Results: the Substack Notes Experiment

What have we learned?

The Substack Notes Experiment

The results are in, the numbers have been crunched and conclusions drawn.

How did you get on in our Notes Experiment?

Actually, don’t tell me now… save it for the end and thank you so much for taking part! 👏

Note: Please read this in the Substack App, as it’s too long for some email providers.

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Here’s what I found…

I shall go through each of my Test Notes in ascending performance order, and share with you my assumptions and conclusions.

A disqualification…

What!? You disqualified one of your own Notes? How so?

This Note is essentially a Restack of the lovely

Hannah Ashe

’s Note, but what I can’t tell, is that of the 8 ❤️’s, how many were down to me sharing it and how many were from her own audience, which is larger than mine.

Lesson 1: If you can’t measure the data, it’s not a true test.

Disqualified!

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In last place…

With a measly 2 ❤️’s, this one landed at the bottom of the chart, I think for a couple of reasons:

1. There’s no pretty picture, to catch the eye of the scroller.

2. It’s a very obscure request, talking to a global audience about a very tiny region in France.

So I’m assuming hardly anyone could relate to this. It does appear there are no Substackers in Morzine, France, as I have raised this question in several places, and I am still sans lunch buddies for my impending trip.

I do love that despite not knowing anyone in Morzine, the two people who did ‘Like’ it, where presumably thinking: “Aaah, bless her, you can’t blame a girl for trying.” 👏

In defence of the text-only format:

You might be thinking that the absence of an image here was the real downfall of this post, but not so. One of my best performing Notes (of all time) doesn’t have an image:

A mighty 108 ❤️’s despite no image, as the message resonates hugely with the Substack audience, who love to have a pop at Instagram, as we all know this is a far superior platform. 😉

Lesson 2: Be relatable.

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Next worst…

This Note uses a quote from a lovely Comment left on this post by

Jen Baxter

who loves the Edinburgh Fringe as much as I do.

The overall number of ❤️’s is about my average for a Note about a post that’s been out for a couple of weeks, so not new.

The interesting thing here is that one of the Likes and the Comment were from the gorgeous Jen Baxter herself. If you mention others in a Note by typing the @ symbol followed by their handle they will get a message that they’ve been mentioned and come a running to see what it’s all about.

However, please don’t fall into the trap of listing loads of people, as you’ll look like a desperate twat.¹

Lesson 3: Mention other Substackers in your Notes, but only if relevant.

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The bronze medal goes to…

This Note is sharing a fab post from the wonderful

Jana

proving two things:

1. People on Substack love to read about other’s Substack journeys.

2. By becoming a paid subscriber to this community, I will give you extra help along your journey. 😉

Probably unbeknownst to her, Jana is my first Paid Subscriber on Substack Type Club, and I could not have been more surprised and delighted to see someone pay money so early on after launch, purely on the promise of good things to come.

Thank you so, so much Jana, you really made my day! 👏

Rest assured, anyone who joins the paid plan at this early stage will very much be getting the VIP treatment from me.

Lesson 4: Be generous and Pay It Forward.

Scatter your ❤️’s around generously, you have an unlimited supply and they cost you nothing, but give so much to the recipient in the form of encouragement and appreciation.

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The runner-up…

This one has less ❤️’s than the one above, but the interesting thing here is that it has 4 restacks, none of which were from me, so I’m giving it extra points.

The Eagle-Eyed amongst you, will already realise why.

Because the Note asks for help (via Restacking) in the opening phrase.

It really is that simple.

I’ve compared it to the two other Notes that I put out about this ‘Join the Notes Experiment’ post and they didn’t get any Restacks!

The post itself experienced 29 Restacks (thank you all so much), but not the Notes related to it, except for this one.

Lesson 5: Substackers are intrinsically nice, we do want to help you. Ask for help as and when you need it, we will give it.

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Drum roll please… the winner is…

The overall winner, in terms of Engagement, is this one.

Aren’t they cute?

And yes, I know a few of you have Googled them, they are a real animal. Unbelievable.

Firstly, let’s observe the fact that they are not reading Shakespeare or wistfully staring into the middle distance, whilst contemplating some of Emily Brontë’s prose.

In other words, they have nothing to do with reading, writing or literature, they are just soooooo damned cute.

But you said all posts need to be informative, of value, or amusing!

Which one is this?

Answer: Of value.

I don’t know about you, but when I look at these cute little chaps it gives me a feeling of joy, that such things exist in this world and so that is ‘of value’.

In fact it’s of the highest value, because it makes me feel good, even just for a moment.

Lesson 6: However much we pretend that Substack exists on a higher plane, what works on other social platforms will probably work here. Brace yourselves for the stampede of cats, dogs and holiday snaps.

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Experiment extra…

Given the above learnings, I put out this Note, and it became my best ever performer:

Wow 264 ❤️’s, it’s a Christmas miracle!!!

It’s still in circulation, so may even get to the dizzy heights of 200 Likes… especially if you click on the image above and give it a little boost. 😉

Lesson 7: Start growing your own flowers.

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How did you get on?

Lots of you pledged your involvement in this project, thank you so much, now let’s look at your results.

Here’s how:

1. Enter the Title of your Substack IN CAPS.

2. Enter the link to your BEST performing Note (with stats) during the experiment.

3. Enter the day of the week IN CAPS, that the above was posted.

4. Enter the link to your WORST performing Note during the experiment.

5. Enter the day of the week IN CAPS, that the above was posted.

6. Enter the number of Followers that you now have and the gain since you started this experiment. (You can link back to the Comments section of the original post here, to compare today’s number with.)

And remember, the quicker you are to join the Comments (below), the more people will see you as they scroll down.

Perhaps, once we look at everyone’s data we will see some patterns with the day of the week too.

If you don’t want to share your data with everyone, and would like me to take a look at your particular results and feedback to you, I can do that in the Chat section of Type Club, which is available for Paid Members only.

You can also raise any other questions and concerns in the Chat and I will do my best to help you. Please note, this section is paywalled, so not on public view.

See you in the Comments! 😘

K8x

PS: Please ‘❤️’ below and Restack this post if you want to grow your Substack, as it will increase your visibility on Notes and help others find this post and join in the reciprocal boosting!

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1. You can quote me on that. 😉