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Why Most Newsletter Promotions Fail and What Actually Works
The Newsletter Growth Channel That Pays You While You Promote
Linda Hwang
November 26, 2025
Newsletter promotions… my least favorite part of a newsletter. I felt like a salesman every…single…time.
I would be in my apartment, staring at my subscriber count, which had plateaued at a measly 225, including my mother, father, and brother.
I had tried everything I could think of to promote newsletters. Things like posting promotional tweets that got maybe three likes, begging fellow creators for cross-promotion swaps, and even throwing $100 at Meta ads that brought in exactly five subscribers (yes, I did the math—that's $20 per subscriber).
The worst part? None of it felt sustainable.
Social media was a black hole of time and effort. Cross-promotions were hit-or-miss depending on the partner. And paid ads? They drained my budget faster than I could say "unsubscribe."
Then I discovered beehiiv Boosts, and everything changed.
Suddenly, I had a promotional channel that not only grew my list of engaged readers but also generated revenue from my existing audience. It sounded too good to be true, but after 2 months of using it, I've added over 620 verified subscribers and earned enough to cover some of my newsletter expenses.
In this article, I'm going to walk you through exactly what's working for me right now when it comes to newsletter promotions—the good, the bad, and the game-changing strategies that finally moved the needle.
Table of Contents
If you're waiting for organic growth to increase your subscribers by the hundreds magically, tough truth: you're going to be waiting a very, very long time.
I learned this the hard way.
When I first started as a marketer, I believed that if I just wrote great content and hit all my SEO keywords, readers would naturally find me and share my newsletter with their friends.
That’s pretty much how growth via word-of-mouth happens—painfully slow.
You know, truth is, I used to rely solely on organic discovery, and I averaged about 10-20 new subscribers per month. This was a good month; some months, I hit zero subscribers! It would take decades to build a meaningful audience.
What about traditional ads, you ask?
Traditional ads are expensive and hard to track multiple clients and my own articles. I’ve shelled out money on Google Ads, but I couldn’t definitively say whether traffic came from the ads or from organic growth. I would often disagree with some clients about the reliance on ads.
I know, you’re wondering then, what’s a good newsletter marketing strategy when it comes to promotions?
Drum roll. 🥁
What has worked for me…Collaborations, such as cross-promotions and partner platforms, are more cost-effective and reach audiences already interested in my content.
If you want steady growth, promoting smart is a must.
Over the past decade (aging myself here), I've experimented with just about every newsletter marketing strategy you can imagine.
Some worked decently well. Others were complete duds.
Let me break down what I learned from each approach.
Cross Promotions With Other Creators
My first attempt at a newsletter was through cross-promotion. I was doing so much research on ‘How can you promote a newsletter without spending money?’
I don’t know about you, but when I was starting off on my own, I didn’t have the funds that some of my clients had.
The cross-promotion concept is simple and pretty genius: you find another newsletter creator in a similar (but not competing) niche, and you each feature the other's newsletter to your respective audiences. It's a mutual shoutout that ideally benefits both parties.
Since discovering cross-promotions, I've done about a dozen swaps over the past two years, and here's what I found:
When you find the right partner with an engaged, aligned audience, cross-promotions can bring in 50-150 quality subscribers. Example: I partnered with a productivity newsletter, gained 85 subscribers; about 70% are still active after six months.
List swaps work best when audiences are similar in size and engagement. I realized partnering with larger but less engaged lists resulted in fewer subscribers. Example: A Larger list (10,000) yielded only 30 subscribers; a smaller, engaged list (800) sent 150.
Finding quality partners takes time.
Negotiations can be awkward.
Each partnership starts from scratch.
I have a love-hate relationship with social media.
So social media seemed the obvious answer when I first started thinking about how to promote a newsletter. After all, I was already posting content regularly—why not use those platforms to drive signups?
Sounded simple enough.
I tested the platforms that I thought would be beneficial to my newsletter:
Twitter (now X)
LinkedIn
Instagram
I tested for over six months, posting a mix of newsletter teasers, direct promotion posts, and content excerpts.
Here are my results:
X: Gave me the most organic traction early on. I was shocked! I’d thread key insights from my latest newsletter issue and include a signup link in the final tweet. Some threads would get decent engagement—300+ likes, 50+ retweets—and convert maybe 10-20 new subscribers.
The problem? Twitter's algorithm is wildly inconsistent. One week, I would get great reach; the next, crickets. 🦗
LinkedIn: Effective for B2B newsletter topics. That means long-form content that added value first and mentioned the newsletter second—that’s what performed best.
My best LinkedIn post brought in 45 subscribers, but the content took about two hours to write and format perfectly.
I wouldn’t call it the best effort-to-reward ratio, and it’s totally not sustainable for weekly promotion.
Instagram: Almost completely ineffective for me. The "link in bio" friction combined with Instagram's email-hostile user experience meant I'd get tons of engagement on posts but virtually no newsletter signups.
Your mileage may vary, but this wasn't the answer to getting people to subscribe to your newsletter, in my experience.
Paid Ads on Platforms Like Meta and Google
I'll be honest: paid newsletter advertising has been my biggest money pit.
Whether it was because a client asked or for my own trial, I’ve run Meta (Facebook/Instagram) ads anywhere from one month to three months, and for my clients, I’ve dished out anywhere from $1,200-$2,000 worth of spend.
I tested different creative approaches—carousel ads highlighting newsletter benefits, video ads explaining what readers would learn, and simple image ads with strong copy.
The results?
About 65-180 subscribers.
Our cost-to-acquisition was around $7-$8. The surprising part? Of the 180 people who signed up, only about 40% opened the very first email we sent. By the second month, fewer than 50 were actively reading the newsletter.
Honestly, we were spending $15 to $20 per engaged subscriber, which just wasn't sustainable for us since we hadn't yet earned with the newsletter.
But there are plus-sides with Meta ads for some people. Andy Austin, the founder of Adsora and creator of the Growth Catalyst Club newsletter, once said, “Facebook ads can be a powerful tool for newsletter growth.” Austin grew his newsletter from 300 to 13,000 subscribers in just 7 months using this strategy.
Pretty awesome!
My next stop was to try Google Ads.
I was a bit shocked, but Google Ads performed slightly better in terms of engagement quality (people actively searching for content tend to be more interested).
I'd pay $2-3 per click, and only about 20% of those clicks would convert to a signup.
The fundamental problem with paid ads for newsletter promotion is that you're competing with massive brands that have huge budgets.
Unless you have a highly specific niche and excellent targeting, the economics just don't work for most independent newsletter creators.
How beehiiv Boosts Changed My Newsletter Promotions
I was burnt out from all the trial-and-error with newsletter marketing strategies. I couldn’t juggle any more cross-promotions, social media posts, email marketing, or costly ads. I didn’t want to promote newsletters anymore; it seemed like a lost cause.
Then I heard about beehiiv Boosts.
I was skeptical. Another "revolutionary" growth tool? Sure.
But after reading case studies and seeing real results from creators I trusted, I decided to give it a shot.
Three months in, Boosts has become my primary growth channel for my clients—and honestly, I wish I'd discovered it sooner.
Don’t take my word for it! Andy Austin commented, “For Growth Catalyst Club, boosts, subscriptions, and ads have been go-to for monetization.”
Pay Only for Active and Engaged Subscribers
Here's what makes beehiiv Boosts fundamentally different from traditional paid advertising: you only pay for verified, engaged subscribers.
With regular ads, you pay for clicks or impressions and hope people sign up.
With Boosts, you pay a cost-per-acquisition (CPA) rate, but there's a crucial verification system built in. New subscribers must confirm their email address and engage with your content before you’re charged.
You’re probably wondering what this means for your newsletter.
This means you’re not wasting money on fake emails, bot signups, or people who subscribe and then ghost you. Every dollar you spend goes toward attracting a real person interested in your content.
One client’s CPA on Boosts typically ranges from $1.50 to $2.50, depending on the niche and targeting. But because these are verified, engaged subscribers, their retention rate is around 65%-70% after three months—dramatically better than the 25-30% retention we saw from Meta ads.
The verification system answers a critical question many creators have: "How do you get people to read your newsletter?"
By ensuring subscribers are engaged from day one, beehiiv Boosts solves the quality problem that plagues most other promotional channels.
beehiiv Boosts isn't just a growth tool—it’s also a way to earn extra income.
By promoting other creators' newsletters in your own, you can earn commissions for each new subscriber you refer.
I started by featuring 2-3 recommended newsletters per issue, mostly at the end, and my audience appreciated the curated suggestions.
The results have been promising. I earned $147 in my second month and $520 by the fifth month, covering my newsletter costs and providing extra testing funds.
This dual approach of growing your list and generating revenue makes Boosts a unique tool in the newsletter space.
beehiiv Boosts has successfully helped many newsletters grow and earn.
Yaroslav Sobko, founder of Cyber Corsairs newsletter, mentioned, “[We] started testing beehiiv Boosts. We noticed we can use media buying and paid advertising to attract more subscribers and scale up faster. By using Boosts, we can actually recoup partially (or fully) our spend.”
Why Boosts Are Different from Any Other Promotion Channel
Let me lay out a direct comparison to make this crystal clear:
Traditional paid ads: You pay upfront for impressions or clicks, hope people sign up, and cross your fingers they'll engage. No quality guarantees. High waste. Attribution headaches.
Cross-promotions: Free but time-intensive. Requires finding partners, negotiating terms, and hoping the audience overlap works. Limited scale. Unpredictable results.
Social media: Free but algorithm-dependent. Requires consistent content creation. Low conversion rates. Diminishing organic reach over time.
beehiiv Boosts: Pay only for verified subscribers. Built-in quality control. Earn money from your existing audience. Scalable growth. Clear attribution and tracking.
beehiiv Boosts combine the best aspects of all these channels while eliminating most of the downsides. You get the cost-effectiveness of cross-promotions, the scale of paid ads, and a revenue stream that offsets your costs.
For me, this has been the missing piece in my newsletter marketing strategies.
For other creators, like Matt Navarra, the mastermind behind Geekout Newsletter, who once said, “beehiiv’s Boosts feature allows [Matt] to offer sponsored content to other newsletters, which has become a significant income source.”
Navarra has earned $18,000 through Boosts since he started using the feature. 🤯
Why Trust Me
Linda Hwang has extensive experience in B2B marketing and previously worked at a renowned international facilities management company. There, she played a crucial role in creating effective content and social media marketing plans. Now, Hwang is a marketing consultant who helps small businesses create compelling brand stories.
Steps To Start Using Boosts Today
If you're sold on trying beehiiv Boosts (and honestly, why wouldn't you be at this point?), here's exactly how to get started. I'm going to walk you through the process I followed and the lessons I learned along the way.
Create an Offer and Set Your Budget
Are you ready to supercharge your email growth with minimal hassle?
Here's a simple, effective guide to setting up your Boost Campaign for maximum results:
Use the beehiiv dashboard to choose your CPA (cost per acquisition) and monthly budget.
Average CPAs range from $1 to $4, with competitive niches like business or tech on the higher end.
For one client, I started with a $1.50 CPA and $300/month, targeting 200 subscribers. After seeing good quality, I upped to $2.00 CPA and $600 budget.
Don’t go too low on CPA; a slightly higher rate attracts better promoters. After a few trials, the sweet spot for my client is $1.80-$2.20.
Write a clear, compelling newsletter description for publishers—set accurate expectations.
Keep it simple, set your goals, and adjust as you go!
Approve Applications From Relevant Publishers
Once your campaign is live, publishers in the beehiiv Boosts network can reach out and express their interest in promoting your newsletter.
You'll have the chance to review each application carefully and decide whether to approve or decline.
This is your opportunity to ensure quality control, so it's important to be selective. Remember, having a large audience doesn't automatically mean a publisher is the right fit for your newsletter.
I look at three things when reviewing applications:
Audience alignment: Does the topic of their newsletter complement my topics?
For my content strategy newsletter, I approve publishers covering marketing, business growth, writing, and the creator economy. I decline applications from newsletters about completely unrelated topics like personal finance or health, even if they have huge lists.
Engagement metrics: beehiiv shows you open rates and engagement data for each publisher. I only approve publishers with open rates above 35% and click-through rates above 2%. Low engagement suggests their audience won't be receptive to your newsletter either.
Content quality: I subscribe to a publisher's newsletter before approving them. If their content is sloppy, spammy, or misaligned with my brand, I decline—even if the metrics look good. Your newsletter will be featured alongside their content, and that association matters.
In my first month, I approved about 60% of applications. By month three, I'd become more selective and only approved about 40%.
The result? Higher-quality subscribers with better retention rates.
Track Performance and Adjust as You Go
Fun fact: I used to work in Finance and Operations before I dove headfirst into Marketing. Because of that background, I’m analytics-driven and fully believe metrics are my lifeline.
Boosts offers detailed analytics: subscriber count, top-performing publishers, retention, and cost breakdowns. I review my dashboard weekly and adjust accordingly.
My optimization process includes:
Focusing on top publishers with high open rates and retention, then discussing increased collaboration.
Pausing or removing underperforming publishers.
Testing small CPA adjustments ($0.20-$0.30) monthly to grow quality publisher partnerships.
Monitoring 30, 60, and 90-day retention rates to gauge campaign health.
This approach helps me drive effective campaigns and engagement.
Don't rely on a single channel to promote newsletters.
Even though I use beehiiv Boosts as my main growth driver, I still maintain a presence on social media and occasionally run cross-promotions and engagements.
My advice for setting yourself up for success with how to promote a newsletter is:
Diversify your channels: Relying on one platform isn’t enough. Use social media, cross-promotions, and SEO to protect your growth.
Focus on quality: Engaged subscribers matter more than numbers. Attract the right audience and deliver value.
Be patient: Growth takes time. Give your tactics 2-3 months to show results.
Improve before scaling: Make sure your content is compelling and well-designed before driving more subscribers.
Track everything: Use UTM codes and analytics to see what works—and what doesn’t.
Optimize for retention: Content that delights keeps subscribers coming back—and spreads word-of-mouth.
Combine growth with income: Use tools like Boosts to grow and earn at the same time through sponsorships or affiliate links.
Remember, newsletter growth is a marathon. Keep testing, learning, and refining.
Ready to simplify your growth?
Try beehiiv’s platform—it's built for creators like you to grow and earn effortlessly.
Start today and watch your newsletter thrive!
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