Substack - Should your brand be on it?

Substack is an interesting opportunity for brands, but I think its biggest potential is being misunderstood if you look at it simply as another social media advertising channel.

I'd look at it as a combination of independent media, thought leadership, community building, publishing and direct audience ownership.

For brands, there are three quite different opportunities:

Advertise on Substack: Reach audiences who subscribe to influential writers, publications and niche communities.

Partner with Substack publishers: Work with established writers and creators who have credibility and influence with particular audiences.

Own a Substack publication: Build a brand-owned editorial platform, with subscribers, regular content and a direct relationship with an audience.

The third is particularly interesting for brands that want to build authority, cultural relevance and trust rather than simply generate impressions.

1. Advertising and sponsorship opportunities

This is where things have become particularly interesting in 2026.

Substack historically resisted advertising, preferring a subscription-funded model. However, it is now actively developing a brand sponsorship business.

In June 2026, it announced a new sponsorship programme, appointed a dedicated Head of Brand Sponsorships and introduced a programme involving brands including:

Uber

Balenciaga

T-Mobile

Yahoo

Whatnot

Granola

Polymarket

Substack's proposition is essentially that brands can borrow the trust and credibility that independent writers have built with their audiences.
A new economic engine for culture+1

There are several ways to participate:

Format

How it works

Newsletter sponsorship

Sponsor an established publication or writer

Editorial integration

A brand becomes part of a relevant editorial feature or series

Podcast sponsorship

Host-read advertising or sponsored podcast segments

Events

Sponsor or co-host events with writers and their communities

Subscriber perks

Offer products, experiences or discounts to subscribers

Bespoke partnerships

Develop a longer-term relationship with a writer or publication

Substack is also developing a more formal infrastructure for connecting brands and creators, rather than leaving every publisher to find sponsors independently.
Substack, Inc+2

My take: The editorial integration opportunity is potentially more valuable than conventional advertising.

Imagine a premium travel brand partnering with a respected travel writer, or a sportswear brand working with a writer covering running culture.

The brand isn't interrupting the content. It's helping make the content possible.

That's a different proposition from buying a banner ad or sponsoring an Instagram post.
2. Brands creating their own Substack publications

This is probably the most interesting opportunity from a brand strategy perspective.

A brand can establish its own publication, build subscribers and develop a recognisable editorial voice.

Some examples worth looking at:
Substack SEO: Grow Newsletter Reach in 2026 | Sprout Social

Tory Burch

What Should I Wear?

Fashion, personal style and cultural content. A natural extension of the brand's world rather than a stream of product promotions.
The RealReal | Substack

The RealReal

Editorial content around luxury, fashion, collecting and the culture of resale.
How To Start a Substack To Promote Your Small Business (2025) - Shopify

Rare Beauty

An opportunity to extend its community and conversations around beauty, identity and wellbeing.
The M Dash by M.M.LaFleur | The M Dash Team | Substack

M.M.LaFleur

The M Dash

Content around working life, careers, women and professional culture.

Examples drawn from the 2026 brand publication directory.
readinhouse.substack.com+1

The important distinction is that these brands aren't necessarily using Substack to sell products directly.

They're using it to create an editorial destination.
What could a brand actually publish?

For example:

Brand category

Possible editorial proposition

Sportswear

The culture, people and psychology of sport

Automotive

Design, engineering, travel and automotive culture

Financial services

Money, business, ambition and entrepreneurship

Travel

Places, people, experiences and discovery

Food & drink

Food culture, chefs, provenance and recipes

Technology

The impact of technology on everyday life

Entertainment

Behind the scenes, talent and cultural commentary

A good test is whether someone would genuinely want to read the publication even if they weren't a customer of the brand.

If the answer is yes, there's potential.
The biggest advantage: audience ownership

A brand can build a subscriber base, communicate directly through email, develop paid and free tiers, publish audio and video, and create a community around its content.

It isn't simply another social media following.

You also retain ownership of your content and can export subscriber information, subject to the relevant data protection requirements.
Substack FAQ+1
3. Founder-led and executive-led Substacks

This is another interesting route, and arguably a more natural one than a corporate brand publication.

Rather than the company being the publisher, an individual becomes the voice.

For example:

A CEO writing about the future of their industry.

A CMO discussing changing consumer behaviour.

A creative director exploring culture, creativity and brands.

A founder sharing lessons, opinions and industry observations.

The company benefits from the association, but the content feels human rather than corporate.

I think this is particularly relevant in B2B, professional services, technology and consultancy.

It also creates an interesting distinction between building a company brand and building the reputation of the people behind it.
4. What Substack actually gives a brand

Here's how I'd assess its potential against more established channels.

Capability

Substack

Direct email relationship

Strong

Long-form editorial

Excellent

Thought leadership

Excellent

Community building

Strong

Creator partnerships

Growing

Paid subscriptions

Built in

Audio and podcasts

Built in

Video

Supported

Organic discovery

Growing

Conventional paid media targeting

Limited

Performance advertising

Not its core proposition

Audience data and measurement

More limited than established ad platforms

One important distinction: Substack is not yet equivalent to Meta Ads Manager or LinkedIn Campaign Manager.

It doesn't offer the same mature self-serve advertising infrastructure, targeting controls and performance optimisation.

Its new sponsorship programme is much more partnership-led.
A new economic engine for culture+2
5. How brands grow on Substack

This is an important part of the opportunity.

Substack isn't just a publishing tool. It has its own discovery and recommendation ecosystem.

There are several routes to growth:

Recommendations

Publications can recommend other publications. When someone subscribes, they can be encouraged to subscribe to recommended newsletters too. This creates a potentially powerful network effect between publishers.
Substack, Inc

The Substack app

Readers can discover publications, follow writers, engage with posts and explore recommendations.

Cross-promotion

A brand can collaborate with writers, other brands and relevant publications to reach established audiences.

Social distribution

Articles can be distributed through LinkedIn, Instagram, X and other channels, bringing people back to the publication.

Email subscriptions

Once someone subscribes, the brand has a direct communication channel rather than having to rely entirely on a social algorithm.

One thing to be careful about: Substack explicitly discourages publications that exist primarily to advertise an external product or service. A brand needs to behave like a publisher, not use the platform as a disguised promotional email channel.
Substack FAQ+1
6. The potential downsides

I wouldn't automatically recommend Substack to every brand.

There are some real considerations:

Audience fit: Its strongest communities are often built around particular interests, expertise and personalities. Not every consumer category has an obvious fit.

Content commitment: A publication needs a consistent editorial proposition and regular output.

Brand control: A corporate publication can feel rather unnatural if the writing is too polished, sanitised or approval-heavy.

Measurement: Subscriber numbers aren't the same as commercial impact. You need to measure readership, engagement, referrals, brand perception and ultimately business outcomes.

Platform dependency: You own your content and can export subscribers, but you don't own the Substack distribution ecosystem.

Commercial restrictions: You need to understand its publishing policies, commercial arrangements and the distinction between editorial and sponsored content.

There is also a question of whether a brand should build on Substack or use its own website and email platform. Substack gives you a ready-made publishing and discovery ecosystem, but it also means operating within somebody else's environment.
7. Where I think the bigger opportunity lies

I'd actually think about Substack as three different marketing investments:
Investment 1

Borrowed audience

Sponsor writers and publications that already have the audience you want.

Objective: Awareness, credibility and consideration.
Investment 2

Owned audience

Create your own brand publication and develop a subscriber base.

Objective: Authority, loyalty and long-term audience relationships.
Investment 3

Human influence

Develop founder, executive or employee-led publications.

Objective: Reputation, influence and thought leadership.

These don't have to be mutually exclusive. In fact, a combination could be more effective.

A brand might sponsor three influential writers, establish its own publication and have its CMO contribute a regular industry column.

That creates a much broader presence than simply buying advertising.