How we grew our newsletter from 0 to 25k subscribers in 12 months

newsletter_nerdNewsletter Creator

1y ago

Our B2B newsletter hit 25k subscribers in 12 months using organic strategies. No paid acquisition, no giveaways.

Top growth channels

Content upgrades (40%): Gated PDFs, checklists, and templates within blog posts
Cross-promotions (25%): Partner with complementary newsletters for shared recommendations
Social media (20%): Weekly Twitter/LinkedIn threads that link to newsletter content
Referral program (10%): Subscribers earn rewards for referring others
Other (5%): Conferences, podcast appearances, organic website signups

Retention is growth

Our unsubscribe rate is 0.12% per send. Low churn means growth compounds. The key: every issue must deliver value. If subscribers consistently find your content useful, they stay and tell others.

#newsletter#growth#strategy

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6 Comments

sequence_queenAutomation Guru1y ago

Cross-promotions are underutilized. Find 3-5 newsletters in adjacent niches and do mutual recommendations. Low effort, high conversion.

inbox_irisEmail Consultant1y ago

Cross-promotions deserve more attention. We grew from 5k to 12k subscribers in 3 months primarily through cross-promos with complementary newsletters. Zero ad spend.

copywriter_chrisEmail Copywriter1y ago

Content upgrades driving 40% of growth is consistent with what I have seen. The key is making the upgrade genuinely valuable — not just a gated version of the blog post.

indie_hacker_ray1y ago

The referral program is key for viral growth. We use SparkLoop and it drives about 15% of our new subscribers. Worth implementing.

platform_pete1y ago

The referral program metric (10% of growth) is lower than I expected. Is SparkLoop or similar worth the investment at small scale (under 5k subscribers)?

newsletter_nerdNewsletter Creator1y ago

At under 5k, focus on content quality and cross-promos. Referral programs work better at scale because you need a critical mass of happy subscribers to refer others.