This Substack Feature Can Bring You 1000s of New Subscribers on Autopilot

If you’re serious about growing on Substack, there’s one feature you really can’t afford to ignore.

And no, it has nothing to do with creating more content.

And it definitely has nothing to do with shouting louder or promoting yourself 24/7.

It’s pretty much a set-it-and-forget-it feature that runs quietly in the background, while bringing in 100s or even 1000s of new subscribers over time.

(I know that sounds a bit too good to be true. But it’s very real.)

I’m talking about Substack’s newsletter recommendation feature.

You’ve probably seen it before.

You might already be using it.

But in my experience working with hundreds of Substack creators, this feature is still massively underused and undervalued.

And that’s a missed opportunity.

For our publication, newsletter recommendations alone have brought in 8,000+ new subscribers in the last year and a half.

That’s close to 20% of our entire list - all from one feature.

And the reason I love this feature so much is simple:

It’s a system that keeps working for you, even when you’re offline.

You set this up once, and then it sends subscribers your way for months or even years, completely on autopilot.

How Newsletter Recommendations Actually Work

Let me make this practical with a real example.

At Write • Build • Scale, we recommend David McIlroy’s newsletter. We genuinely love his work. We trust him. And we collaborate with him a lot.

David also recommends Write • Build • Scale. (Lucky us!)

So, when someone subscribes to David’s newsletter, they’ll see a pop-up that says something like:

“David also recommends Write • Build • Scale. Do you want to subscribe?”

Not everyone opts in - and that’s completely okay.

But 216 people did decide to opt in and subscribe to Write • Build • Scale. That’s 216 subscribers we wouldn’t have otherwise.

And the same thing happens from our side.

Whenever someone subscribes to Write • Build • Scale, they’ll be asked to subscribe to David’s publication, How to Write for a Living.

Not everyone opts in - but some of them do.

This way, we’ve sent David 431 new subscribers.

All in all, this newsletter recommendation exchange is a win-win scenario for both Substack publications, as we’re both growing our audiences on autopilot.

The Power Is In The Volume

A lot of Substack creators do one or two recommendation swaps and then stop.

But the real power of this feature is in volume.

At Write • Build • Scale, we actively reached out to creators we genuinely admire.

Creators with overlapping audiences.

Creators whose work we’d happily put in front of our readers.

Over time, this helped us get 600+ different publications to recommend Write • Build • Scale, which has been key in getting 8,000+ new subscribers from this feature.

(Quick note: you don’t need 600+ recommendations for this feature to work. Out of these 611 publications recommending us, the top 10 are bringing in 30% of all growth.)

Now, one of the most common concerns I hear when it comes to having so many recommendations is:

“If I recommend 50 or 100 newsletters… won’t new subscribers see all of them and be put off?”

Short answer: No.

Substack designed this feature intelligently.

New subscribers only see a small selection (usually around five) recommendations at a time, and those constantly rotate.

So there’s no downside to recommending many newsletters as long as they’re good.

Only Recommend What You Trust

This part matters.

At Write • Build • Scale, we only recommend newsletters where:

• We know the person behind it

• We value their work

• We genuinely believe our audience will benefit

Don’t blindly recommend newsletters just for growth.

And just as important: Make sure your own publication is worth recommending.

If it’s unclear what you write about…

If your positioning is messy…

If your publication looks unfinished…

People will hesitate to recommend your newsletter.

Start With People You Already Know

The easiest way to get started with newsletter recommendations is to reach out to creators you already have some connection with:

• You’re subscribed to their newsletter

• You’ve commented on their posts

• You’ve interacted via Notes or DMs

That familiarity goes a long way.

If you want to be even more intentional, spend a few days engaging first before proposing a recommendation exchange.

That turns a cold ask into a warm conversation.

Recommendations Are Just the Beginning

One of the biggest underrated benefits of this feature is what other collaboration opportunities it leads to.

What starts as a newsletter recommendation exchange can turn into:

• Guest posts

• Substack Lives

• Podcast appearances

• Long-term partnerships

That’s exactly how many of our strongest collaborations started.

Recommendations are the door opener.

A Simple Action You Can Take This Week

Here’s something you can do today:

1. Think of five Substack creators in your niche (or an adjacent one)

2. Make sure you genuinely admire their work

3. Reach out and suggest a newsletter recommendation exchange

Explain why you think your audiences overlap.

Set it up from both dashboards.

And let the system do its thing.

Start with five, and then expand from there.