I've learned that the stats aren't accurate, though. My father, a subscriber, sent me a nice note about a post he had clearly read to the end, and in my stats, it showed him as a non-open. So I'd take all these stats with a grain of salt, based on privacy settings, how you read things (phone/desktop etc), if you have a Substack account or not, etc.
I do almost all my reading of posts via the app- does this mean it also doesn't recognise my engagement as much either? Perhaps I should switch to reading on my laptop to benefit both the publications and myself?
Hi Joy, exactly! I heard the same and picked 5 non-openers to ask them why they don't open my emails. They told me they would open them but in the app :D So you're right I also would take all these stats with a grain of salt. ConvertKit or other email service providers are more accurate. However, for beginners it's fine to see some stats but I wouldn't recommend deleting non-openers for instance. :)
Useful advice, thank you. I didn't know we could drill down a bit more on engagement. I was advised against using Substack because it does not provide as much accurate data as MailChimp etc. But I like the user interface!
Thanks so much, Don! Isn't that interesting? I am glad to hear the Google Search Indexing has been paying off for some queries. A post is in the making! :-)
Great article. I do watch the activity status if any on substack. I have a good mix for 5,4,3 and 1 stars. Surprisingly no 2 stars 🤔. The “no activity” people are either new subs, or just friends and family supporters - those who helped with the initial wave of “pat on the back” support” but then ignore you. Any idea how to engage them - the dads and the bros? 😀
Thanks, Raj! I posted my stats in the chat thread if you want to compare. I suppose you could always insist they get a paid subscription so they have to pay attention! :-)
Hey, I really enjoyed reading your post. I love these metrics too, but we have to be careful, there seems to be discrepancies when it comes to app users. I think especially nebginners shouldn't focus on these metrics and focus more on writing ^^
I've sort of stumbled through and figured out a lot of this on my own but I still don't have a firm grasp of how many people are actually reading each post.
One question I had is about the "open" count. It tells you how many emails were opened but it doesn't specify if it is unique opens or cumulative. The dashboard does show how many times a reader opened it but I'm still unsure how it's calculating the total count.
I couldn't find it either, just that opens via the app are not counted. Someone else commented on a different thread that the open count was inaccurate for his posts. Joy Clark seems to have the same view in the comments for this post.
lol, I edited it just after hitting Publish - thanks for the catch! Proof read note to self. I thought your post was pretty good. I look forward to an update, especially the breakdown of stats - the subs/open rate in the dashboard doesn't add up at times, so unclear how Substack calculates it. Someone else had the same question. Maybe you can clear it up ? :-) I also added new stats. Thanks.
I've learned that the stats aren't accurate, though. My father, a subscriber, sent me a nice note about a post he had clearly read to the end, and in my stats, it showed him as a non-open. So I'd take all these stats with a grain of salt, based on privacy settings, how you read things (phone/desktop etc), if you have a Substack account or not, etc.
yes, the open rates are misleading as noted above as Substack doesn't count app opens. It's a bug.
I do almost all my reading of posts via the app- does this mean it also doesn't recognise my engagement as much either? Perhaps I should switch to reading on my laptop to benefit both the publications and myself?
Hi Joy, exactly! I heard the same and picked 5 non-openers to ask them why they don't open my emails. They told me they would open them but in the app :D So you're right I also would take all these stats with a grain of salt. ConvertKit or other email service providers are more accurate. However, for beginners it's fine to see some stats but I wouldn't recommend deleting non-openers for instance. :)
Agree Kristina, deleting is a bad idea. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Jayshree. Another useful post.
You are welcome, thanks for the restack and the feedback, Patricia.
Useful advice, thank you. I didn't know we could drill down a bit more on engagement. I was advised against using Substack because it does not provide as much accurate data as MailChimp etc. But I like the user interface!
Very informative and helpful, thank you!
FYI, I spend most of my screen time on Substack but I found your article by Googling "average Substack open rates."
Thanks so much, Don! Isn't that interesting? I am glad to hear the Google Search Indexing has been paying off for some queries. A post is in the making! :-)
Great article. I do watch the activity status if any on substack. I have a good mix for 5,4,3 and 1 stars. Surprisingly no 2 stars 🤔. The “no activity” people are either new subs, or just friends and family supporters - those who helped with the initial wave of “pat on the back” support” but then ignore you. Any idea how to engage them - the dads and the bros? 😀
Thanks, Raj! I posted my stats in the chat thread if you want to compare. I suppose you could always insist they get a paid subscription so they have to pay attention! :-)
Hey, I really enjoyed reading your post. I love these metrics too, but we have to be careful, there seems to be discrepancies when it comes to app users. I think especially nebginners shouldn't focus on these metrics and focus more on writing ^^
Thanks for sharing, Kristina. Yes, the open rates are way off and include just email opens though misleading for newsletters reading via the app.
this was useful
Thank you, glad to hear it.
Thanks for this informative post.
I've sort of stumbled through and figured out a lot of this on my own but I still don't have a firm grasp of how many people are actually reading each post.
One question I had is about the "open" count. It tells you how many emails were opened but it doesn't specify if it is unique opens or cumulative. The dashboard does show how many times a reader opened it but I'm still unsure how it's calculating the total count.
I couldn't find it either, just that opens via the app are not counted. Someone else commented on a different thread that the open count was inaccurate for his posts. Joy Clark seems to have the same view in the comments for this post.
.. cui bono ? 🦎🏴☠️
Thanks for the mention! Some good tips here. (there's a bit of placeholder text at the bottom of the article you might want to tweak)
I should really do a follow-up to that post of mine. There's so much more to say!
lol, I edited it just after hitting Publish - thanks for the catch! Proof read note to self. I thought your post was pretty good. I look forward to an update, especially the breakdown of stats - the subs/open rate in the dashboard doesn't add up at times, so unclear how Substack calculates it. Someone else had the same question. Maybe you can clear it up ? :-) I also added new stats. Thanks.
Jayshree, I learned something with this post. Thank you. D
Thanks Dave, appreciate the feedback.