Have you ever subscribed to something… forgot about it… but kept paying for it for months and months?
It happens all the time, especially for low-priced subscriptions.
Sometimes I know I should cancel something… but at only $5/month, it’s so far down my priority list I never get around to it.
As a content subscription business owner, you might think buy-and-forget sounds great.
It can’t be a bad thing that people are paying you… right?
Wrong.
Paying-and-forgetting is a sign of indifference. Indifference is bad. It means readers don’t care about your content.
You want readers to care deeply about your content. The opposite of indifference is engagement. You want a highly engaged subscriber base. Engaged readers open everything you send and eagerly look forward to hearing from you again.
Highly engaged readers are a secret weapon for growing your subscription business. They tell their friends to subscribe to your newsletter. They rave about you on social media. They renew forever. They’re first in line to buy new products you launch.
If you can hit a critical mass of highly engaged subscribers… your business can grow on autopilot… without you doing any marketing!
So… how do you know if your readers are highly engaged?
Here are 4 simple ways to measure engagement:
1. Watch your open rates… but beware the pitfalls
Subscribers can’t read your content if they don’t open it.
“Open rate” is the number of subscribers who open your email as a percentage of who receive it.
A “good” open rate varies depending on all sorts of factors.
But anything over 50% is amazing.
Below 15%, you might have a problem.
But the truth is, open rates aren’t as useful as they used to be.
In 2021, Apple made a big change that makes it impossible to accurately know if an iPhone or Mac user opened your email. An estimated 52% of emails are viewed on these devices. So, don’t put much faith in your raw open rate.
Instead, watch for trends. You want your open rates to rise over time.
By far the #1 thing you can do to boost open rates is…
Improve your subject lines.
The best subject lines:
- Pack an emotional punch
- Hit at least 1 of the “4 Us” – Unique, Useful, Urgent, Ultra-specific
- Create a sense of curiosity, urgency, or importance
- Shorter is usually better, but not always.
This email headline analyzer from CoSchedule is a helpful tool if you’re stuck.
2. Clicks
While you can’t trust open rates these days… you can trust clicks. They’re a much more accurate way to measure engagement.
If people are clicking on links in your content, it means they’re paying attention. It means your thoughts are resonating.
So give your readers something to click. Link to other content you’ve written. Link to other creators you like. Link to a complimentary article.
Use tracking links so you know what your readers are clicking on. Over time, you’ll see trends develop. What gets clicked most? Least? Use this info to create more content your readers will love.
A click through rate of 20% or more is very high. You’ll typically only see that when you give readers a clear “Call to Action” – you tell them to click on a specific link and give them a good reason to do so.
“Passive” links typically see click through rates of less than 1.0%. This is when you casually link to something informational, but you don’t emphasize it. Like in the next sentence.
3. Shares
If you’re a Substack creator, one of the metrics available in your Posts section is shares.
If people are sharing your content, it’s clear it’s so good they felt the need to tell others about it.
To get more shares, write about emotionally compelling ideas. The more you connect with your readers on an emotional level, the more your ideas will stick with them, and the more they’ll share.
4. Replies
This is when your readers write you back!
It’s the holy grail of engagement.
When readers take the time to write to you or leave a comment, it means they REALLY care about your ideas. For every 1 subscriber who writes you back, there are likely 10 more who loved your content but didn’t take the time to reply.
The responses won’t always be nice, especially in comment sections. This is the internet, after all. Some people are angry jerks. That’s okay! An angry response is better than no response, as you’ll see in a second…
3 ways to boost engagement on your next email
1. Become a master of writing great subject lines
I’m repeating this because it’s so important. A great subject line can get 3x – 4x more people to read your content than a mediocre one.
A rookie mistake I see all the time: don’t summarize the content of your article in the subject line.
Instead, use this easy shortcut:
First, identify the main benefit the reader will get from reading your content.
Then put it in your subject line.
Look at the title of this post: “How to get readers opening and loving your content.”
As a subscription business owner, you want that, right?
I did not title it “Why engagement is so important.”
2. Listen to your subscribers
Once you start measuring engagement, it’s easier to identify what works and what doesn’t.
A simple way to boost engagement is to do more of what’s working.
Let’s say you write about Bitcoin and it gets 10 replies, 5x the number of replies you’d normally get. That’s a signal: write more about bitcoin.
Double down on content that generates the most engagement.
Do more of what works!
3. Don’t be afraid to polarize
I mentioned that negative responses aren’t necessarily a bad thing.
If you’re saying something worth saying, some will disagree.
That’s okay. It’s much better to get replies from people who disagree with you than to be ignored.
Like radio legend Howard Stern:
Researcher: The average Howard Stern fan listens for an hour and twenty minutes.
Kenny: But what about the people who hate Stern?
Researcher: The average Stern hater listens for two and a half hours a day.
Kenny:: But… if they hate him, why do they listen?
Researcher: Most common answer: “I want to see what he’ll say next.”
Don’t try to be polarizing. Instead, develop a thoughtful stance and stick to it. If you’re saying something that others aren’t, the feedback will roll in.