What strategies do you usually use for growing your social media and newsletter when you stagnate?
A few weeks ago, I started to feel like I had hit a plateau on social media, especially with my Substack newsletter. I couldn’t seem to get past a certain number of subscribers (stagnation).
In similar situations, I’ve noticed that people often either:
– run a giveaway
– pay for ads
These techniques are generally fine, but I don’t want to rely on external incentives like giveaways. People are usually only motivated to follow for a short period – and mainly because they want to get something "for free". They get used to that kind of reward quickly.
Instead, I decided to try a different approach:
I started posting in communities on X (instead of just posting to my feed)
I began collaborating with other creators for newsletter content
I joined private Discord communities where there’s more connection and support among creators (smaller communities can also be powerful because you get to know each other better)
Do you have any tried-and-true strategies for overcoming stagnation on social media or with your newsletter?
Looking forward to them.
P.S.: For those who celebrate,
Happy Easter! 🐣
Replies
I think the reason why you stagnate is not really social media but the quality of the product you are working on.
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@ajinsunny At the moment, I am not promoting any specific product.
@busmark_w_nika Sure, and Happy Easter!
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@ajinsunny :D Thank you! Likewise.
Usually stagnation comes fast when you only rely on your social media followers. Maybe you can start trying cross-promotion with other writers, it usually works well
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@david_conelly Thank you, David, for this point. Actually, I started with shared articles on Substack, so let's see how it goes. :)
@busmark_w_nika Keep us posted, I'm super interested in the outcome! 😀
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@david_conelly In the last 4 months I gathered around 700 subscribers, not bad :D
@busmark_w_nika Well, that's pretty impressive actually! Good job, I hope you keep up the pace 🥳🥳
Whenever I hit a growth air pocket in my substacks I:
1) reach out to my top readers and ask for suggested article topics, anyone who responds THEN I ask for their help spreading the word while I work on getting their article published
2) DM your network on X / LNKD and ask for their feedback, if they are interested in helping, send your 2 best pieces and ask for feedback...
3) Network with other substack authors and cross-post + guest post.
4) Earned media campaign... go appear on a podcast or attend an event and then write about it afterward!
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@matt__mcdonagh Hey Matt, thank you for the extensive breakdown.
I have additional questions:
1)
– How do you find those top readers? According to interactions/engagement (comments, likes) or the "star" rating system?
– Do you somehow also differentiate between newsletter readers and Substack notes readers?
3) I already applied this one. Does it make sense to also collaborate with people who have maybe 100 fewer subscribers than I, or should I collaborate with bigger creators?
@busmark_w_nika
The star system is hit or miss. The star system rewards people who's spam checkers open emails dozens of times, etc.. Meanwhile Apple mail provides no feedback on opens at all, also making stars a little weak.
I go by clicks/comments/likes.
Not to sound like a "taker" but Substacks with 100 or even 500 readers are too small to be worthwhile audience growth tactic. Let's say after 90-days of committed commenting / engaging under their articles, you earn 3% of their audience... that's 3 to 15 new subs.
If the substack you were targeting had 2500 subs and you managed the same feat.. that single substack might net you upward of 75 new subs every 90-days. If you are active across 5 or 6 substacks like that, the gains start to add up!
Two things that helped me:
1) Naval Ravikant RTd me on X including a link to my substack
2) I appeared on Robert Breedlove's "What is Money" podcast and got a lot of earned media from that
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@matt__mcdonagh Did Robert invite you to the podcast, or did you reach out to him?
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@matt__mcdonagh BTW, thanks for that take with Substack accounts, I could engage with the tactic. Sounds legit to me. :)
What kind of X communities do you use? Never heard anyone talking about them before.
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@admiralrohan Namely: Buildinpublic, startup – I do not think I can somehow link them because it is like "Feed". So probably you need to find it via the Twitter Explorer function.
@busmark_w_nika I am in the build in public community but never knew! Thanks for sharing, have to explore this more.
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@vladimir_zivkovic Members of the community tend to receive notifications, and these posts are related to the group they are part of it so it also shows in the feed.
Hey Nika! Some thoughts on how to push past the early plateau:
Three levers to pull -
Audience: If your niche isn’t tapped out, find creators in the same orbit and cross-post or co-create.
Distribution: Take your best performing posts and repurpose them into formats that travel—carousels, short videos, threads. Then use a paywall to convert interest into subs.
Offering: Most newsletters promise “latest insights on X,” but inboxes are already crowded. What’s the extra pull? Maybe it’s subscriber-only live sessions, AMAs, or early access to something your audience don't want to miss.
Hope this helps!
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@kelvinhach Thanks, Kelvin.
@busmark_w_nika Glad it was helpful, Nika! Let me know if you test any of those :)
Knock Knock Jokes for Kids
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@zcnlsn So probably I need to change something in my content creation, because it doesn't attract so many people as I want :D
DataTable.dev
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@angelinashv So should I stop posting for a short period of time?
DataTable.dev
@busmark_w_nika It'll work if you have an active fan base and pretty predictable posting schedule, so people will keep wondering where've you been. And then you come with something new (or marketed as cool and new).
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@angelinashv This is a good point. It works for IG stories, too. When you post another one after 48 hours, people are more likely to be tuned.