Substack Marketing: How Brands Can Work With Substack Creators

What is Substack?

Substack started in 2017 as a niche newsletter platform to help writers monetise their work. Now, 50 million active subscribers (5 million paid) use the platform to read or share everything from news articles to essays, opinion pieces, creative writing, newsletters, and independent journalism.

Substack is a purpose-built platform for long-form content, allowing creators to form direct relationships with their audience and generate income through subscription fees. In fact, the platforms has garnered attention from notable figures including Margaret Atwood, Pamela Anderson and Lena Dunham, building dedicated readerships alongside other celebrities, journalists, creatives, and everyday users.

Writers can provide content to their subscribers via free or paid newsletters, with Substack providing a robust range of tools to help people set up paid subscriptions and start earning (for a 10% commission).

The resurgence of long-form content

In a landscape seemingly dominated by reels, shorts and TikTok, we’re seeing a long-form renaissance taking shape.

Monthly user growth among giants like Facebook and Insta is decelerating or in slight reverse; while Substack is playing in the millions rather than the billions, it still managed to increase its subscriber base by over 25% in less than 6 months to March 2025.

Substack is the poster child for a wider movement. 69% of marketers and 64% of creators are increasing their production of long form content, while podcasts and longer YouTube videos are enjoying buoyant demand.

TikTok is moving with the tide, having progressively bumped its max video length from 1 to 3, then to 10 minutes (with 60-minute uploads now allowed if recorded outside the app).

As businesses and creators pile into social media platforms, fierce competition is driving down organic reach returns for brands. Users are becoming frustrated with opaque social media algorithms governing their online experience, and are hungering for deeper, more direct connection with their favourite creators.

Businesses are coming to understand how powerful content depth is because it enables meaningful engagement – the lightning rod for community building and conversion.

Long-form videos have been shown to increase conversion rates by 34%

For creators, using Substack is often a fresh pleasure. They can create niche content in their area of interest and dive into the topics they’re really passionate about, all without the need to plan out scroll-catching visuals or social hooks. The Substack model encourages consistent quality over long periods of time, earning them loyal subscribers who stick around.

On the user end, with no algorithm or integrated ads, Substack offers a refreshingly direct way to interact with and support favourite creators.

How creators turn blogs into businesses

Blogs are back. At a time when social media platforms are demanding harder work while engagement is more difficult to attain, platforms like Substack offer creators a new way to diversify their income stream and spark new audience generation.

Paid newsletter subscriptions are the central revenue-generating feature of Substack, but are by no means the only one. Creators can use their publications as vectors for selling their own digital products, like courses and templates, as well as physical items like merch and books.

Indirect opportunities include sponsorship by or advertisement of brands within their newsletter, as well as affiliate links to ecommerce platforms which yield commission on every click.

An emerging fashion shopping scene is a case study in Substack’s strength. Accounts like Magasin, Add To Wishlist and Are You Wearing That? have become thriving community discussion hubs, forum-style, where audiences discuss fashion and give each other honest recommendations.

Their popularity comes off the back of consumers’ fatigue with a visually dominated fashion media scene, where much of the discourse is shaped by sponsorships and trends of the day. Substack spaces are light on advertising and heavy on peer-to-peer community. Mostly run by ex-fashion editors, these text-based creators are earning subscription and affiliate link revenue directly from their audience for their service.

How brands are using Substack creators

Hinge

Through their Substack ‘No ordinary love: anthology’, this dating app is partnering with fresh and emerging literary voices to give us a deep, no holds barred look at real stories of imperfect love.

‘No ordinary love’ is about platforming writers – creating a space for credible voices and creativity – by sharing romantic stories of creators who met their partners on Hinge. Plus, they seamlessly integrated out-of-home marketing with print editions of their anthology, strategically placed in hot spots across London and NY. This is a deft move by Hinge, championing their users as credible influencers for their brand.

Free People

‘Feed Me’ is Substack’s #4 most popular business newsletter, run by Emily Sundberg and her sharp, personable insights. Her free, curated ‘Saturday Edition’ offers a relaxed roundup of the week or a deeper dive into particular topics.

Clothing brand ‘Free People’ sponsored one Saturday Edition. Known for their bohemian clothing style, the brand asked for nothing more than for Emily to mention any relevant products during her travel-focused newsletter. The brand also co-hosted a real-world ‘happy hour’ event for Emily’s Substack subscribers, which together generated in strong link click through and sales for Free People.

Tory Burch

Women’s designer brand Tory Burch launched their newsletter titled ‘What Should I Wear?’, a nod to the classic 50s fashion text of the same name.

A recurring feature within is a ‘Women At Work’ series, dedicated to spotlighting female creators who offer unique perspectives and inspirational stories.

They recently released a piece on Paris Stern, a food content creator and fashion graduate who’s making her own name in the Substack world with newsletter ‘Playing With Food’. This Q&A represents a cross-pollination opportunity between relevant Substack accounts, as well as a chance to learn more about Paris (including how Tory Burch plays a role in her day-to-day wardrobe).

Rare Beauty

Rare Beauty has built a network of both micro and macro Substack creators who actively engage with their page, fostering a sense of community, sharing behind the scenes of the brand via their Substack ‘Rare Beauty Secrets’, and making their comments section a must-visit each week.

Their newsletter Rare Insider, is authored by MacKenzie Kassab, the brand’s director of creative strategy. As writer and editor for global beauty brands, her unique voice offers “a (semi-authorized) look behind the scenes at a bestselling beauty brand”,

Rare Beauty leverages these authoritative internal voices as their influencers and spokespersons. By using trusted voices from within the company rather than traditional external influencers, they create a direct, credible connection with their audience. This approach positions their creative leaders and strategists as key figures who embody the brand’s values and story, strengthening the brand’s credibility and transparency.

How you should use Substack for your brand

Credibility at its core

Substack is a unique platform and demands a unique approach. Text based, with long reading times: you’ll retain your audience entirely based on the quality of the ideas, attitude and voices used and expressed in each piece.

Your content must always be value-driven over the desire to market products. Mechanically, advertising takes a small role on Substack  – that means it needs to take a small role in your content, too.

While you might feel nervous about steering away from the sell, trust your audience. With valuable content and a distinct voice, your user community will seek you (and your products) out themselves.

The value in remaining niche

To succeed at Substack, you need to offer a great level of depth. You need to offer insights in your area of strength that are deeper than anything offered on your site or socials, and really, a level of depth beyond that of your competitors.

You don’t need to take on the burden of expertise alone –  strategically chosen creators won’t just build you a pipeline of 10/10 commentary or creative, they’ll also turn the newsletter into a living, breathing hub for your niche.

Substack works at a slower pace than its social media rivals, which is a strength. With a lower cadence for publication, you and your collaborating creators have more time to flesh out a topic and create the high-quality content that Substack communities live on.

Long-form still matters

Change is in our nature. It’s little surprise that after the domination of algorithmic short-form content for a while, people are beginning to crave longer, deeper, more authentic ways of learning, connecting and being entertained.

Long-form content never went away, but the sleeping giant is waking up. There’s no need to abandon short-form content, though. Integrate it. Creators like Violet Witchel and Coco Mocoe are prime examples for harnessing the power of their audience on TikTok and drawing them over to Substack. When short-form and long-form content are used together, both formats are strengthened by the connection.

While social media shorts are definitely not going anywhere, long-form content gives brand marketers an opportunity to slow down and go deeper. While audiences vary from person to person, or moment to moment, the overall trend is that people want to spend more time consuming more detail, and all without an algorithm’s hand on the rudder. So give it to them.

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