Deep Dive

The #1 Newsletter Growth Tactic You’re Probably Not Using

Here’s a growth hack that will work for most newsletters — but very few people are using it:

• Pre-Newsletter Call To Action (Pre-CTA)

• Post-Newsletter Call To Action (Post-CTA)

Here’s how they work:

Pre-Newsletter Call To Action (Pre-CTA)

This is where you tell people about what your newsletter covers around 24 hours before it’s sent.

Here’s an example:

With Pre-CTAs, you can create:

• Fear of missing out (FOMO) on your content

• Urgency to sign up and get access to the content

• Curiosity to see what the newsletter content is about

Plus, Pre-CTAs make it easy to tell followers about your newsletter.

You’re just telling followers what you’re writing about and asking them to sign up to read it.

If followers are interested in that content, they’ll subscribe.

I recommend posting a Pre-CTA once a week.

This tactic is simple but effective. I’ve found that Pre-CTAs drive more subscribers than my successful Twitter threads.

Pre-CTA Examples

Here’s a list of 20+ Pre-CTA examples.

Post-Newsletter Call To Action (Post-CTA)

You guessed it… Post-CTAs are when you tell followers about your newsletter content after it was posted.

It’s best to do these immediately after you send the newsletter or the next day.

Post-CTA are less effective than Pre-CTAs, but they still work.

Here’s an example:

There are 3 different ways to get sign-ups from Post-CTAs

1. Direct people to a link where they can read the newsletter on your blog. There should be email capture forms within and after your blog content and/or on the left/right rail of the content.

2. Ask people to sign up to get access to the newsletter content (example). In your welcome email include a link to your recent newsletter issues where new subscribers can read the content.

3. Send people to an email-gated article where they must enter their email to get access to the content. This can be done with beehiiv.

Post-CTA Examples

Here’s a list of 10+ Post-CTA examples.