Thanks for another informative article. Reading the Substack stats is often a frustrating exercise both by just finding the numbers and understanding what they mean. I certainly like to see numbers move in a positive direction but I track and fret over them less now than I did. Part of the reason is that I reduced from weekly posts to monthly posts for the summer while I work on the first draft of a new novel. I plan on getting back to my weekly cycle after Labor Day.
This is absolutely perfect timing! Well done again @BadRedhead Media (Rachel) wjth spot in advice, I have just posted a note about this exact thing, why my articles only average 30% open rate 😁
Well, I figure if I'm curious, so are others. And with clients leaving Mailchimp and similar platforms, these are valid concerns. Will their numbers tank? I haven't seen that (yet - most grow much faster here), but it is important to find out this stuff IMO.
Yes, thanks for this. I get what you mean about paid subscribers are supporting our work, but also feel anyone who subscribes, paid or not, follows us, forwards us, etc. Anyone, in this day and age we're living in, who takes a moment to read our words, is supporting us. We just may not know it the way receiving money does. Thanks again!
Thanks for this. I still only have 46 subscribers, which feels really sad, but I have a LOT more views than that, so now I don’t have to feel sad at all.
I had never heard of BookThrone before so I popped over to check it out. OMG! The third party popups! Are you sure they are legit and give ‘clean’ subscribers? I’m put off by all the SPAM that keeps floating in front of their home page, obscuring their content.
Hi Chris! Oh, that's a bummer. And strange - I just checked it and got zero pop-ups. I'm in the US - not sure where you're located.
I like Booksweeps best TBH, but I haven't had bad luck with the BookThrone author portal. They both run mass book newsletters, but they have to comply with the CAN-SPAM Act and GDPR guidelines. I've done several promos with them (around $30), and all subscribers opted in; I had no issues importing them.
That said, if it feels off-putting, try a different company, such as Booksweeps. They tend to offer more variety. Try this link, maybe: https://www.bookthrone.com/author-services - takes you to the author portal.
I must thank you for all your free tips on making the most of the SEO and the taglines behind each post. I had no idea until I read your suggestions, and I have gone back to the beginning of my five posts on the French Resistance, duly adding the important detail for each one, also linking two related articles. I don’t have many subscribers, but I am gaining visibility and authority with the AI big beasts, and with a WWII novel ready to go, I am satisfied. But for you, I would be floundering. I note your invitation to leave a tip so that Pip can enjoy a good treat, and will get it done after I have checked my francs. Meanwhile my two cats are staying cool inside, with temperatures outside at a record level of 40 degrees Centigrade. It’s flaming hot!
So hot! I'm in Northern California, where summers are usually 100F or more, but we have AC pretty much everywhere. Pip is indoor only. IDK how our furry friends survive outside in this heat.
Thank you for letting me know this stuff is helpful. I always hope so! Once you have a book out (or if you already do), you can look into subscriber surge giveaways via Booksweeps or BookThrone - both are legit and all subs are opt-in.
Thank you for the offer of a tip! Never expected, always appreciated. x
Substack stats indicated a certain subscriber never opened emails, however, she was consistently "liking" my posts and commenting. So what's going on, Rachel? She explained that she responds when she gets an alert on her phone (vs her desktop) . . . . . so her "open rate" was not being registered. Hmmmm.
That makes sense if she was reading in the Substack app rather than opening the email itself. In that case, the "never opened emails" statistic could still be correct. I mostly read folks on the website rather than email, but everyone is different.
It's a good reminder that email opens and actual readership aren't always the same thing. Some subscribers engage primarily through the app, notifications, bookmarks, or direct visits rather than through email. Neither is 'better' or worse. Hope that helps?
This helped me so much, thank you. I didn't brave looking at stats until last week and I'm still confused. Most of my views (1.3k) are from 'unknown'. I had no idea what that meant but from what I (think I) understand, this could be where the article has been shared? I'll get to grips with it in time and this article really helped. Thanks again x
Some of the analytics are obvious, others are like, huh? I'm still figuring it all out. I'm so glad it helped! And yes, "Unknown" is one of the most confusing stats in Substack.
It doesn't necessarily mean your article was shared elsewhere. It usually means Substack couldn't identify the source of the visit due to privacy concerns. That can include email clicks, text messages, apps that strip referral data, some browsers with privacy settings, copied-and-pasted links, and a few other places where tracking information gets lost.
Right? I think it's because we've been trained to expect newsletter analytics to behave one way, and when we factor in the indexing, it changes things.
So helpful! I really appreciate this!
Thanks, Laura 🙏
You're welcome! :D
Good article, thanks for that
Thanks so much, Aden! Appreciated it.
Thanks for another informative article. Reading the Substack stats is often a frustrating exercise both by just finding the numbers and understanding what they mean. I certainly like to see numbers move in a positive direction but I track and fret over them less now than I did. Part of the reason is that I reduced from weekly posts to monthly posts for the summer while I work on the first draft of a new novel. I plan on getting back to my weekly cycle after Labor Day.
Keep these helpful articles coming.
Thanks, Bruce! I thought about doing the same - we shall see...
Another really helpful article, thanks Rachel!
Thanks so much, Susie!
This is absolutely perfect timing! Well done again @BadRedhead Media (Rachel) wjth spot in advice, I have just posted a note about this exact thing, why my articles only average 30% open rate 😁
See, I guess I knew that! Perfect timing for sure, Paul.
Sure
Mind reader Rachel 😉
Well, I figure if I'm curious, so are others. And with clients leaving Mailchimp and similar platforms, these are valid concerns. Will their numbers tank? I haven't seen that (yet - most grow much faster here), but it is important to find out this stuff IMO.
Yes, thanks for this. I get what you mean about paid subscribers are supporting our work, but also feel anyone who subscribes, paid or not, follows us, forwards us, etc. Anyone, in this day and age we're living in, who takes a moment to read our words, is supporting us. We just may not know it the way receiving money does. Thanks again!
So welcome, Ed. Glad it's helpful.
Thanks for this. I still only have 46 subscribers, which feels really sad, but I have a LOT more views than that, so now I don’t have to feel sad at all.
Not at all, Tom! You're doing great. I do like BookThrone and Booksweeps for actively getting legit opt-in subscribers, but it's money, honey - $30 to $100 average. Active growth works a lot more efficiently than passive growth. More here: https://badredheadmediallc.substack.com/p/what-are-book-giveaway-subscriber?r=1k6ce
I had never heard of BookThrone before so I popped over to check it out. OMG! The third party popups! Are you sure they are legit and give ‘clean’ subscribers? I’m put off by all the SPAM that keeps floating in front of their home page, obscuring their content.
Hi Chris! Oh, that's a bummer. And strange - I just checked it and got zero pop-ups. I'm in the US - not sure where you're located.
I like Booksweeps best TBH, but I haven't had bad luck with the BookThrone author portal. They both run mass book newsletters, but they have to comply with the CAN-SPAM Act and GDPR guidelines. I've done several promos with them (around $30), and all subscribers opted in; I had no issues importing them.
That said, if it feels off-putting, try a different company, such as Booksweeps. They tend to offer more variety. Try this link, maybe: https://www.bookthrone.com/author-services - takes you to the author portal.
I must thank you for all your free tips on making the most of the SEO and the taglines behind each post. I had no idea until I read your suggestions, and I have gone back to the beginning of my five posts on the French Resistance, duly adding the important detail for each one, also linking two related articles. I don’t have many subscribers, but I am gaining visibility and authority with the AI big beasts, and with a WWII novel ready to go, I am satisfied. But for you, I would be floundering. I note your invitation to leave a tip so that Pip can enjoy a good treat, and will get it done after I have checked my francs. Meanwhile my two cats are staying cool inside, with temperatures outside at a record level of 40 degrees Centigrade. It’s flaming hot!
So hot! I'm in Northern California, where summers are usually 100F or more, but we have AC pretty much everywhere. Pip is indoor only. IDK how our furry friends survive outside in this heat.
Thank you for letting me know this stuff is helpful. I always hope so! Once you have a book out (or if you already do), you can look into subscriber surge giveaways via Booksweeps or BookThrone - both are legit and all subs are opt-in.
Thank you for the offer of a tip! Never expected, always appreciated. x
Substack stats indicated a certain subscriber never opened emails, however, she was consistently "liking" my posts and commenting. So what's going on, Rachel? She explained that she responds when she gets an alert on her phone (vs her desktop) . . . . . so her "open rate" was not being registered. Hmmmm.
That makes sense if she was reading in the Substack app rather than opening the email itself. In that case, the "never opened emails" statistic could still be correct. I mostly read folks on the website rather than email, but everyone is different.
It's a good reminder that email opens and actual readership aren't always the same thing. Some subscribers engage primarily through the app, notifications, bookmarks, or direct visits rather than through email. Neither is 'better' or worse. Hope that helps?
Yes. I was confused by "never opened emails," which seem disheartening. Turns out there is an explanation!‼️
Yup. They don't explain it very well.
This helped me so much, thank you. I didn't brave looking at stats until last week and I'm still confused. Most of my views (1.3k) are from 'unknown'. I had no idea what that meant but from what I (think I) understand, this could be where the article has been shared? I'll get to grips with it in time and this article really helped. Thanks again x
Some of the analytics are obvious, others are like, huh? I'm still figuring it all out. I'm so glad it helped! And yes, "Unknown" is one of the most confusing stats in Substack.
It doesn't necessarily mean your article was shared elsewhere. It usually means Substack couldn't identify the source of the visit due to privacy concerns. That can include email clicks, text messages, apps that strip referral data, some browsers with privacy settings, copied-and-pasted links, and a few other places where tracking information gets lost.
In other words, "Unknown" doesn't mean "bad" or "mysterious." It just means Substack knows someone read your post, but not exactly how they got there. This might help https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/4415094770964-Where-can-I-see-how-readers-got-to-my-Substack-post
As a data geek, this has been a sticking point with me...
Right? I think it's because we've been trained to expect newsletter analytics to behave one way, and when we factor in the indexing, it changes things.
I agree to this completely. And somehow Substack analytics give us so much high value information… we just need to be able to interpret them properly.
I bet this helps a lot of people!
Thank you, Birgit! I hope so. It's been a long learning curve for many of us - happy to share what I learn.
To be honest, Rachel, I wish I'd found this article a year ago... it would have saved me a sleepless night or four for sure
Aw, well, now we both know! 🤔
😉😽