I analyzed the Growth Strategies Behind Today's Biggest Newsletters

TLDR

Content Curation, not Content Creation

• Many of the largest newsletters are not creating original content, instead they are curating content and distilling the most important information for their audience.

Product over Revenue

• During each stage of growth, the founders of each newsletter made decisions to improve the quality of their newsletters, even if it meant less revenue in the short term.

Milestone Based Referral Programs

• Every newsletter had a referral program, which they all continue to maintain, and many of the founders say outright that the referral programs were the key to their growth.

• Referral programs were structured so that the first milestone was easy to achieve, and providing the first milestone prize cost the newsletters nothing. This was usually membership to a closed Facebook group.

• Prizes for higher milestones were structured so that as the value of the prize increased, the acquisition cost of every additional subscriber actually decreased.
  Delivery Time

Delivery Time

• Each newsletter arrives at 6am, not only a time when subscribers are mentally fresh and ready for news, but also a time that helps to ensure a higher open rate.