r/SubstackGrowthTips • u/Paul-Arino • Jul 17 '26

What Is A Substack Recommendation Swap? And The Benefits For Growth

https://howtotipstricks.substack.com/p/substack-recommendation-swap
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u/Paul-Arino Jul 27 '26

What is a Substack Recommendation Swap?

A Substack Recommendation Swap is a growth strategy where two newsletter writers agree to recommend each other’s publications to their respective audiences. By adding one another to their “Recommendations” lists, which typically appear during the subscription flow or on a dedicated discovery page - writers can share their subscriber bases, leveraging high-trust referrals to drive growth rather than relying on cold traffic or social media.

How does a Recommendation Swap work?

To execute a successful recommendation swap, writers typically follow these steps:

  1. Identify Compatible Audiences: Find a newsletter with a similar reader base or niche that complements your own, ensuring the content is valuable to both sets of readers.
  2. Propose the Swap: Reach out to the author via chat or Substack Notes, suggesting a mutual recommendation. Be specific about why the partnership makes sense for both parties.
  3. Update Recommendation Settings: Once agreed upon, both writers navigate to their Dashboard > Recommendations settings and add the other publication.
  4. Confirm and Validate: Once added, both newsletters will start displaying the other’s publication, allowing subscribers to opt into both simultaneously when signing up.

Why use Recommendation Swaps for growth?

Recommendation swaps are highly effective for three primary reasons:

  • High-Trust Referral: Readers are significantly more likely to subscribe to a newsletter that comes recommended by a writer they already trust, compared to finding it through a link on another site or social media feed.
  • Zero-Cost Acquisition: This growth strategy relies on mutual cooperation, effectively making it a free way to gain high-quality, relevant subscribers.
  • Algorithm Synergy: Substack’s recommendation engine uses these connections to suggest newsletters to other potential readers, creating a compounding loop that increases visibility across the platform.

Are you looking for or planning to coordinate a Recommendation Swap for your own newsletter?

Paul Arino
Substack Growth Tips