5-of-7 Email Engagement Rule
Share
A discussion about user engagement metrics and how early actions predict long-term user retention, particularly in email newsletters and social media platforms.
Key Engagement Metrics That Predict User Retention
-
Facebook's "Magic Number 7"
- Users need to add 7 friends in first 10 days
- This predicts long-term platform engagement
- Creates "sticky" users who stay on platform
-
The Hustle Newsletter's "5 of 7" Rule
- Users who open 5 emails in first 7 days become "gold" users
- These users show significantly higher long-term engagement
- Similar to Facebook's friend metric, early action predicts retention
User Customization Impact
- The Hustle's "Snippets" Feature
- Allows users to customize news preferences
- Requires longer onboarding flow
- Results in 3-4x more engaged users
Engagement Causation Debate
- Two Competing Theories:
- Self-Selection Theory
- Power users naturally complete longer flows
- They were already predisposed to engage more
- Indoctrination Theory (Sam's View)
- The act of completing steps creates power users
- Going through process increases commitment
- Similar to "flex muscles first, then feel confident" concept
- Self-Selection Theory
Key Insight
- Making users complete specific actions early in their journey helps transform them into power users, rather than just identifying existing power users
Sam Parr
Host of MFM and fitness influencer
Sam Parr is a serial entrepreneur and business media pioneer.
In 2016, he founded The Hustle, a business news media company that started in his kitchen with just $12 and grew to eight figures in revenue.
Sam led the charge in making newsletters popular when few believed in their potential.
After four successful years, he sold The Hustle to HubSpot, a publicly traded company. Now operating as HubSpot Media, The Hustle reaches 3 million readers daily, employs a team of nearly 100, and has been the launchpad for dozens of its staff to found their own media companies and newsletters.
Sam remains the host of the popular business podcast, My First Million, and continues to start and sell companies. He also co-founded Hampton, a highly vetted community for entrepreneurs, founders, and CEOs, and teaches people to write better through his platform, Copy That.