Josh had an email list of around 5,000 people but was frustrated with the results. “Whenever we sent any emails, we didn’t get any responses.” He observed better engagement on Facebook and decided to pivot his strategy to Messenger.

Why Josh prioritized Messenger over email

After launching a giveaway in his Facebook group, Josh gained 200 Messenger subscribers and saw remarkable results immediately: “I sent out a broadcast and I saw I had a 96 percent open rate and a 60 percent click-through rate.” This contrasted sharply with his email performance of 33% open rates and 4% click-through rates.

His conclusion: “I chose to quadruple down on Messenger. I took focus off of my email list and ramped up my Messenger list which is way easier than email.”

How he grew to 12,000+ subscribers

Josh attributes his growth primarily to releasing eBooks on Product Hunt rather than traditional methods. His first book generated 5,000 subscribers, while his second brought 7,000. Total: 12,000+ subscribers in 75 days.

“I think we could hit 25,000 pretty quickly and that’s super exciting.”

Handling thousands of messages

Josh’s team handles approximately 90% of incoming messages while he addresses 10%. He emphasizes the importance of vetting leads before escalating to direct conversation: “You do have to look into their LinkedIn profile.” This hybrid approach — automation handling volume, humans handling high-value conversations — is the key to scaling Messenger marketing.