How Morning Brew grew to 2.5M subscribers in 5 years ☕
Here are the early growth tactics used to reach 20M+ revenue in 2021
A thread👇👇
Current outlets like the Wall Street Journal lacked the high level roundup that most young people needed to quickly stay informed and not put them to sleep
At 20 years old, Alex created a PDF newsletter (originally called the Market Corner) and sent it to 45 friends and family. They then got their first 300 subscribers by putting out flyers and speaking at lectures to fellow students at Michigan University
Referrals account for 30% of their total subscribers today. This component was key to accelerating their growth flywheel.
They have a section at the bottom every newsletter called “share the brew”, which takes the readers to the referral program hub.
They also made it easy to share right away via link, email, or social media
Once they signed up, Morning Brew sent an email reminding them of their reward progress (designed to encourage more referrals, maintaining the viral loop)
They used enticing email subject lines that got noticed, while showcasing the brand's quirky personality.
Their copywriting was key to their success, leading to a daily open rate of 45% (15% -25% considered “good” in most industries)
They sent emails to 4 groups of readers with different subject lines (but not all readers, a smaller portion), and whichever one had the highest open rate was used for the remaining (majority) of followers.
Their content was perfectly catered to their younger audience.
They gave quick rundowns of current events, breaking down content into bite sized chunks to not feel overwhelming. Students were tired of too much business jargon. It solved real problems
- $75M valuation
- Acquired by Business Insider
Keys to success:
- Finding a unique niche and solving a problem
- Created content people loved and relied on
- Referral system with clear rewards and tracking
- A/B testing Copywriting
https://t.co/8DMqYhu5ii
And follow me on Twitter for a new thread like this every week!
More from Startups
With this, let's get motivated with some curated readings & posts by fellow #24hrstartup participants & indie makers. Check them out below!
✍️ Andrew Parrish wrote - "Why I'm Participating in the 24 Hour Startup Challenge".
@makersup's takeaway - Makers love possibilities, the joy of building. Any aspiring maker should experience the end of lurking on forums & reading @wip's to-dos.
Read:
👩💻 @anthilemoon created a list of @women_make_ members participating in the #24hrstartup challenge. Do let her know if she missed anyone!
More at: https://t.co/zYKVZEq8aq
Creating a list of @women_make_ members participating in the #24hrstartup challenge this weekend \u2013 please let me know if I missed anyone! \U0001f469\u200d\U0001f4bb #womenmake pic.twitter.com/Kh7O7fKv7h
— \U0001d400\U0001d427\U0001d427\U0001d41e-\U0001d40b\U0001d41a\U0001d42e\U0001d42b\U0001d41e \U0001d40b\U0001d41e \U0001d402\U0001d42e\U0001d427\U0001d41f\U0001d41f (@anthilemoon) November 14, 2018
😺 We can't forget one of the key platforms in shipping indie, can we, @ProductHunt?
Check out @ProductHunt's guide to launching at: https://t.co/VB6WgGx6sa.
In addition, it would be wise to prepare for the launch. Fine tune your assets and post at
🚢 Well, we definitely can't leave out the man behind all of this, @thepatwalls!
Launching isn't easy, but know what you'll be facing even before coding. Check out @thepatwalls' "words of shipping" at:
The stuff you can do in a year is seriously astounding 👇
👉 @TransistorFM reaching $22k MRR in one year: https://t.co/BuKmXEeEtH
I was one of their first customers and the progress @mijustin and @jonbuda have made working mostly part-time has been crazy.
Now both are full-time. Follow them on @buildyoursaas
👉 @talk2oneup reaching $10k MRR in one year: https://t.co/SOoGkKA19r
@daviswbaer joined as a co-founder and through many different marketing tactics, pricing changes, and product updates, they've managed to carve out a niche market in a really competitive industry.
👉 @hostifi_net $9k MRR in one year: https://t.co/TknroGZWoK
After getting fired from his full-time job, @_rchase_ embarked on a year focused on building products to replace his salary in a year.
The dude seriously SHIPS and even took investment from @earnestcapital
1/ "Hardcore Year" (https://t.co/cjx7HfGeEK)
— Reilly Chase\u2601\ufe0f\u2601\ufe0f\u2601\ufe0f (@_rchase_) July 31, 2019
MRR in July:
\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593\u2593 $9,109 of $8,333 goal (109%)
Totals@hostifi_net $8,463@ghostifi_net $361@locklinnetworks $125@captifi_net $147@patreon $13
I reached my goal for the year! \U0001f942\U0001f37e
Details in thread \U0001f447 pic.twitter.com/cUEeiADDAk
👉 @ClosetTools $11k MRR WHILE WORKING FULL-TIME AND WITH A FAMILY: https://t.co/pKQ7pFvpZY
With a strong product, continuous improvement, and SEO, @unindie has really been inspirational.
There are no excuses.
This year is flying by. How am I doing a July report already? Here it is: Closet Tools' July open stats:
— Jordan O'Connor (@unindie) August 1, 2019
MRR: $11106.28 (+11.43%)
Organic Search: 3958 (+20.45%)
New Trials: 154 (-8.33%)
Less trials, more revenue (churn is going down!). The focus for July was feature stability. pic.twitter.com/4YRpkPvKxo
I have been doing individual posts on numbers every week so wanted to one big thread with all updates 👇🏽
Week
Transparency time:
— Sharath \U0001f4e3 (@5harath) February 12, 2021
It's been 24hrs @shoutoutso_ went to public launch \U0001f525
Some numbers:
\U0001f4b0 6 rockstars bought Pro, Pro Annual plans.
\U0001f4aa\U0001f3fd 168 signups.
\u2665\ufe0f 182 Shoutout walls created.
\U0001f465 160K Twitter impressions on launch thread.
Thank you for making it a huge day for us \U0001f64f\U0001f3fd pic.twitter.com/is9Z53trIh
Week
Transparency time: It's been 2 weeks since @shoutoutso_ launched to the public \U0001f525
— Sharath \U0001f4e3 (@5harath) February 25, 2021
Here are some highlights:
\U0001f451 18 rockstars paid customers
\U0001f4b0 $240 MRR
\U0001f4aa 426 signups and counting
\u2764\ufe0f 140 walls published
\U0001f3c6 #3 product @ProductHunt
Appreciate this community so much\U0001f64f\U0001f3fd pic.twitter.com/KmKCZdHqlJ
Week
Transparency time: Week 3 @shoutoutso_ \U0001f525
— Sharath \U0001f4e3 (@5harath) March 4, 2021
Here are some highlights:
\U0001f451 29 rockstar paid customers
\U0001f4b0 $460 MRR
\U0001f4aa 475 signups and counting
\u2764\ufe0f 163 walls published
\U0001f3c6 Launched on @ProductHunt(#3) @IndieHackers
Grateful for this amazing community for all the love and support \U0001f64f\U0001f3fd pic.twitter.com/MVGo0cfZJj
Week
Transparency time: It's been a month we launched @shoutoutso_ \U0001f525
— Sharath \U0001f4e3 (@5harath) March 11, 2021
Here are some highlights:
\U0001f451 36 rockstar paid customers
\U0001f4b0 $610 MRR
\U0001f4aa 516 signups and counting
\u2764\ufe0f 191 walls published
\U0001f3c6 @ProductHunt Maker Grant Award
Grateful for this amazing community for all the love \U0001f64f\U0001f3fd pic.twitter.com/1i7LxLU4Ap