Reginaldo Osnildo
Learn how to track your Substack’s performance, understand what readers love, and boost engagement. Use data to grow your newsletter the smart way.
Hey there, Reginaldo Osnildo here again!
Publishing consistently is great. Writing quality stories is awesome. But if you’re not taking time to analyze your performance, you’re basically flying blind.
The good news?
Substack gives you simple but powerful tools to track what’s working, what’s not, and how you can engage your readers even more effectively.
In this post, I’ll walk you through how to make sense of your Substack analytics—even if you’re not a numbers person. Let’s turn your newsletter into a community-building machine.
1. Why You Should Track Performance
It’s not about chasing vanity metrics. It’s about understanding:
- What content your audience actually loves
- What’s causing people to unsubscribe
- When your readers are most engaged
- Which posts drive subscriptions or conversions
That insight helps you create better content and build a more loyal, paying audience.
2. Start With the Basics in Substack Analytics
Go to your Dashboard, and here’s what to focus on:
Open Rate
This tells you how many people opened your email.
What’s good? 40%+ is excellent; 30–40% is solid.
If your rate drops, try improving your subject lines or sending times.
Click Rate
This shows how many people clicked on a link inside your newsletter.
What to check: Are you adding links? Are they clear and clickable?
Unsubscribe Rate
A few unsubscribes are normal, but a spike means something’s off.
Review what you sent that week—did the tone, content, or frequency change?
3. Pay Attention to What Content Performs Best
Look at your top-performing posts and ask:
- What was the topic?
- What was the format? (list, interview, recap, analysis)
- What time did you send it?
- Was there a strong headline?
Then do more of what works—and tweak what doesn’t.
4. Segment Your Audience for Smarter Insights
Substack lets you create audience segments—use this to see:
- What your free readers love most
- What keeps paid subscribers engaged
- Which topics different segments prefer
Use this info to personalize your content and send more targeted newsletters.
5. Track Subscriber Growth Over Time
Go to your subscriber graph and note:
- Spikes (what caused them?)
- Drops (what triggered those?)
- Slow growth (can you improve promotion or referrals?)
Celebrate milestones, and use them as chances to thank your readers and promote your work.
6. Use Google Analytics (Optional but Powerful)
Want deeper data? Connect Google Analytics to your Substack site.
You’ll be able to track:
- Traffic sources (Where are visitors coming from?)
- Pageviews per post
- Time on page (Are people reading or bouncing?)
- What search terms people are using to find you
It’s a great way to see beyond the inbox.
7. Survey Your Readers
Numbers are helpful—but so is simply asking!
Send a quick survey asking:
- What types of stories they want more of
- How often they want emails
- What local topics they care about
- Why they do (or don’t) subscribe
Use free tools like Google Forms, Typeform, or StrawPoll.
Then share what you learned—and show you’re listening.
8. Monitor Replies and Comments Closely
Not every reader will fill out a form—but many will reply to an email or drop a comment.
Watch for:
- Common questions
- Content suggestions
- Tone feedback (Are you too formal? Not local enough?)
- Opportunities for follow-up stories
This qualitative feedback is often more valuable than the numbers.
9. Test and Tweak Over Time
Try A/B testing small things like:
- Subject lines (“Urgent: What Happened at City Hall” vs. “Inside Last Night’s Vote”)
- Send days (Tuesday vs. Friday)
- Post formats (photo-heavy vs. text-heavy)
- CTA placement (beginning vs. end of post)
Always keep improving. Your Substack is a living thing!
10. Celebrate Wins With Your Readers
When you hit milestones like:
- “1,000 total subscribers!”
- “50 paid supporters!”
- “Most-read article ever!”
Tell your readers. Thank them. Celebrate together. It builds pride and loyalty—and keeps them part of the journey.
Want the Full System for Growing and Engaging Your Audience?
If you're ready to use real data to guide your growth—and you want a repeatable, low-stress way to build your reader base—I’ve got just the thing:
👉 Local Journalism on Substack: How to Create a Low-Cost, Monetizable News Site and Newsletter Network
Inside, you'll find:
- Analytics checklists
- Reader engagement strategies