The O-Word
How to Incorporate Substack Into Your Marketing Strategy
SUBSTACK STRATEGY
MARKETING ADVICE
OPINION INFLUENCER & PR
Substacks are constantly coming up in conversation for us, whether in our personal lives, with our industry friends, or with our clients. There are a lot of questions about what Substacks are, their purpose, and how to integrate them into marketing efforts. To help answer these questions, we wanted to share a blog post dedicated to the world of Substack.
What Are Substacks?
Substack is a publishing platform that simplifies the process of sharing subscription-based newsletters. The newsletters can be paid or free, and are also shared blog-style on the Substack website and app for easy perusing and research. Substack writers include editors, influencers, content creators, brand founders, and more. Some lean into a personal blog format - influencers who share their favorite products and writers who share personal essays - while others lean into expertise and motivation.
Influencer Opportunities
It’s likely that some of the influencers you already work with also have Substacks. Think about how you can integrate Substack into how you work with that influencer. If they are set up in your affiliate program, can you encourage them to share affiliate links within their Substack? If you’re working on a paid partnership, can a Substack mention be integrated into the deliverables? You can also find new influencers that are relevant to your brand directly on Substack - go to the “Fashion & Beauty” category to find the Leaderboard of the top Substacks in beauty, and search for keywords relevant to your brand to find more.
Coverage Opportunities
Editors and freelancers use Substack in a multitude of ways. Some of them act as influencers, sharing personal recommendations and stories, while others share what stories they are working on, using this as a forum to reach out to the publicist community. Some publications like Allure have even started their own Substacks. When pitching for Substack coverage (or any type of coverage), it’s important to be familiar with what type of content someone is sharing in this vertical so you can pitch an angle that makes sense for their specific newsletter.
Founder Positioning Opportunities
Substacks are also a great way to position a brand founder, growing their personal brand and influence. For example, Dianna Cohen, the founder of Crown Affair, writes a Substack called Take Your Time where she shares personal musings, motivational pieces, shopping advice, and beauty content as a founder, entrepreneur, and beauty expert. This route only makes sense for a brand founder who loves to write - if they don’t, there are other channels that are better suited for them, whether it’s quick musings on LinkedIn, creating social media videos, or speaking on podcasts and/or panels - but it can be an effective platform to build a community and a presence.
Substacks We Love
As you think about your Substack strategy, we’ve compiled a few of our favorite Substacks for you to get started - happy reading.
