I always knew that new subscribers would find us via word of mouth. But it was a real struggle to track and make it happen more often. Now - with SparkLoop - I have an army of me running around out there and sharing the newsletter.
Influence Weekly is the weekly newsletter report the Influencer Marketing Industry reads ever Friday. The content is a mix of industry news, best practices, and actionable advice.
With over 6’000 passionate subscribers in a growing niche, founder Andrew Kamphey monetises his Mailchimp newsletter mainly via sponsorships and paid content.
Andrew runs Influence Weekly as a profitable side project in a niche industry. Growing his audience means bigger sponsorship deals and more revenue - allowing him to spend more time creating great content.
But - in a niche industry with a low subscriber life-time value - ‘traditional’ growth channels like paid advertising were out of the question.
Andrew needed to find a way to grow the Influence Weekly subscriber base that…
✅ ... was cost effective
✅ ... was sustainable
✅ ... didn't hurt audience engagement
He turned to SparkLoop - after hearing about it in a newsletter creators group online.
I was always looking for a referral platform. Existing solutions didn't work for newsletters. SparkLoop came around and just made sense. It worked beautifully and I didn't have to build it myself.
Inside of 10 minutes, SparkLoop was connected to the Influence Weekly Mailchimp account and homepage.
Next, Andrew just needed to come up with some rewards that would…
✅ ... be quick to create
✅ ... incentivise his audience to share often
✅ ... be affordable to deliver
After chatting with SparkLoop cofounder, Manuel, about what was working best for other newsletters, Andrew went for multiple rewards. Including repurposing an existing lead magnet, free trial membership to a paid version of the newsletter, and a ‘shoutout’ in the newsletter.
Easy, quick and affordable to set up.
Finally, Andrew used SparkLoop’s Mailchimp templates to introduce his new referral campaign to his subscribers in welcome emails and the weekly newsletter.
I can iterate and test out different messages with ease. Knowing the technology works. I have created secret unpublished rewards. I've used the referral system in my outreach to readers now, to engage them even more.
On average, Influence Weekly now grows >50% faster thanks to SparkLoop. In some weeks, more than 80% of new subscribers come thanks to the SparkLoop referral program.
Not only that, but engagement is up and acquisition costs are down.
Andrew now has more time to spend on creating content, and a fast-growing audience to impress his sponsors.
More importantly, Andrew can rest easy at night because he finally has a sustainable, long-term growth engine for his newsletter. As his audience grows, so do his SparkLoop referrals.
The subscribers that come in through SparkLoop referrals are the best subscribers I can get. They are engaged, open every edition, love it, and respond to me. They post about the newsletter in places I don't have access to.
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