Here's How I grew My Newsletter From 0 to 1,000 [14 Lessons]

🥳Finally, Content Marketing VIP is a family of 1k members.

Here's the journey overview:

Jan 01, 2021 → 440 subscribers
Sep 16, 2021→ 1,000 subscribers

Here are 14 lessons that will help you to get your first 1,000 newsletter subscribers.

1/ Be very clear from the beginning

newsletter growing

Instead of randomly creating content and clicking the publish button, have a plan.

Before starting your newsletter, figure out:

Who's this newsletter for?
What benefits will they get?
What will be the content structure?

2/ Optimize the landing page

optimize landing page

Must-haves for the landing page:

Short & relevant heading
What value your users will get when they sign up for your newsletter?
What benefits your users will get from your upcoming emails?
How often?

3/ Add social proof

social proof

When it comes to the placement of testimonials, near the CTA worked really well for me.

4/ Content platforms

It's important to pick 1 or 2 content platforms & stick to it for at least 3 months.

What worked for me:

Pick 1/2 platforms to grow your audience
Target communities (FB, Linkedin, IH, etc.) in your niche
Share valuable content customized to the platform

5/ Content creation

Resource-based content was a gamechanger:

create resources

-Make/compile useful resources
-Create a database (GS/Airtable/Notion)
-Give access to the users for free
-Make it gated

Note: In the welcome email, inform the users what they can expect in the future.

6/ Build an SEO flywheel

SEO

You cannot entirely rely on other's platforms to get new subscribers.

Start a blog and optimize it for SEO.

Once you start driving traffic, you can:

Embed signup forms in the article
Optimize the home page for the newsletter conversion

7/ Curate

Creating content consistently can be hard for you.

Solution?

Content curation.

You can share expert advice
Case studies
Quotes
Tools
Latest update in your category, etc.

8/ Content repurposing

Once you start repurposing your content, you'll see a 10x content reach.

content repurpose

Turn your tweets into a FB & LinkedIn posts
Create micro-content pieces from the long-form article, etc

Note: Don't be shy to reshare the best performing content multiple times.

9/ Feature others

Ask influencers and experts to contribute to your newsletter.

Benefits?

You get valuable content for the audience
Chance to build relationships with experts
They might also share the newsletter once it goes live.
Tag them on social media.

10/ Test, Test, & Test

You should measure:

Which type of content are driving the most traffic & conversion?

Once you know it, double down your effort on the content format.

11/ Optimizing Email Signature

On average, a person sends about 40 emails per day.

That means every day; you have a chance to show up your message in at least 40 emails.

All you need to do is add an email signature to your email service providers (Gmail, Yahoo mail, etc.).

email signature

12/ Optimize Your Social Bios

Chances are you’re already active on multiple platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

Optimize the social bio and add the newsletter URL there.

To measure the traffic, you can use bit. ly

13/ Get feedback

Don't assume that your newsletter is subscribe-worthy.
Always test before the change.

Add a feedback form
Measure NPS score
Run surveys to understand what your audience wants to see

It helps you understand:

What content to share?
How often? etc.

14/ Prune Your Email List Periodically

2 key reasons for cleaning up your email list:

It makes you pay more to emails marketing software, and unnecessarily your ROI reduces.
Little to no interaction with your emails can be a sign that Gmail may de-prioritize your emails.

TL;DR

Build a strategy
Optimize the landing page
Add social proof
Pick 1 or 2 platforms
Start a blog
Curate
Content Repurposing
Feature others
Optimize Email Signature/social bios
Get feedback from users
Prune email list

I hope this helps you to get your first 1k subscribers soon.

Anyway, I run a content marketing newsletter that sends actionable marketing insights that are easy to digest and implement.

Here, you can join the newsletter: https://iamrafiqul.com/newsletter/

Have any questions?

Leave below. I'd love to help you with my experience.