6AM City wanted to scale and increase community engagement without sacrificing what customers loved in their email newsletters. With Sailthru by Marigold, 6AM City boosted open rates to almost 48%.
"We do most of our sending through APIs and build newsletters in a custom way inside our CMS. Sailthru still lets us capture the engagement data we need, which isn’t always possible with other platforms."
6AM City expanded to new markets at a fast pace, but scaled at a speed that came at a cost to subscribers. 6AM turned to Marigold to expand their markets and increase subscriber loyalty.
Using Sailthru by Marigold’s Audience Builder and Lifecycle Optimizer tools, 6AM City was able to track engagement and create cohorts based on real-time subscriber behavior.
With Marigold, 6AM City had open rates of up to 48% in cities where they were more established, and created a system for engaging subscribers in new markets quickly and successfully.
6AM City redefines local media by delivering city-specific news, events, and community stories through engaging newsletters free of politics and divisive topics. With a growing portfolio spanning over 30 markets and a focus on locally-powered content, the brand connects readers with the best their cities have to offer, from happy hour guides to weekend events. They launched with a clear mission: help people spend their time, talent, and treasure locally.
However, expanding into too many markets without first building a loyal readership came at a cost. 6AM City wanted to scale quickly, but remain true to its brand. To grow smarter, the team needed a solution that could support fast expansion, integrate with their tech stack, and provide clear insight into what content and audiences were driving results. That’s where Sailthru by Marigold came in.
“We went to too many cities too fast and didn’t invest enough in audience development. The big lesson was to double down on audience development early, because that’s how you hit profitability faster.”
— Ryan Heafy, Co-founder and COO, 6AM City
With Sailthru by Marigold, 6AM City built a repeatable process for launching and scaling city-specific newsletters. Using performance data to guide content and product decisions, they now manage dozens of newsletters across markets and verticals.
Key tactics:
As 6AM City launches in new cities like Orlando, Northern Virginia, and Knoxville, they are focused on warming up subscribers before launch. A sequence of four to eight pre-launch emails helps keep users engaged and familiar with the brand before daily sends begin. They also extended their welcome journeys across all cities to reduce dormancy and improve long-term list health.
6AM City was able to create a system for quickly launching in new markets using Sailthru. They also kept their cost of acquisition low, with a consistent cost per lead of $1 or less from targeted Facebook campaigns. Additional results included:
6AM City isn’t just growing fast—they’re growing smart, with Sailthru. The team uses Sailthru’s flexible tools and integrations to launch newsletters in new cities, often overnight, while maintaining a reader-first approach to content. They rely on real data, not algorithms, to understand what resonates and optimize engagement through custom-built onboarding flows, smart segmentation, and deep insight into true audience behavior.
From API-based sending to expert deliverability guidance, Sailthru gives 6AM City what they need to stay nimble, scale sustainably, and keep their lists healthy. That way, they can focus on what they do best: connecting communities through content that brings people closer to where they live.
Create newsletters that subscribers look forward to with Sailthru by Marigold →
