From July 2023 to November 2023, Adriana Lacy Consulting drove an almost 50% increase in subscribers to Impact’s Substack newsletter, which addresses politics, culture and current events from a feminist perspective.
Guided by a thorough competitor analysis and grounded in Impact’s mission, we drove growth through strategic and agile promotion in both paid and organic social media, staying under budget and remaining responsive to our audience’s tastes and sensitivities. This past five-month period has marked substantial progress in broadening Impact’s reach and engaging a diverse audience passionate about feminism and gender equality.
Impact’s newsletter is published every Monday, by French media company Les Glorieuses, bringing audiences the latest in women's rights worldwide, ranging from up-to-the-minute coverage of abortion rights and pay disparities to celebrations of historic feminist icons. Along with its French-language sister newsletter, Les Glorieuses, Impact newsletter is growing a loyal audience on multiple platforms, with continued growth expected in 2024.
In the beginning of July 2023, Impact’s newsletter had just reached over 5,000 subscribers on Substack. As of the end of 2023, the subscriber total has reached over 10,000 and is consistently growing. To appeal to a broader audience, we also began sending a version of the newsletter out through LinkedIn, reaching users who may prefer that platform to Substack and resulting in greater visibility.
From July to the present, Adriana Lacy Consulting’s strategy has gained subscribers for the LinkedIn version of the newsletter and increased LinkedIn followers. Impact offers a wide range of stories told from a broadly feminist perspective, providing something for anyone and everyone with an interest in feminism, diversity and equity.
Social media engagement remains high across all platforms, continuing to drive subscriptions and foster community and debate.
Strategy
Based on a comprehensive competitor analysis, we tailored social media strategy on both Facebook and LinkedIn to reach audiences of various demographics. We developed a calendar of timely paid and organic content targeted to groups likely to be interested in feminism and diversity in the context of current events. In total, this campaign reached over 200,000 accounts and achieved over 100,000 ad views on Facebook, in addition to launching a LinkedIn newsletter and nearly doubling Substack subscribers.
Building on the strategic foundation provided by the competitor analysis and real-time reactions to ad and post performance allowed the team to respond effectively and dynamically, adjusting creative, copy and even broader goals as needed in service of audience growth and increased visibility.
Campaigns
High-performing organic LinkedIn posts in recent months include calls to action on feminist and social justice issues, as well as appearances from members of our organization at thought leadership events.
The elements of successful advertisements vary by platform and demographics, so when we noticed that some design choices intended to reach a younger audience were not yielding the results needed on Facebook ads, we adjusted the creative to appeal to the older demographic that dominates that platform, and saw stronger performance. Even if a focus on a younger demographic – characterized by chunky text, bold colors and heavy use of illustration – caused a slight slowdown in traffic this fall, running multiple ad campaigns ensured results remained strong.
For another example, the organic World Cup campaign had a slow start, but ultimately performed strongly. One reason for this may include approaching a topic of general interest from a feminist angle. Advertisements on the topic were weaker performers, so our response was to pull paid ads for World Cup Content and redirect our efforts elsewhere, noting the factors that may have influenced weak performance and allowing that to inform ongoing strategy.
When €100.00 spent on lead generation on LinkedIn reached limited audiences, our team pivoted rapidly from a focus on leads to one on impressions and links to the Substack newsletter, which immediately showed stronger results and contributed to audience growth.
Ongoing Impact
Adriana Lacy Consulting’s approach of targeted, responsive ads and organic social media has helped drive extraordinary growth in Impact’s subscriber base, extending the organization’s reach to another social media platform and nearly doubling its base of newsletter subscribers on Substack.
The strategy doesn’t just reflect sound social media and audience development strategy – it also reflects Impact’s commitment to building a broad and diverse community with a solid grounding in feminist ideals.
Through agile and responsive strategy and sensitivity to Impact’s audience’s needs, this campaign helped grow Impact’s audience and engagement and built a solid foundation for further growth in 2024.
