Why 87% of Our New Subscribers Fill Out a Survey

TJ made this video after several people on Twitter asked how to survey readers at the moment they subscribe. He is upfront that he did not do it well on his Austin newsletters. He learned from that, and with his partner he set it up properly for a newsletter in Henderson, Nevada, where he says it is working very well.

Why bother with a survey

The first reason is advertisers. Right before recording, TJ got a reply to a cold email he had sent. The person asked about his subscriber data and the demographics of his readers.

Because the survey was already running, he had a great answer. Had she asked when they first started, he says he would have said "I have no idea," and that probably would have been a no from her.

The second reason is content. Knowing what type of people your readers are helps you decide what kind of content to provide. One of the survey questions asks what readers care about most. TJ says the answer is always events, but readers still want everything else too. The point is to know it for a fact instead of assuming.

The best way: survey the moment they subscribe

Here is the flow. Someone lands on the subscribe page, types in their email and hits subscribe. The site immediately switches to a survey page, which is part of Beehiiv's website. It says thanks for subscribing and that we would love to know a little about you.

87% of people fill it out, which shocks even TJ. His explanation is that they just gave their email, they are excited, and it feels like they have to finish, even though they could close the page. The first question asks which town they live in, which keeps that local feel before the data questions start.

The downside, and the two other ways

TJ names one downside. If your post-signup page is already a specific offer, like half off something for the next 30 minutes, you cannot also send people to a survey there. He suggests the welcome email as a fallback for that case.

The other common way is a note at the top of the welcome email asking people to click through to a survey. It works, but TJ is almost certain you will not get 87%. He guesses 10%, probably less.

The third way is putting the survey inside the newsletter. He tried this on his Austin newsletters, back when he was not running the survey at signup, with the entire top of the issue asking people to please fill it out. Out of about 4,000 to 5,000 subscribers at the time, only 50 or 100 did. His takeaway is that people will not fill it out in numbers if they do not feel like they have to.

How it looks in Beehiiv

TJ shares his screen and walks through Beehiiv. Under Audience you go to Surveys and create one. The summary page shows the completion rate and the answers: what readers care about most, which city they live in, gender, age group, kids at home, own or rent, business owner, and household income. There are also two typed questions, like favorite restaurant, and a "how did you find us" question. Then he opens the form builder. He says it is not rocket science: it takes a few minutes to figure out, it looks like other automation tools such as Zapier, and you can just play with it and figure it out. The survey itself opens with a short thank-you for subscribing and a note asking readers to fill it out, then all but two questions are a single click.

The business owner question is the one he calls a killer. You can segment everyone who said yes and send them a specific email asking if they want to advertise or come on your local podcast. His own survey does not have it. Beehiiv does not let you change a survey after you make it, and he says redoing it is a pain, so they have not.

What to do with the answers

Once you have the data, you can put it to three uses. You can answer advertisers who ask who your readers are, with real numbers instead of a guess. You can shape your content around what readers say they care about. And you can segment people by their answers, like business owners, and email them something specific.

The questions come right after someone gives their email, while they are still excited about the newsletter, and all but two are single clicks.

Simple, but not easy

TJ closes by saying the whole process is that simple: someone subscribes and lands on the survey. Like everything in the newsletter space, he says it is simple but not easy, with lots of little things to figure out. He invites viewers to ask questions or email him if they need help. His advice is to give it a shot, watch a video or ask for help, and trust that you can figure out every step.