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Welcome to the 259th edition of The Growth Elements Newsletter. Every Monday and sometimes on Thursday, I write an essay on growth metrics & experiments and business case studies.
Today’s piece is for 8,000+ founders, operators, and leaders from businesses such as Shopify, Hubspot, Zoho, Freshworks, Chargebee, Servcorp, Zomato, Postman, and Razorpay.
Today’s The Growth Elements (TGE) is brought to you by:
Blu Dot surpasses 2,000% ROAS with self-serve CTV ads
Home furniture brand Blu Dot blew up on CTV with help from Roku Ads Manager. Here’s how:
After a test campaign reached 211,000 households and achieved 1,010% ROAS, the brand went all in to promote its annual sales event. It removed age and income constraints to expand reach and shifted budget to custom audiences and retargeting, where intent was strongest.
The results speak for themselves. As Blu Dot increased their investment by 10x, ROAS jumped to 2,308% and more page-view conversions surpassed 50,000.
“For CTV campaigns, Roku has been a top performer,” said Claire Folkestad, Paid Media Strategist, Blu Dot. “Comping to our other platforms, we have seen really strong ROAS… and highly efficient CPMs, lower than any other CTV partner we've worked with.”
Using Roku Ads Manager, the campaign moved from a pilot to a permanent performance engine for the brand.
Thank you for supporting our sponsors, who keep this newsletter free.
Newsletters became the highest ROI owned distribution channel for B2B SaaS and creator brands in 2026.
Owned audiences beat paid audiences on CAC, retention, and second-order compounding.
The platform decision affects deliverability, growth tools, monetization options, and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) citation ground.
Here are the top 5 newsletter platforms running real subscriber-first businesses in 2026.
What should you look for in a newsletter platform in 2026?
A newsletter platform in 2026 should solve five things:
Deliverability (95%+ inbox placement to Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo)
Native growth tools (referral programs, cross-recommendations, embeddable subscribe forms)
Monetization (paid subscriptions, sponsorships, ads)
Integration with your CRM and marketing stack
Public discoverability so newsletter posts get indexed by Google and cited by AI Overviews.
Selection criteria to apply:
Deliverability:
Warm-up automation, dedicated Internet Protocol (IP), authentication (Sender Policy Framework (SPF), DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM), Domain-based Message Authentication (DMARC)).
Growth tools:
Referral program, cross-recommendations to other newsletters, embed forms, single-sign-on subscribes.
Monetization:
Paid subscriptions, ad marketplace, sponsorship management, tips, communities.
Integrations:
Native connections to CRM from the top 5 CRM tools for B2B SaaS in 2026, analytics, and payments.
SEO and AEO discoverability:
Public post URLs, custom domains, schema-friendly rendering.
[1] Beehiiv
Best all-around newsletter platform for creators and B2B brands.
Beehiiv is the newsletter platform built by former Morning Brew operators. Referral programs, cross-recommendations network, native ad marketplace, custom domains, and Search Engine Optimization-friendly public post URLs.
Key features: Referral program, Boosts and Recommendations network, native ad marketplace, custom domain, subscriber segmentation, automations, website builder, analytics.
Pricing: Free tier available up to 2,500 subscribers. Paid plans scale with subscribers and features. See current pricing at beehiiv.com/pricing.
Best for: B2B SaaS newsletters, creator brands, and independent operators wanting growth tools plus native monetization.
Notable use case: Used by Milk Road, Chartr, The Neuron, and the Growth Elements newsletter.
My take: Beehiiv is my default recommendation for 2026. Deliverability plus native growth loops plus ad marketplace at reasonable pricing. It is what powers this newsletter.
[2] Substack
Best newsletter platform for paid subscription creators.
Substack is the newsletter platform of record for paid subscription creators. Native paid subscriptions, Notes (a Twitter-like network), podcast hosting, and cross-recommendations. Built-in audience discovery through Substack Reader.
Key features: Paid subscriptions, Notes network, podcast hosting, cross-recommendations, comments, Chat, live video, custom domain.
Pricing: Free to use. Substack takes 10% of paid subscription revenue plus payment processing.
Best for: Individual writers monetizing via paid subscriptions and creators wanting native audience network effects.
Notable use case: Used by Bari Weiss, Matt Taibbi, Lenny Rachitsky (Lenny's Newsletter), and thousands of creators.
My take: Substack is the paid-subscription default. Right when the business model is reader-pays. Trade-off is you cannot fully own the subscriber list on the same terms and 10% revenue cut compounds fast at scale.
[3] Kit
Best creator-friendly newsletter platform for course and product businesses.
Kit (formerly ConvertKit) is the creator-friendly newsletter platform for creators selling courses, digital products, and communities. Native commerce, tags-based subscriber segmentation, automations, and landing pages. Deeper commerce than Beehiiv or Substack.
Key features: Automations, tags and segments, native commerce (courses, digital products, tips), landing pages, forms, creator network.
Pricing: Free tier available up to 10,000 subscribers. Paid plans scale with subscribers. See current pricing at kit.com/pricing.
Best for: Creators, course sellers, and product businesses wanting newsletter plus commerce plus automations.
Notable use case: Used by James Clear (Atomic Habits), Tim Ferriss, and thousands of course creators.
My take: Kit is the creator-commerce choice. Right when the newsletter monetizes through courses, digital products, or tiered communities rather than sponsorships.
Best minimal newsletter platform for technical writers.
Buttondown is the minimal, no-frills newsletter platform built by and for technical writers. Markdown-first authoring, clean HTML, and privacy-focused defaults. Preferred by developer and engineering-leader newsletters.
Key features: Markdown authoring, Really Simple Syndication (RSS)-based imports, custom domains, paid subscriptions, analytics, minimal user interface.
Pricing: Free tier available. Paid plans scale with subscribers. See current pricing at buttondown.com/pricing.
Best for: Technical writers, developer newsletters, and independent operators wanting a lean tool without bloat.
Notable use case: Used by developer-focused newsletters and technical writers.
My take: Buttondown is the technical-writer pick. Right when the newsletter voice values simplicity over feature density. Trade-off is fewer native growth tools than Beehiiv.
[5] Ghost
Best open-source newsletter and membership platform.
Ghost is the open-source publishing plus newsletter plus membership platform. Native paid memberships, tiered content, integrated Search Engine Optimization, and full control if self-hosted. Used by StackOverflow blog, Buffer blog, and major publications.
Key features: Native newsletter, paid memberships, tiered content, native SEO, custom themes, API access, self-hosting option or Ghost Pro managed hosting.
Pricing: Self-hosted free (server costs apply). Ghost Pro managed hosting starts at accessible pricing. See current pricing at ghost.org/pricing.
Best for: Publications, B2B SaaS blogs plus newsletters combined, and technical teams wanting open source.
Notable use case: Used by StackOverflow blog, Buffer, DuckDuckGo, and independent publications.
My take: Ghost is the publisher-first choice. Right when the newsletter is one channel inside a larger publication with SEO ranking as the primary content goal.
Match the tool to business model and growth motion.
Most B2B SaaS and creator brands choose Beehiiv.
Paid-subscription creators choose Substack.
Course and product creators choose Kit.
Technical writers choose Buttondown.
Publications choose Ghost.
Decision framework:
B2B SaaS newsletter or creator wanting native growth loops plus sponsorships: Beehiiv
Individual writer monetizing via paid subscriptions with reader network: Substack
Creator selling courses, digital products, or communities via the newsletter: Kit
Technical writer or developer newsletter wanting minimal tooling: Buttondown
Publication combining SEO blog plus newsletter plus memberships: Ghost
Newsletter growth pairs with cross-channel distribution covered in AEO Playbook Part 7: how to drive third-party mentions and brand consensus and community from the top 5 community platforms for B2B SaaS in 2026.
Final Words
[1] Pick platform before content strategy. Migration destroys 20 to 40% of engaged subscribers. Decide once and commit for 24 months minimum.
[2] Publish public post URLs from day one. Private-only newsletters miss AEO citation ground entirely. Public URLs on Beehiiv, Substack, Kit, or Ghost let Google index and AIO cite.
[3] Own the subscriber email list. Regardless of platform, export the list every quarter. Platform risk is real. Subscribers are the asset.
That's it for today's article! I hope you found this essay insightful.
Wishing you a productive week ahead!
I always appreciate you reading.
Thanks,
Chintankumar Maisuria
