# Bluesky custom feed inside starter pack before follow churn

> Include the best custom feed inside the starter pack before asking people to follow dozens of accounts, so the home timeline feels useful on the first session.

- Canonical HTML: https://growth.iangoh.com/growth-ideas/bluesky-custom-feed-inside-starter-pack-before-follow-churn/
- Source: [bsky.social](https://bsky.social/about/blog/06-26-2024-starter-packs)
- GrowthDex source hub: [Bluesky Blog: Introducing Bluesky Starter Packs](/sources/bluesky-blog-introducing-bluesky-starter-packs-bsky-social/)
- Last checked: 2026-06-09T09:09:03.000Z
- Rarity: rare
- Budget: low
- Channels: Activation, Community-led Growth, Retention
- Stages: custom feed, starter pack, first session, follow churn, timeline quality


## Why this can grow

Following accounts is not enough if the timeline still feels noisy or empty. Bluesky made starter packs more powerful by letting creators bundle custom feeds with recommended follows. That matters because the feed determines whether the user comes back tomorrow. The account list tells people who matters; the feed tells them what to do next. For startups, creators, and niche communities, this is a better onboarding shape than a bare profile link. Someone arriving from a talk, essay, podcast, or product launch can immediately subscribe to the one feed that collects the conversation, instead of manually reconstructing the graph from scratch. That reduces early churn because the user sees signal before the network has time to feel confusing.

## Ian's take

From scaling consumer platforms across MENA and Southeast Asia, my default is to distrust growth work that only looks good in a slide. My bias is to treat this as a small market test first. Make the audience narrow, make the promise concrete, and let the first real response decide whether it deserves more work. I would run it small enough to learn quickly, then only scale the parts that real users repeat, save, reply to, or buy from. For this tactic, I would watch one clear growth signal before putting more time or budget behind it.

## Action plan

1. Define one narrow startup segment where bluesky custom feed inside starter pack before follow churn can create a measurable lift.
2. Turn the tactic into one offer, page, campaign, or workflow for the Activation and Community-led Growth channel.
3. Use the evidence from bsky.social to set the first version of the message, format, and audience.
4. Launch a small test for 7 to 14 days with one success metric: one measurable growth signal.
5. Review the result, keep the winning message, remove weak variants, and turn the learning into a repeatable growth playbook.

## Source-backed example

Bluesky's starter-pack feature lets creators recommend both accounts and custom feeds, giving new users a pre-shaped timeline rather than only a list of people to follow.

## Adjacent tactics in the same lane

- [Bluesky shareable pack link before algorithmic hope](/growth-ideas/bluesky-shareable-pack-link-before-algorithmic-hope/) - same source, 1 shared channel
- [Bluesky starter pack before open-ended posting](/growth-ideas/bluesky-starter-pack-before-open-ended-posting/) - 2 shared channels, 1 shared stage
- [Telegram menu button matches the user state](/growth-ideas/telegram-menu-button-matches-the-user-state/) - 2 shared channels
- [Teams admin pin path before adoption drift](/growth-ideas/teams-admin-pin-path-before-adoption-drift/) - 2 shared channels

## Read GrowthDex essays

Browse the plain-English essay index at [GrowthDex Blog](/blog/).

## Related GrowthDex essays

- [The social account should arrive with a map](/blog/the-social-account-should-arrive-with-a-map/) - social growth, community-led growth, brand trust

## Advisory

If you want help turning this into a working growth system, Ian Goh offers advisory at https://iangoh.com/advisory.