Substack’s quiet power: From inbox drop to cultural force

Once a niche platform for indie writers, Substack is fast becoming a powerful tool for brands looking to lead with story. More than just another marketing channel, it’s emerging as a space for thought leadership, community-building, and cultural relevance. In a world drowning in content, Substack offers something different: intimacy, trust, and a space to think out loud. It’s where voices shape culture, and increasingly, brands are learning to whisper back.

Substack's ecosystem is thriving 

In 2025, Substack isn't just growing, it's breaking through and becoming one of the most powerful media platforms on the internet. With 5 million+ paid subscriptions, nearly 50 million monthly visitors, and creators earning $40M+ a year, the platform has officially evolved from niche newsletter tool to full-blown media ecosystem. 

Substack now hits 20M+ monthly active subscribers, with usage of its app jumping 139% year-over-year. In late 2024, it ranked as the 26th most-visited news site on the planet. And it’s not just long-form essays anymore. With multimedia formats, paid tiers, and a community-driven ethos, Substack is evolving into a full-blown cultural lab. It’s livestreams. It’s podcasting. It’s Notes (Substack’s microblog). 

On Substack, brands tell stories

When Hinge wanted to explore love beyond the dating app, they didn’t just drop a campaign, they published a Substack. No Ordinary Love was part zine, part cultural experiment: six novellas by literary names like Roxane Gay and R.O. Kwon, each unpacking the messy, modern reality of romance. Inspired by the rise of #BookTok and today’s obsession with imperfect love stories, Hinge used Substack to stretch the narrative through quiet, thoughtful posts that mirrored the intimacy of the project itself. It wasn’t content for clicks. It was content that lingered. A reminder that sometimes, the best brand stories feel like they were written just for you.

Or take TheRealGirl, a new branded Substack that’s already turning heads. It's an editorial experiment launched by luxury resale platform The RealReal who also runs its own branded Substack RealReal. TheRealGirl sounds like a fashion newsletter written from the perspective of an anonymous, brand-obsessed fashionista. Unlike social platforms built on scale, Substack engagement tends to reflect real attention. A like here isn’t a scroll-by, it’s a signal that the content landed. TheRealGirl leans into a distinct voice: part insider commentary, part persona-driven storytelling. It’s anonymous, fashion-literate, and opinionated. More than just a brand activation, it feels like a cultural character dropped into the feed. 

So what makes Substack so interesting for brands? 

The opportunity for brands

Thinking about getting started on Substack? Before you set out, your mission has to be clear: Substack isn’t just another email list and brands that treat it like one miss the point. It’s not ecommerce. It’s editorial. Think of it less like a digital salesperson and more like a culturally fluent friend joining the conversation. The tone should be human, informed, and additive, not transactional. 

Even Substack’s own guidelines make it clear: content should offer genuine value, not just push product. The platform rewards presence, voice, and consistency, less “buy now,” more “here’s something you’ll actually want to read.”

Growth on Substack may be slower than on algorithm-driven platforms, but it runs deeper. Audiences here subscribe with intention. That makes the channel sticky in all the right ways. No brand has truly cracked the code to going viral on Substack yet, but that’s not really the point. It’s a space to experiment, to build presence, and to let your brand speak without shouting.

Generally, there are two ways, brands can show up on Substack: 

1. Brands as publishers: Owned content hubs

First, the most obvious move: launch your own branded Substack. Just like "The RealGirl" example above, brands are creating their own Substack newsletters to create value-driven, editorial-style content that builds community and trust, not just to push products. 

Fashion brand M.M.LaFleur migrated its editorial blog to Substack, gaining new subscribers and seeing improved engagement and conversion rates. The newsletter is positioned as a “safe, high-quality space” for workwear enthusiasts, not a sales channel. Wellness brand Loftie uses “Little Book of Sleep” to explore the cultural history of sleep, with dispatches from multiple writers. This elevates the brand’s lifestyle positioning. Beauty brands like Saie and Rare Beauty, and fashion brand Tory Burch are using Substack for behind-the-scenes stories, founder insights, and trendspotting, fostering a sense of exclusivity and connection that can’t be replicated on traditional channels.

2. Plugging into the creator matrix

Not every brand needs to start from scratch. One of the smartest ways to enter Substack? Partner with the creators already shaping the conversation. 

American Eagle's substack Off The Cuff was recently launched through such a partnership. Instead of writing the first post themselves, they handed the mic to Casey Lewis, a culture writer with deep Substack roots and over 74,000 subscribers. She ranks #24 in Substack’s Culture category, meaning her work already resonates with a young, style-savvy audience. For AE, the move is more than a collaboration. It’s a strategic integration into an existing content ecosystem. Rather than building from scratch, they’ve entered with credibility, voice, and reach, all via a trusted figure who knows the platform from the inside.

Free People does affiliate drops inside style-forward Substacks, blending trust, aesthetics, and conversion. Sponsored issues on newsletters like Feed Me (Emily Sundberg) or Night Shade (Melanie Masarin) often outperform influencer content. Why? Context and curation. Brands are even jumping into chat threads and comments to run focus groups, pressure-test ideas, or just vibe with the community. This isn't just sponsorship, it's embedded storytelling.

Why Substack matters for brands in 2025

What makes Substack different isn’t just the format, it’s the mindset. This is direct-to-audience at its most distilled with no noise, no algorithms, no fighting for attention on overcrowded feeds. It's just intentional content delivered straight to people who’ve opted in and actually care. 

For brands, that’s a game-changer. You’re not interrupting, you’re part of their media choice. And there’s real business upside, too: Substack lets brands set their own subscription prices, gate premium content, or convert loyal readers into paying members, making it a credible monetization tool, not just a content channel. 

But the real value lies in the trust it builds. Substack’s reader-funded model naturally filters out fluff, creating space for brands to show up as thought leaders, not advertisers. Add in live chats, comment threads, and Notes, and you’ve got a two-way relationship that feels more like community than campaign.

Curious about how your brand could show up on Substack? Let’s talk.