Wow! I never knew this existed. I just set up my dashboard like this and it really changed my perspective on my subscriber base. I no longer feel like I'm shouting into the void.
“When we allow data to function in the background, we give ourselves permission to stay present with our writing and our readers. We become more engaged in the act of creation rather than distracted by numbers that may or may not represent real value.”
☝️Love this!
I’ve set a routine of deleting inactive emails from my list every six months or so because I prefer active engagement versus high subscriber count. I think it’s an example of how data can ground us, calm our anxiety, and help us be present, as you’ve said. I can let go of inactive subscribers (thus lowering my subscriber count) because I can see how much my active readers are engaging.
I totally understand the instinct to clean things up on a list. I go through and remove the gobbledygook-y looking email addresses occasionally too.
Just be sure you’re basing the clean-up on a reliable metric on substack like their total post views or unique post views — and not email opens. Pretty sure you already know that, but just in case anyone else is scrolling by… email open rates are notoriously unreliable. All the major email providers have a knack for blocking access to track email opens. It’s also worth noting that the activity rating on Substack would be helpful to cross check before deleting someone — some folks are more active on Notes and interact with you there but just don’t make it over to play in your archive much (which is where post views would track their engagement with your posts but could overlook that they like your Notes). 🙃
I'd be interested in a post sometime on how to interpret filters in these areas. My sense is that if I only have 43 users out of 2800+ subscribers who have viewed 2 unique posts in the last 30 days (half of what I posted over that period), that is not good.
If maybe 9-10% of my overall subscribers are active, should I think about purging emails or moving those over to a different list for other marketing purposes?
I’ve been focussing on 30 days (tick) on free / paid subscribers, open rates and views. I’ll be adding activity from here. I also need to look at data at the individual level... Why does this last one terrify me? 😬 and how exactly will it direct me?
In my opinion and experience, Email Opens are not a good data point, because Substack does not track unique opens but how often it is opened by a unique user. The same is true for clicks - no unique measurement at all.
Super helpful. Thanks Amanda!
Wow! I never knew this existed. I just set up my dashboard like this and it really changed my perspective on my subscriber base. I no longer feel like I'm shouting into the void.
“When we allow data to function in the background, we give ourselves permission to stay present with our writing and our readers. We become more engaged in the act of creation rather than distracted by numbers that may or may not represent real value.”
☝️Love this!
I’ve set a routine of deleting inactive emails from my list every six months or so because I prefer active engagement versus high subscriber count. I think it’s an example of how data can ground us, calm our anxiety, and help us be present, as you’ve said. I can let go of inactive subscribers (thus lowering my subscriber count) because I can see how much my active readers are engaging.
I totally understand the instinct to clean things up on a list. I go through and remove the gobbledygook-y looking email addresses occasionally too.
Just be sure you’re basing the clean-up on a reliable metric on substack like their total post views or unique post views — and not email opens. Pretty sure you already know that, but just in case anyone else is scrolling by… email open rates are notoriously unreliable. All the major email providers have a knack for blocking access to track email opens. It’s also worth noting that the activity rating on Substack would be helpful to cross check before deleting someone — some folks are more active on Notes and interact with you there but just don’t make it over to play in your archive much (which is where post views would track their engagement with your posts but could overlook that they like your Notes). 🙃
Good point to clarify! And yes, I did keep several emails on the list that presented as zero opens and zero views but had star activity ratings.
Gold dust extracted from the data mines, Amanda! Thank you.
Interesting tools -- thanks.
I'd be interested in a post sometime on how to interpret filters in these areas. My sense is that if I only have 43 users out of 2800+ subscribers who have viewed 2 unique posts in the last 30 days (half of what I posted over that period), that is not good.
If maybe 9-10% of my overall subscribers are active, should I think about purging emails or moving those over to a different list for other marketing purposes?
Just now discovering those extra columns in the subscriber area - thanks for sharing Amanda!
This is excellent, thanks Amanda.
Amanda, you’re like the good fairy of Substack!
Thank you, thank you for your golden insights.
I’ve been focussing on 30 days (tick) on free / paid subscribers, open rates and views. I’ll be adding activity from here. I also need to look at data at the individual level... Why does this last one terrify me? 😬 and how exactly will it direct me?
I didn't know we could add / delete these metrics on the dashboard. 😅 thanks so much for sharing!
In my opinion and experience, Email Opens are not a good data point, because Substack does not track unique opens but how often it is opened by a unique user. The same is true for clicks - no unique measurement at all.