publications can also set a custom reward by writing in anything they’d like to offer subscribers, from a copy of their e-book to a special shoutout in an upcoming issue of their newsletter.
When you are deciding what rewards to offer, ask yourself: Why do readers value my work? Getting clear on why people value what you do can help guide what you offer as rewards.
If subscribers value your unique insight on a topic, offer a PDF version of your best posts, a special resource, an article, a playlist, or an illustration.
If subscribers value access to you, offer a way to connect with you, like a coffee chat over Zoom, the opportunity to ask a question one-on-one via email, or record a video for them saying thanks.
If subscribers value the community around your publication, offer a way for them to go deeper with special access to events you host or discounts on merch.
Here are some creative custom rewards writers currently offer without much added work:
PDF.
sends subscribers who share ByteByteGo with one friend a PDF of 50 of his best posts.Discount.
offers his Garbage Day subscribers who make 25 referrals six months comped and a coupon for 50% off anything at the Garbage Day merch store.Community access.
offers subscribers with three referrals permanent membership to Summit Squad, a private email he sends out to his most engaged subscribers.Your time.
rewards subscribers with a copy of the Process e-book and a mini portfolio review.A special story.
will write anyone who gets 25 referrals a story about their favorite moment in baseball history and publish it on JoeBlogs.Something special for the top referrers.
has made a game of the leaderboard. She plans to send a handwritten thank-you note and one of the books she’s recommended to the top referrer each month.
You might even consider offering “special thanks” as a reward and shoutout top refers in your newsletter plus customize your reward email to make them feel extra special.
Writing reward emails
When subscribers unlock rewards for referring friends, we automatically send them an email to let them know. You can customize the template email just as you do with any standard Substack post, plus add videos, audio, images, PDF attachments, e-book embeds, and more.
Consider this an opportunity to surprise and delight your subscribers. Write a poem, draw something they can save, include a link to your favorite song, record a voice note of gratitude, or give them a behind-the-scenes look at your writing space via video. These people helped you grow your audience. They are your best marketers. Make them feel extra special and appreciated.
Read more: How do I embed media in my post?
Announcing referrals to your subscribers
Once you’ve set up subscriber referrals and reviewed the automated emails, it’s time to get the word out so you can channel the power of your community to grow your audience.
In the referrals section of your settings, you can find a template announcement post to send to your subscribers. In the template, we’ve included instructions for how to share your publication and buttons that automatically create a unique tracking link for your subscribers.
To do: Announce referrals to your subscribers using the template in the referrals section of your settings or in your drafts.
Update the post so that it reads in your voice. Consider:
Highlighting the power of your community.
announced referrals by celebrating how special the Hung Up community is and inviting subscribers to welcome friends to the space they’d created together. Read.
Thanking your subscribers.
acknowledges the ways The Cottage subscribers have already helped grow the community. She thanks them for their support as she introduces referrals. Read.
Writing a manifesto.
announced referrals and used it as an opportunity to reflect on the work he’s done to date and his vision for the future, rallying subscribers around JoeBlogs. Readers subscribe at different points in your writing journey, making manifesto-style posts an important tool to attune readers to your origin story and values. Read.
Making your rewards crystal clear.
writes a concise note to subscribers to invite their friends to subscribe to Refactoring. If you’re offering a complimentary subscription as a reward, be sure to explain what is included in your paid tier so people know what they can unlock. Read.
Including some of your greatest hits.
finishes her announcement post with a roundup of a few of her best issues, in case subscribers missed them. This can give your subscribers inspiration for how to introduce your Substack to their friends. Read:
Reminding subscribers
Over time, subscribers will continue to share your work when they are inspired and find extra value in new posts. Continuing to remind them to do so will ensure that you and your subscribers get the most out of subscriber referrals.
Here are a few tools you can use to continue to get the word out:
Leaderboard. When you turn on referrals, a new tab in your navigation bar will take subscribers to the leaderboard. Here they can copy and paste their unique referral link and see how close they are to unlocking new rewards, along with their ranking among the subscriber community.
Welcome email.
updated his welcome email for Refactoring to introduce referrals. Learn more.
Headers and footers. Headers and footers are often overlooked growth tools. They are a great place to highlight in your own voice the most important, repeatable things you want readers to know and actions you want them to take—like sharing your post to earn rewards.
manually included a blurb about referrals at the top of his regular post. The headers and footers tool allows you to automate this message on all posts that go out via email. Learn more.
Buttons. Anytime a subscriber shares a post from a share button on it, that counts toward their referrals. Be sure to include “share” and “refer a friend” buttons on all of your posts and opt for using the share button with a caption so you can add a short blurb about referrals. Learn more.
Celebrate referral milestones publicly. Continue to share when subscribers unlock new rewards on social media to drive awareness, like
.
Remind readers of rewards at shareable moments.
announced referrals at an important milestone: the 100th edition of Process.
What counts as a referral?
A successful referral is counted when an existing subscriber helps you get a new free or paid subscriber. Today, both a new free or paid subscriber count the same toward unlocking rewards. In the future, we plan to offer you more control to reward subscribers in different ways for new free versus paid subscribers.
Referrals are credited to subscribers who share your Substack and successfully help you collect a new subscriber in the following ways:
“Share” buttons on posts, both the default buttons and ones you add
“Refer a friend” button on a post
The unique share link subscribers can find on your leaderboard page
Restacking a post
Buying a gift subscription for a friend
New subscribers from gift referrals
Note: Paid publications have the option to offer gift subscriptions to paid subscribers as a further incentive to share with friends. Unlike subscriber referrals, gift subscriptions for paid subscribers offer an immediate perk (paid access for a limited time) for being referred by a friend. This feature can be turned on in one click from the referral section in settings.
Congrats! You’re on your way to growing your audience on Substack. If you’re using subscriber referrals, share what other tactics and methods you’ve tried in the comments.
I'm curious if anyone is doing this for entirely free Substacks, and if so what have you created as your rewards?
I think it makes sense as a good way to boost Paid growth, but I'm still not sure if I'm on board with a Leaderboard. It sort of emphasises a need to share share share, without necessarily wanting to share because you felt a post held true value. I don't know, a bit cynical of me maybe.
I'm curious, I might switch it on (as an entirely free Substack), but I'm going to spend time thinking about some weird and silly rewards first.
Yes, lots of writers with free publications have started using referrals. Wesley who we mentioned in the post writers Process, a free Subtack. Checkout his rewards: https://wesley.substack.com/leaderboard
Thanks Katie for sharing Wesley's rewards. I'm about to launch a similar referral program. In thinking about the funnel, do you know if people have been testing and finding success putting a referral blurb and button in their welcome email? Are we able to track if that triggered the conversion? I wonder if it's too early in the funnel to get a new subscriber to start referring a substack and if you've seen any data on that.
Thanks Katie.
I’m the same. As an entirely free Substack with the intention of going paid at some point, I’d still like to start using the referral feature now instead of later. But the leaderboard thing also seems a bit fishy to me, or maybe I just don’t like being reminded of the business side of things. I’d like to think that if I write well, people will come. But it’s not quite so simple, is it?
My newsletter has a paid option, but I don't paywall anything. So it is essentially free. Those who want to support my writing can, but everyone gets everything.
I chose to use collections of stories in ePub and pdf formats as rewards because they are easy to create (I already had two created as eBooks) and the reward process is automated. The reader downloads them from the reward letter they get when they reach a certain number of referrals. I chose low numbers (1,3,5) for rewards because I can't imagine people recommending my newsletter 25 or 50 times.
So it has become a "set it and forget it" system.
I also turned off the leaderboard. It seems a little too gamifying to me.
I think of the rewards as a little "thank you" for sharing my newsletter.
Thanks Mark. That's incredibly helpful. I'm considering what you are discussing - a pdf as incentives, but the numbers - 1,3 or 5 vs 25 or 50, is tricky to figure out. I'm considering surveying some of my loyal readers, bc I don't want to guess and guess wrong.
Thanks Mark, that all sounds very sensible. Agree on the gamification.
I'm in the process of setting it up. My stack is all free and I'm planning to include PDF/EPUB of other writings of mine that normally cost some money.
However, I'm not good with the idea of the leaderboard. It looks to be another number bandwagon feature like badges and "more than x subscribers" on the welcome page. I've heard you can turn the leaderboard off. I hope so.
Ah that's good. I'll definitely turn it off if that's possible.
Good luck with the process :)
I imagine I've got to finish setting it up before all the settings are revealed. You too, good luck with the process!
I'm with you Nathan! I'm a free publication and I don't know what I should offer...Giftcard to starbucks? I don't really know...I don't have a PDF guide or Ebook to offer as I'm not at that stage in my writing career to have done those things. If you have any ideas, could you share them with me? I'd love to grow my audience too!
I don't have many ideas yet either 😅
Maybe a personalised letter/email, the chance to choose a topic for a story, or a prompt, or to write them into a story 😄🤷♂️ I dunno. Could get tricky if one got to lots of followers hitting such milestones!
Hey Nathan! Mine is completely free at the moment, I've set mine up like this:
1 referral - free wallpaper (light mode)
5 referrals - free wallpaper (dark mode)
10 referrals - PDF sharing my desk setup
Far from perfect, but it's definitely a start 😅
That's great, appreciate the input Austin. Cheers.
Those ideas was pretty good!
I include a discount code on my space-inspired artwork in every post. It’s an appreciation offer for readers, no matter if they are subscribers or simply stumbled across my posts on the web. No strings attached.
All my posts have been free from the start and I don’t intend to start charging in the future.
For me, this is consistent with my main original goal for writing a “NERDSletter” ... that being to foster a connection with potential patrons of my artwork and other Space Geeks.
Regarding referrals, my sense is that growing organically, as opposed to offering action dependent rewards, may lead to a subscriber population that is more genuinely interested in what I write about ... as opposed to people who may have signed up as a result of a reward.
That said, I do understand the value of a referral system (whether reward based or not). I always include a “share” button in my posts. And, I have certainly benefited from Substack’s recommendation feature. Getting the word out about your writing seems essential, otherwise you’re just talking to yourself.
Love the thoughts Dave, thanks.
I very much agree re: referrals.
I will switch this on, once I have figured out what to offer. Custom voice messages? An ePub of flash fiction pieces, one of my photos? Free comp on a free Substack seems moot, I agree. And yes, the leaderboard can be switched off.
Great to know leaderboard can be turned off.
Those all sound like great choices 👍
I’m an avid reader but not an author on Substack. However, I’ve noticed that many writers with tiny subscribers numbers don’t allow non-paying readers to either finish the whole article or, more commonly, write or read the comments UNLESS one is a paying subscriber. Do these writers not realize that sophisticated readers of articles are also interested in the Comment section to see the overall quality of the subscription? If I find a writer who puts together intelligent articles, and sometimes has guest writers, and the commentators are informed, intelligent, challenging, and so forth. It is highly likely I will become a faithful PAYING subscriber. If writers think that sophisticated readers are going to buy their subscriptions without the reader, getting enough opportunity to see the full array of what the writer and the commentators have to offer, forget it. I am willing to pay to encourage the writer to continue writing. This is no different than buying something to encourage the seller to continue making and selling their product. I hope this helps.
Thanks for your feedback! It helps to know that comments are an important part of the reading experience for you.
I agree. The substacks I pay for are either entirely open or substantially open, which means I knew exactly what I was paying for.
I can understand why the big hitters on Substack put pretty much everything behind a paywall, but some even ask for payment just to comment on free posts! Which smacks of greed to me. Again, I understand they already have a large loyal following that probably followed them from social media or some other platform but I can't for the life of me understand why they would make it so difficult for newcomers to join in whatever they have to offer. Surely, a better approach would entail maintaining the usual open-ended funnel that leads to even more happy paid subs in the end.
Agreed, but maybe it's a daunting task to keep up with all the people commenting. That could be a lot to read and comment on each day. I don't have that problem. Just started using the comment zone.
Agree completely. For me, the best writers, thinkers and doers don’t need a cent in the first place; they attract readers and commentators because they are committed to 1A, free speech and dialogue. I’m willing and able to pay for that; some aren’t but they should be able to participate.
These are wonderful ideas! Thank you! I especially love the 50% off anything in the merch store option from Ryan Broderick.
You're welcome! I did nothing to contribute to this article and am replying with nothing of substance, but I will graciously accept credit for any positive experience you had from the ideas.
Comped - a word not really used in the UK. I had to check that it means complimentary. 😀
Noted
This might be one of the best add-ons!
Thanks Substack for the great tips 💭🎙️
aren’t you just making very big people even bigger? not gonna change much for new writers whose subscribers don’t even use the platform themselves
This can be said about pretty much every new feature that’s been coming out.
This has already produced results for me! ✨
Hi there! What your results and what did you offer?
Hi there, Lacey! I collaborated with a print company on a limited-edition merch (notepad, pens & stickers). I did the design, they did the printing.
I plan on announcing this new program along with a free book offer and our latest giveaway this Saturday.
I like this feature and hopefully it will be useful. The article helped me understand how it all works.
I don't have paid turned on, but will be offering something that I believe my readers would enjoy: PDF and EPUB copies of other stories of mine that would normally cost some money. I like the idea that I can get it set up and then just let it keep ticking.
Thanks for the helpful intro.
Hiw do you prevent people gaming the system. Every time I’ve tried this in the past, everyone just “refers” themselves at a different email address and most of these programs have substantial anti-gaming detection algorithms. Does yours? Or are we just going to give away paid subs to people for referring themselves?
We have a variety of controls in place to block readers from getting credit for self/spam referrals (suspected fake emails, domains, bad IPs, etc.). We are also closely monitoring for abuse to see if tactics change and will add additional restrictions as necessary. If you do enable the program and suspect spam isn't being caught definitely let us know!
Are we able to see WHO referred WHOM? I'm nervous because, just being honest with you (as a developer who runs a website/blog platform in a different space than substack), your spam filtering for blog comments isn't very good.
love this. Now just need to build my base of subscribers 🤔 and then we are a go!
Same here! 😃
So excited about this feature and way to engage the readers, thank you for building it and mentioning me as an example :)
We're excited to see how Process continues to grow with referrals!
I'm an entirely free Substacker just publishing poetry (who still cares about poetry these days?). Not really sure what else to offer for rewards. Maybe an in-person recitation of your favorite poem of mine? (that would require a LOT of subscribers and some income for the flight/hotel/rental car, etc. LOL...Anyhoo, I'll have to think about it to see what makes sense (if anything). I'm open to any creative suggestions. 1k thanks.
For a poet, the ability to unlock and see live drafts would be pretty neat.
Thanks for the suggestion Michael. I'll think it over. It's always fun for us cultural detectives to get a peek behind the scenes at the creative process.
I have been on Substack for a month now. There's one thing that bothers me above everything else put together. According to Google, I literally don't exist on Substack. Nothing at all shows up. When I was on Medium, Google always found me within a few days. What on earth is going on here? Qwant, DuckDuckGo and Yandex also draw a complete blank. I carefully think of SEO tweaks, but *what's the use* if Substack is completely invisible to the search engines? This is absolutely catastrophic and no one is commenting on it. I checked with lots of other recent Substack pages, they also don't exist for Google. Another writer said that Twitter blocks Substack links, Musk is jealous of Notes. I haven't experienced this, but again -- what is going on? This is the most basic way of building your community, being visible to search.
@Substack Maybe this is not the place for it, but I can't find a place for help/support.
I unpublished 16 posts within a timespan of a few minutes. But only 5 of them show up in my drafts.
Are the others gone?!
That's not supposed to happen, I assume...
I think Substack needs to integrate a way to reach out to paid subscribers and tell them to "introduce a friend." The referral program understood as launching an active email the leaderboard is in my opinion too little to entice. Substack AI, get to work!
Hey Mirko, do you mean reach out to paid subscribers on an ongoing basis about referrals?
Paid subscribers may not want to be bothered more than is necessary: they already pay for a service and are happy to do it. I think more emphasis should be directed toward free subscribers directly from Substack. But I wouldn't know how, I'm just saying as a thought.
You can update your headers and footers so they include info about referrals for free subscribers, but not paid.
Appreciate this feature a lot. My subscribers are gonna love sharing this free content!!!
Thanks for sharing the ideas! I'm working on what will work best for my subscribers, and this is helpful!
This is awesome! Just got mine set up a few days ago and I'm excited to see where it goes 😁
Oh no, I already ran into a snag. I changed the default number of referrals for a level, but the email for that level still says the default number. It's displayed inside a box that I can't edit, can't delete. What do we do?
Hey victor, try saving the reward and refreshing your settings. Once you return to the reward email, it should display the correct number.
I'm having the same issue despite trying the steps you've outlined. Appreciate any guidance!
Thanks for that feature, would love more subscribers to https://hiddenjapan.substack.com/
Taking a serious tilt at this one, I think it's a slick idea.
One peanut gallery suggestion: customizing the tiers is great, but I'd love more control over the Leaderboard page's copy. The more personal I can make all this, the better.
This was really helpful. How do you change the names from Tear 1, Tear 2, and Tear 3 to something like 3 months comp, A Brilliant Reader Challenge, and I write you Greatest moment? I only see an option to edit the reward email.
Hey Nolan, when you go to referrals in your settings you should see a drop down to select the reward you’d like to offer or write in your own like you suggested.
Thank you, unfortunately, I only see an option to "Customize referral reward tiers" and when I click it, I can customize an email, but I can't the words: Tier 1 Reward, Tier 2, etc.
This is a great milestone for the Substack community. I always appreciate you👏
I would be very interested in the ability to set more tiers. Is that currently possible?
Today we only offer three tiers. What do you imagine you might do with more tiers?
I would create a "referral sequence", at first it would be to stimulate word of mouth 1-3, 4-6 would be more along unlocking PDF resources related to my niche, the rewards would get progressively better. 7-10 would be even better more exclusive perks.
It's all about the journey, that's when things get really creative. I'm afraid Katie, 3 tiers just doesn't stimulate my imagination very much. It forces me to choose between lead-magnets, resources and offering comps, and other more personalized customized rewards.
Building Sequences via more "Welcome-Emails" (after x days send y) and Referrals tiers would enable me in practice, to customize the reader journey. That's where customer lifetime value is truly unlocked, imho.
I want to shower my loyal readers with gifts, pamper them with exclusive bonuses, custom badges and truly show my gratitude as they elevate my own reach. Not a trickle, but a waterfall - if that makes sense? tbh, I want to even segment my referral campaigns.
If from India or Nigeria, do xyz. (I'd love that level of detail). Because I believe in customization, that's where the magic happens.
Thanks for the thoughtful feedback Michael! Badges and segmentation are something we have talked about.
Hopefully there is an opportunity for you to get creative within the constraints of their tiers for now.
Is it possible to just have on tier? I basically just want to offer an ebook. Thanks.
I'm trying to understand if these rewards apply automatically (for free subscriptions) or if I apply them manually. Anybody have a clue?
Could you give them a percentage of the subscription?
Am I the only one willing to point out that the screenshot you posted looks suspiciously like you gained a bunch of spam followers who are just gaming the referral system? I looked up some of those users and they seem like bots.
I was reading through the comments and have not been able to find (maybe I missed it?) an answer to:
What happens to a subscriber who completes all three tiers of your referral program?
...are they just done, and you can give them nothing after that?
...does it recycle and start over? I saw someone with people on the leaderboard who referred hundreds of people, but the highest tier was 16.
I'd like to understand this, because I would like to craft rewards to reflect the efforts.
Anyone know the answer??
thanks for this comprehensive breakdown - I feel more informed and less overwhelmed...
Wow, I'm so glad I read this! I'm going to write a short ebook on my method of motivation and building confidence, inculde a video that I produce, and offer it was a reward for referrals. I'm excited to get my subscribers to spread the word, and help me get many more readers.
I want to do this but I haven't turned on paid yet. Is is recommended to do both or one at a time?
I don’t see a “referrals” section in my settings. Can someone point me to it?
Question: If someone abuses the referral program to get free access (creates a ton of emails and refers them), what is Substack doing to prevent this?
How do I track referrals if I have the leaderboard turned off?
Can readers who receive a reward reply to the reward email?
Reason I'm asking: I plan to offer to interview the subscriber for the 2nd reward. If they can reply to the reward email, that would be the easiest way of coordinating.
Is there a way to just offer one tier? If not, what will happen if I don't offer anything for the other two tiers?
Step 1 figure out why my readers value my work. This seems intimidating
and with him Onesimus, our faithful and beloved brother, who is one of you. They will tell you of everything that has taken place here.
Aristarchus my fellow prisoner greets you, and Mark the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you have received instructions—if he comes to you, welcome him),
Col.4.9,Col.4.10&version=ESV
Why would one go there for comfort when they have everything that one wanted from them? And then zap. They took it all
Hallp full work i hopefully friends hallp.
I invite you to reconsider the life of our first human and the last Holy Prophet, which is the path for everyone. A film cannot be made on it because it is against Islam. We are following his life and footsteps. Life and a straight path that leads us to Allah Almighty and become a source of our forgiveness, save us from the punishment of the grave and let our lives also be spent on Islam and the deeds of our Holy Prophet and we will be successful with the help of Allah Amen.Thnks
I would love to subscribe to a Muslim substack, but the first three items were all paid, so I cannot check it out.
You might be interested in my substack (free) about a wondrous discovery about Ishmael in the Samaritan Torah, which can heal the Israel/Palestine agony. I started the Substack in response to the current Gaza horrors.
https://ishmaelhandinhand.substack.com?utm_campaign=email-home&r=rjka5
Your welcome
Still waiting for a usable interface for editing posts on a mobile platform so I can maintain some consistency in how I publish. About half the time I can’t even add a hyperlink to a post, which is crucial when I’m linking to other relevant materials. Please, focus on fixing this.
My bottom line is this:
1) Does it add to the task complextity of being a publisher, editor or writer?
2) Will this increase or decrease the spamflow I have to endure as a reader trying to find the good stuff?
3) Will it increase the politicization of Substack’s most visible and driving content?
4) How does it help us attract new readers from outside the Substack ecosystem?
Hi I want to pitch a feature that substack should include. Who do I contact and how? Thanks.
Great article! I’d really appreciate some help from the community. I’m writing and recording called Basic Econ, explaining the economy simply and how it relates to your everyday! Please check it out and share!
How in Gods name do I unsubscribe? I went through all your stuff and followed the instructions but am still getting emails from you.
The family is growing! Such a spirit!
1 million??? Wow. 😅