2 builders who never spoke to each other

Ask every signup what brought them here today

One automated question about what was happening in their world returns the reasoning that click tracking cannot: the trigger, the search, the recommendation and the words they used. Read in aggregate, the answers reveal seasonal demand and marketing angles, which is why one author sets this up before any other marketing work.

The method

1. 01

   Automatically email every new signup a short personal note from a founder asking what was happening in their world that brought them here, and how they heard about you.

2. 02

   Set up this one email before any other marketing work, because a constant drip of stated motivations informs every later campaign and product decision.

3. 03

   Use those replies as your real attribution data, because they explain the reasoning that click tracking cannot.

4. 04

   Replace attribution software by emailing every new trial to ask which events in their world led them to sign up, then replying personally to ask how they first heard of you.

5. 05

   Read the signup replies in aggregate to find seasonal demand you did not know existed, then market into that window.

What it returned

• 2017

  Justin took the opening question from Joanna Wiebe's MicroConf talk in 2017 and sends it to every new Transistor user under the subject line asking what brought them there.

• Transistor gets dozens of replies weekly naming a specific integration, multi-podcast pricing on one plan, a Google search among hosting options, plan affordability and a more polished site than rivals.

• Transistor sends this automatically with Userlist; the replies give Justin the whole discovery path rather than last-click attribution.

• Private podcast signups cluster in January and February because CEOs get the idea over the holidays and push it when they return to the office.

Sources

• Do you need marketing tracking and automation?Justin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · When people sign up, we ask them how they found us · undated
• Send your users this welcome emailJustin Jackson · justinjackson.ca · Send your users this welcome email · undated
• Do it in jeans firstGreg Kogan · gkogan.co · 2025-01-04