Stop celebrating every Instagram signup

You got 200 email subs from Instagram last month.

Feels like progress, right?

But here's what most people don't see in their dashboard:

150 of those subscribers will never open an email. 40 might open once and disappear. 10 will actually engage, click sponsor links, and generate you revenue.

The key thing here is: Your Instagram IS working…

BUT 95% of your signups are worth almost nothing.

Most newsletter creators track this:

Instagram → 200 email signups → "Instagram is working, keep posting"

But they don't track this:

→ Educational reel: 50 signups, 15% open rate, never click sponsors
→ Storytelling reel: 20 signups, 45% open rate, 8% sponsor CTR
→ Framework breakdown: 30 signups, 35% open rate, 5% sponsor CTR

All email signups look the same in your dashboard.

But if you take one piece of valuable info from this email today it’s this:

Your subscriber quality varies wildly based on the type of content that attracted the signup.

For example: If you knew that storytelling content brings subscribers worth 5x more than educational content, you'd stop wasting time on the wrong reels.

But most creators can't measure this.

They just see "Instagram brought X signups" and assume all signups are equal.

Ad sponsors don't particularly care about your subscriber count.

They pay for engagement - people clicking on their ads.

Scenario A: 1,000 subscribers with 12% open rate = 120 people see sponsor ad

Scenario B: 300 subscribers with 42% open rate = 126 people see sponsor ad

Scenario B gets paid MORE despite having 1/3 the subscribers.

This is a prime example of how quality beats quantity.

The Instagram content that brings Scenario B subscribers is what you should create 10x more of.

But here's the challenge most newsletter creators face:

You can see which Instagram posts drove signups. But you can't tell if Instagram caused the signup or just got credit for it.

Maybe someone discovered you through a newsletter swap, then searched for you on Instagram and signed up there. Instagram gets the attribution. The newsletter swap did the actual work.

This is where understanding incrementality (true impact vs. last-click attribution) becomes critical.

But how do you measure what's actually driving results vs. what's just taking credit?

That’s were Haus comes in…

Still guessing which marketing tactics actually drive sales? This free guide shows how leading DTC brands use incrementality to cut waste and scale smarter. Learn how to measure true impact, optimize your budget, and move beyond outdated attribution. Download now and start making data-backed decisions that fuel real growth.

Most newsletter platforms don't let you segment by "Instagram content type."

But you can test this manually:

Week 1: Post only educational content (how-to's, tips, frameworks) → Track: How many signups? What's their open rate in welcome sequence?

Week 2: Post only storytelling content (personal experience, case studies, behind-the-scenes) → Track: How many signups? What's their open rate?

Week 3: Post only transformation content (before/after, results, outcomes) → Track: How many signups? What's their open rate?

After 3 weeks, you'll know which content type brings subscribers who actually engage.

Then make 10x more of that content type.

Stop tracking: How many Instagram signups did I get?

Start tracking: Which Instagram content brings subscribers who open emails and click sponsor links?

Your Instagram works.

But you're probably scaling the wrong content.

Find what brings quality subscribers.

Double down on that.

— Digital Savage

P.S. — If you have questions or want to discuss your specific content strategy, just reply to this email. I read everything.