[thebiglebrewski]

Wow, this is pretty astounding. Congrats Nathan.

Personally though, I don't get how this kind of marketing strategy works. I unsubscribe SO FAST from things that seem like mass emails that it just wouldn't work on me. I suppose I'm a huge exception to the general public? I'm even surprised when I look over at my girlfriend's gmail how many promotions she has (not in a separate tab).

[csallen]

ConvertKit targets professional bloggers, podcasters, and other content creators. Generally, people who subscribe to these types of newsletters are there for the content. Getting it automatically via email is a huge perk compared to having to remember on your own and then proactively go out and find it.

For example, Indie Hackers (the site that hosts this interview) has grown to about 8000 email subscribers in the past 6 months. My newsletter has 52% open rates and very low unsubscribe rates.

Even more extreme, Ben Thompson at Stratechery has upwards of 2000 people paying him $10/month to get his private newsletter.

[nathanbarry]

Yep, like everyone is saying ConvertKit is about following content creators you get a lot of value or entertainment from. We tend to get better open rates and deliverability across the board because we exclude a lot of the traditional businesses that would use email marketing poorly (purely for sales).

[thebiglebrewski]

That's a killer advantage Nathan! I hope it holds true as the business grows.

[thekevan]

Others have responded but I'll throw in another way to look at it. They aren't subscribing to an email list per se, the are signing up to get reminders when a content provider--that they are already interested in viewing the content from--releases said content.

It's more of a notification via email than the email itself.

[graeme]

Did you sign up for them? That's a big difference.

I have a ton of spam promotions that come when I join a service. I want the service, not the marketing!

But sometimes I want to follow what someone says, so I sign up. I read that stuff very attentively.

Services like convertkit tend to be used for the latter use cas: deliberate signups by interested people.

[jacquesm]

> I'm even surprised when I look over at my girlfriend's gmail how many promotions she has (not in a separate tab).

That sample gives you a potential of 50% of the market, and in my experience you are the exception and she is the rule, adjust accordingly.

[thebiglebrewski]

Haha I know, I know, terrible stats practice. Just saying.