--- title: "Why Tyler O’Shea Invested His Entire Acquisition Budget Into beehiiv Boosts" canonical: https://www.beehiiv.com/case-studies/joker-mag description: "How The Underdog Newsletter Reached 14,000+ Subscribers With Hyper-Engaged Growth via beehiiv" source: live-converter generated: 2026-06-03T22:07:03.687Z --- # Why Tyler O’Shea Invested His Entire Acquisition Budget Into beehiiv Boosts # Why Tyler O’Shea Invested His Entire Acquisition Budget Into beehiiv Boosts ## How The Underdog Newsletter Reached 14,000+ Subscribers With Hyper-Engaged Growth via beehiiv ![Why Tyler O’Shea Invested His Entire Acquisition Budget Into beehiiv Boosts](https://images.prismic.io/beehiiv/aDA-hCdWJ-7kSe6Y_Untitleddesign-21-.png?auto=format,compress) Written by Kanishka Kumawat Published on 07 Apr 2025 [](https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.beehiiv.com%2Fcase-studies%2Fjoker-mag&title=Why%20Tyler%20O%E2%80%99Shea%20Invested%20His%20Entire%20Acquisition%20Budget%20Into%20beehiiv%20Boosts&summary=How%20The%20Underdog%20Newsletter%20Reached%2014%2C000%2B%20Subscribers%20With%20Hyper-Engaged%20Growth%20via%20beehiiv)[](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.beehiiv.com%2Fcase-studies%2Fjoker-mag&text=Why%20Tyler%20O%E2%80%99Shea%20Invested%20His%20Entire%20Acquisition%20Budget%20Into%20beehiiv%20Boosts)[](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.beehiiv.com%2Fcase-studies%2Fjoker-mag)[](https://www.threads.net/intent/post?text=Why%20Tyler%20O%E2%80%99Shea%20Invested%20His%20Entire%20Acquisition%20Budget%20Into%20beehiiv%20Boosts%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.beehiiv.com%2Fcase-studies%2Fjoker-mag) ### Table of contents ### **Situation:** Tyler O’Shea launched _Joker Mag_ in 2017 to tell inspiring underdog stories in sports. As the brand grew, he expanded into _The Underdog Newsletter_ to create a more direct and owned channel with his audience. With 50,000+ monthly pageviews and 14,000+ newsletter subscribers, the newsletter became both a content hub and a traffic funnel for his website. ### **Challenge:** Early growth via Facebook ads brought in low-quality leads, leading Tyler to clean his list manually. He struggled with cost-effective acquisition that ensured real engagement. With a full-time job and limited bandwidth, he needed a tool that could bring in the right audience without draining resources or time. ### **Solution:** Tyler migrated to **beehiiv** for its creator-focused tooling and embraced: - **Boosts** as his primary acquisition strategy, now his biggest subscriber driver - **Segmentation** to improve deliverability and personalization - **Ad Network** to begin monetizing organically through aligned sponsorships He now uses Boosts to reach highly targeted audiences, resulting in open rates of **57%** and CTRs of **15–20%**, while also receiving replies from readers that build 1:1 connections. ### **Results:** - Acquired **2,000+ subscribers** via Boosts alone - Achieved **57% open rates** and **15–20% CTR** from Boost-acquired leads - Turned beehiiv into his main growth and monetization engine - Tyler's beehiiv website ranks #1 on Google search ## Related Case Studies ![How The Small Bow Left Substack for beehiiv and Grew Open Rates by 35%](https://images.prismic.io/beehiiv/ahVlu7K9tuLqEJDp_Untitleddesign-39-.png?auto=format,compress) ### How The Small Bow Left Substack for beehiiv and Grew Open Rates by 35% A recovery newsletter breaks free from Substack, builds its own branded platform on beehiiv, and immediately sees a 35% jump in open rates [ Read Case Study → ](/case-studies/the-small-bow) ![How TechCrunch Streamlined Editorial Workflows with beehiiv](https://images.prismic.io/beehiiv/aPdWMrpReVYa3gfP_Untitleddesign-29-.png?auto=format,compress) ### How TechCrunch Streamlined Editorial Workflows with beehiiv The Growth Playbook Powering TechCrunch’s Media Engine [ Read Case Study → ](/case-studies/techcrunch) ![How a Queer Sports Newsletter Doubled Its Revenue After Leaving Substack](https://images.prismic.io/beehiiv/agwKIqYofJOwHWi7_Untitleddesign-37-.png?auto=format,compress) ### How a Queer Sports Newsletter Doubled Its Revenue After Leaving Substack Why leaving Substack was the best business decision Frankie de la Cretaz ever made [ Read Case Study → ](/case-studies/out-of-your-league) ![](https://media.beehiiv.com/cdn-cgi/image/fit=scale-down,onerror=redirect,format=auto,width=640,quality=75/www/boosts-promo-2x/rockets.svg) ## The Only Writing & Publishing Tool You Need [ Start Your Free Trial ](https://app.beehiiv.com/signup?plan=max)