Photo by Umberto Cofini on Unsplash
I thought I’d interrupt my usual broadcast of quality new music for a moment and talk about something everyone with a
page will be interested in: growing your subscriber base.Now, if you’re just here for the tunes then duck out right now - I won’t judge. Honest.
Ok, still here? Excellent. I shall begin.
I’m building out my Substack presence for several reasons:
I really like writing about my music, other’s music, the culture of music, music tech, music, music (you get the idea).
There aren’t many music writers or musicians on here. I want to change that.
I’m keen to develop a community of people interested in not only the music, but the reason I’m doing it and the story behind it - my second chance of producing and composing music for a living, and my belief that anyone - at any age - can reboot themselves and start doing something they love.
Substack is really good for engagement vs other platforms so people really are into what you’re producing, and hey everyone seems really friendly here.
A big bonus - it’s growing and developing: video and podcasts are now a thing, as well as the Twitter style ‘Notes’ platform, so it seems like a great place to call home.
Bringing in my people.
But, we’ve all got to start somewhere. About 6 weeks ago, I began using various methods to test the best ways to grow my Substack subscriber base. Over a 24-day testing stretch, split into 4 week sections this included:
Week One.
Platform.
Using social platforms such as Instagram, Threads, LinkedIn etc to drive traffic and subscriptions to my Substack with a reminder that I write here and you should sign up. Yes, you!
Week Two.
Launch.
New exciting content - in this case, a new song release - to boost subscribers using tease content, video and straight-to-camera talking heads pieces. The message? Subscribe here for more of this.
Week Three.
Direct.
Contacting friends, colleagues, and other interested parties directly and politely asking them to sign up.
Week Four.
Interact.
Engage on Substack itself to measure engagement on the platform vs driving to the platform - like other’s posts, comment, chat. Repost. Spend lots of time on Notes.
Obviously, these 4 meathods are not an exhaustive way of growing your base. There are other routes. But, doing a bit of research and following my nose, they appeared to be popular ways of getting the job done.
What happened?
Firstly - and unsurprisingly with lots of activity - my Substack base grew. Over the test period, I added 31 new subscribers and followers which was a 129% increase.
Exciting graph below!
But breaking it down into the weeks is where it gets interesting. Let’s take a look.
Week One.
Platforms.
This was a basic straightforward ‘I write on Substack and you should follow me’ shout.
I put out various content supporting it on Instagram, Threads and LinkedIn.
To be honest, It was a bit tumbleweed. I added 1 new subscriber, and that was a family member (doh). I had 24 likes and views via Reels, Stories and Posts on Meta platforms which converted to 5 Substack visits. On LinkedIn, I had 282 impressions and 6 likes converting to 10 Substack visits.
Basically, nothing much turned the dial here. With Instagram’s current algorithm, it’s so hard to get discovered (unless you’re a cat or doing a dance, possibly with a cat) that you don’t get noticed. Threads is too early in its product cycle to really drive traffic I think (I don’t do Twitter anymore so I can’t compare), and LinkedIn seems to get quite a bit of views there but doesn’t convert.
I think partially, this may be down to the content - I wasn’t offering anything ‘new’ just a reminder shout. People were probably a bit ‘meh’.
So, let’s try something new and different then, shall we?
Week Two.
Launch.
Taking the learnings and methods from Week One, I applied them to a new launch for my song ‘The Saunton Incident’ - this included 3/4 days of teasing stories and reels on Instagram and Threads, a few added Notes on Substack and then a big launch with a music video and accompanying behind the scenes blog post. The whole nine yards.
Whilst I only added an extra 4 subscribers, the video element and ‘newness’ of the content did provide a boost. I had 876 likes/views/comments on Meta platforms leading to 22 Substack visits so well up on week one. LinkedIn was pretty much static.
Percentage-wise, reviewing my Substack traffic, it was mostly on-platform via email and direct. Meta platforms drove around 11% per cent of traffic, whilst LinkedIn was a mighty 2% (bear in mind, I have over 600+ connections on Linkedin - but more on this later…)
What does this tell us? This week showed that if you produce better, more exciting content then in theory you get better traffic and added subscribers, however there mitigating factors such as type of content, when you post it etc which can affect the outcomes.
I also tried something new that week - a direct to camera video of me chatting through the launch of the new song. This seemed to be popular and bears out a suspicion that people don’t just want to see/hear/read the creation, but want to hear from the creator.
Week Three.
Direct.
Whilst this seems obvious - contacting friends, family and colleagues to get them to sign up - it’s easily the most scary of all the tactics to grow your Substack. With social you just stick your message out there, but with an email or message request, you’re talking to a real person and asking them directly to sign up.
Big boy trousers pulled up and carefully written messages sent, how did it go?
The best week so far. Out of 77 direct requests, I added 20 new subscribers via this route. So on average, 36% of people contacted directly took positive action.
Meanwhile, a trickle of Meta/LinkedIn traffic contributed to around 20 visits which was helped by my announcement that one of my tracks ‘Cranberry’ was appearing on BBC Radio. I also released another new song called ‘Waterkooler’ within the time period (with relevant social support).
So, while traffic and subscription numbers could have been skewed a little by ‘new news’ and content, the bulk of new subscribers were from direct requests. It works.
Week Four.
Interact.
This period was all about working the Substack platform. I spent quite a bit of time adding Notes, commenting and liking and following new Substackers.
Within this period, I also released another new music (with video) track called ‘Behind Curtains, Under Bed’ along with a full-written piece called ‘The Progression Paradox’.
The numbers? I’d gained 6 new subscribers/followers by the end of the period. Traffic-wise, it was mostly via email/direct with only a tiny percentage (under 6%) coming from social platforms even though I was supporting with Reels, Stories and Posts in a similar manner to week 2 (albeit with a bit less frequency). LinkedIn impressions were up on that platform, but didn’t really convert to visits or subscriptions on Substack.
Overall view traffic.
Across the total 4-week test period total (not just on particular test weeks which could be from 4 to 6 days long), the following was the percentage of traffic attributed to different sources via the Substack analytics.
Figures are rounded for simplicity.
As you can see - on platform and email gave me the most views.
What did I learn?
Ok, so this is the bit you’ve been waiting for. After a few weeks testing of different methods to grow my Substack - what works?
Firstly, a massive galaxy-sized caveat - this is me. It’s my content and creative, so your mileage may vary depending on audience, demographic etc. Also, I only did some of this once and trying different methods at different times in different ways might yield different results. That’s a lot of different.
However, there are some little gems I can impart based on my findings so far:
Action leads to subscribers.
Put the leg work in to drive traffic in whatever way you want, but keep doing it and you’ll see some level of results.Direct is best.
If you can ask people directly to subscribe then it’s the best way to do it. It’s a personal thing - they know you or have some sort of connection so will have a greater chance of getting on board.If you can do a video, then do it.
I’m lucky - I work in a medium where I can add video to my music. If you can add video to your posts, then it certainly helps. Alternatively, try a podcast?Social is hard work.
Whilst it’s daft to not do at least some social support when you’re launching a new post or piece of original content, it’s not a great subscription driver unless you have an existing large base on those platforms. This may change when Meta changes the algorithm, but don’t expect miracles.
LinkedIn is weird.
There, I said it. What I found was straight ‘marketing launches’ lead to very little interest, but a bit more interest when there was a longer form opinion piece or direct to camera. I strongly suspect that LinkedIn from a cultural POV is based on a transactional culture. People expect to find something out, or be given an opportunity or get a job etc and just aren’t that interested otherwise - it’s not what they are there for in the first place.
Choose your social weapon.
This leads me to the obvious conclusion: choose where, when and how much effort you put into your social networks carefully when trying to drive traffic to Substack. If you’ve got a marketing/new creative launch then maybe it’s Instagram et al or if it’s an industry opinion then the effort should be LinkedIn. This sounds obvious, but the tendency is to announce everywhere. It may not be the best use of your energy.Make it ‘Substack First’
One thing I started doing was very much looking after my lovely subscribers - they’re interested in what I’m doing so why not make them the first to hear about it? Bring the love. So, all new pieces of content/music I produce get posted here first, then a delay, posted on social to drive traffic as a follow-up. After all, looking at the figures most of my traffic and engagement is from current/new subscribers and from Substack itself, proving once people are ‘in’ they are engaged. Brilliant!Be a bit more personal.
Yes, I know. Lots of people (me included) hate being on video. However, my stats showed it drove traffic - so get your iPhone out, record yourself and post it in a Note - try it. Go on.
It’s the personal touch - it shows you care and you’re a real, breathing human!Work the platform
Say hi, hit like. Write a comment. Follow people. Restack your Notes. Have an opinion. It works.
So. Well done for making it this far.
To sum up, there’s no silver bullet to building your base, but I did add lots of subscribers during the test period using the methods above. There are loads of details and little bits I learnt that I’ve not mentioned here as it would be a massive post, but do ask me if you have any questions.
Thanks to all of you who joined up then - or since - I’m really glad you’re here and there are lots of exciting treats upcoming so stick around. You’re not just numbers to me, you’re a community of interested people, and that’s something special.
If you’re not a subscriber? Why not! Hit the button below.
That’s a lot of detail there, very interesting. I’ve been trying a similar thing, to be an active music creator on Substack. I got quite a few subs initially probably in a similar way from Instagram and direct and engaging with Substack but seems to have plateaued somewhat. All you can do is keep making content you think is good in the end. 👍