Semrush ยท Oct 2024 to Oct 2025
Semrush newsletter turnaround
Semrush acquired two newsletters that were underperforming. I cleaned a bot-heavy list of about 50,000 contacts and rebuilt it with paid acquisition to about 6,000 engaged readers within a few months.
- Client
- Semrush
- Period
- Oct 2024 to Oct 2025
- Type of work
- Newsletter management
- Newsletters
- The Growth Bulletin, The Early Checkout
The problem
Semrush had acquired two newsletters, The Growth Bulletin and The Early Checkout, and both were underperforming when I took them over. The list I inherited had about 50,000 contacts, and nearly all of it turned out to be bot-like.
What I did
- Cleaned the list. I removed about 99% of the inherited contacts as bot-like, to protect deliverability.
- Rebuilt it with paid acquisition. Within a few months the list was about 6,000 engaged readers.
- Moved the platform and refreshed the brands. I migrated both lists from ActiveCampaign to Beehiiv and carried out the rebrands.
- Wrote and edited the issues, long form and short form, and managed contractors, deliverability and analytics. I also audited the GA4 setup to restore purchase-path attribution.
Tools, and how they fit together
ActiveCampaign (before) and Beehiiv (after) for sending, paid channels for acquiring subscribers, and GA4 for attribution.
Who I worked with
I reported to Beatus Hoang, Sr. Growth Manager at Semrush, who managed me directly and has given a written reference (on the home page). I also managed contractors.
Result
From about 50,000 inherited contacts to about 6,000 engaged readers within a few months, using paid acquisition.
Limits
The 6,000 counts engaged readers after the cleaning, so it cannot be compared directly with the 50,000 raw contacts. Paid acquisition was part of the rebuild, so the growth was not organic. This was a turnaround of newly acquired assets and is not an SEO case study.