What we actually want from brands on Substack

And what we don't

Last week, two and a half hours into a microdose morning, I found myself thinking about brands on Substack. Until now, I hadn’t spared them much thought. The platform has largely felt like a place where commentary about brand culture could exist without brands needing to participate directly.

I’d seen them sporadically but increasingly pop their heads in. When brands did try to make an appearance, most of us comfortably ignored it 🤍

But then another thought solidified, what if their impending arrival didn’t have to be embarrassing? What would it look like if, with the right approach, it could actually be good?

I’ve spent the better part of the last decade working at the intersection of design, brand marketing, and art direction - independently and in-house. But really, I am interested in this topic because I care about the platform. I’m an active reader, I love it here. I came to the Substack during a transitional period of life. Having this outlet and space helped me make sense of a lot. Also, by writing this piece I had an excuse to chat with other writers about what makes this platform special.

I want what’s suggested to me to remain juicy, a bit strange, opinionated. I want to feel connected to how someone thinks. Substack is uniquely long-form and human. Brands, if you are coming to the platform, this is not the place for filler content and performance. As Nicole from PRACTICA put it, I need brands to come correct. Inspire us or GTFO.

I also find it exciting that so far no brand has become the blueprint. Unlike Instagram or TikTok, there’s no consensus golden child, just a few brands repeatedly categorized in the gray area of “doing a decent job.”¹

Why Brands Want In

The platform’s growth signals a shift in how people want to consume media. If you are using the platform beyond just scrolling notes, you are expanding your attention span. Users are fostering both their curiosity (reading) and flexing their brain muscles and creativity (writing). Brands are seeing the potential in engaging with a community that still has the capacity and desire to pay attention.

This makes Substack uniquely suited for shaping how people understand you over time. As Nicole explains, it’s a place where brands can “develop their voice, build trust and clarity.” This work doesn’t always convert immediately but it does compound. While the platform might not be the most direct sales channel, it does offer an untapped opportunity to connect with an audience that likes to be in the know and will organically share their interests. There is, at least for the time being, a mutual trust among readers and writers.

Human ONLY

Substack needs a human-led approach. It’s why founder accounts are continuously referenced as the best strategy. That said, having the founder represent the brand doesn’t work in every case, and it’s not the only way.

Founder-Led

This strategy works when founders don’t come to the platform trying to perform their founder persona.

Substack rewards authorship and authentic voice. As Karin Eldor pointed out in our conversation, founder-led almost always works better, not because founders are inherently more interesting, but because readers want to follow a mind, not a faceless logo.

I love Dianna Cohen’s approach. I already admired Crown Affair from a branding and visual standpoint. It’s one of the few brands whose marketing emails I actually subscribe to, because of their clarity and beautiful product shots. I also love that their team takes the time² to craft gorgeous functional products alongside their core haircare skus.

What I didn’t know was that I would find the way Dianna thinks about her own life’s work so compelling. Her essay about resetting her nervous system in Boulder through a therapist-led technique called Brainspotting was one of my favorite reads of last year.

Some founders assume their audience wants postmortems on sold-out collaborations or tips for pitching VCs. That might interest a subset, but it’s the personal details, the essays that show us what people are thinking while they do things that are most intriguing and foster the intimacy that makes Substack so great.

As Meagan pointed out to me, brand and founder letters need to be like church and state. When founders talk about their companies here, it shouldn’t read like a press release.

In my conversation with Karin, she also makes it crystal clear, do not use it as a promotional channel to strictly regurgitate and reuse what you’re promoting on your other channels.

When I asked Barbara, (my perfect leadership coach) for advice for founders joining Substack in 2026, she told me:

“The more niche the better. But not in the same way we’ve been telling people to ‘niche down’ and be a ‘thought leader’ - more in an after-school club way.

Very fun. Very specific. Wildly passionate about it.

If you are really into different types of birds and you write about that, it works because the writing that comes through is undeniably you. Passion equals voice.“

A couple months ago, while helping my sister think through an existing strategy for a client joining Substack, I brought up Dianna. “She’s one of us,” I said, pointing out how active she is on notes - which if done correctly, signals that you are not just here to establish another funnel. That you are here because you want to be.

Meagan Wilson echoed this advice when we chatted about it this week. “It’s important to actually act like a native Substack user. This is the same advice I’d give clients for launching on any platform, but it’s especially true here: you have to participate.” Comment, read, restack.

If you don’t learn the ropes, how to exist in the ecosystem, it will feel off.

Persona vs Cool Girl

An alternative I’ve seen used by accounts like The RealReal, and more recently e.l.f., is the construction of a Gossip Girl style persona, with every post written from this fictional point of view. The upside is clear - it‘s a shortcut to sounding personal without attaching a real person to the account.

That’s precisely when it falls apart. On Substack, authorship matters. I want to know who I’m reading. As we move deeper into the AI era, that distinction will only become more valuable.

These personas also feel so overperformed. Each sentence sounds engineered to get the point across that the mysterious writer has a very specific personality. Instead of forming any sort of intimacy, the effort put into crafting it feels try-hard and fake.

The fix? Hire someone with taste who understands both the subject matter and the platform.

Get a cool girl to run it.

Another note for TRR:

I see a lot of potential in The RealReal’s Substack. The problem is that the content isn’t as interesting or useful as it could be. I’d like to see them take cues from some of the most successful shopping letters — people want lots of visuals and copious links and insider intel. What little-known brands are picking up momentum on TRR? What items should people be shopping in the off-season for deals? What’s the best way to use filters to find hidden gems?

- Kate Citron

Patron of the Arts

Hire writers.

There are countless brilliant writers, many already on this platform, whose creativity is overdue to be tapped. Rather than manufacturing a brand voice, brands should embrace the role of patron and publisher. As Nicole Luli Weill noted, giving creative freedom to writers in your community is what actually earns our attention. It’s a double win. You get to tap the expertise of people who already understand what audiences want to read, and you look good.

That’s the magic of the platform. It’s structured as an editorial environment where brands can pull in contributors and credit them with a byline so authorship is visible.³ You can do this through one-offs: Hinge’s recent sponsorship of this dating essay is a great example. Evie’s date isn’t even set up via the app, and it still works. It was featured in Emily Sundberg’s FeedMe.

Or you can tap a small group of recurring writers and cultivate their relationship with the rest of your community. Over time, that familiarity creates the same intimacy people associate with founder-led accounts.

i-D is an obvious example of this model working. While it’s a publication, the underlying structure offers a blueprint that traditional brands can learn from.⁴

Team-Led

Another approach I’d love to see is brands leveraging the people who actually build the brand and amplifying their voices. I’m not talking about tasking one poor soul in the marketing team with a weekly newsletter. I mean giving your team the freedom to write about what genuinely excites them about the brand - and giving them a byline.

For a brand like Rhode, I wouldn’t want a weekly column from Hailey, but I would be interested in hearing from the people who have shaped the brand.

While it wouldn’t work from a founder or celebrity, I’d read if experts within the brand nerded out about their specific zone of genius. What’s the Head of Social’s philosophy on carousels? What was the design process behind The Phonecase? It would peel back an additional layer on the BTS content so many brands hope to gain loyalty through. Also, I’m nosy, I always want to know who the humans behind the brand are.

My friend Sydney, who works at Beis, is a great example. Although not strictly their role, she and her coworkers already create content on TikTok and Instagram that feels authentic, pulling back the curtain on what it’s like to work at Beis. It’s the reason their DMs flood whenever a job opens. If Beis came to Substack, that’s what I’d want to see - real people sharing real insight. (Sydney and two coworkers/friends do have a Substack, not associated with Beis).

I haven’t seen it done before, and it would not work for every team - there would have to be a lot of freedom and trust involved. But if it does work, it would create something that can set the brand apart.

Who Do We Want to See on Here?

I asked Karin, who previously wrote for Forbes about how founders are using Substack to build real connection, which brands she’d be excited to see on the platform:

“I’m most excited by brands that have a clear and unique point of view – the ones that know exactly who they are and why they exist. It’s even more compelling and exciting if the brand or founder is elusive and mysterious on social media, making Substack the place where they really pull back the curtain.

Brands that understand restraint and taste? Sign me up.

I’m drawn to brands that are building worlds, who are shy about press and say no more than they say yes – they are intentional about the journalists they work with, and what they reveal ‘under the hood’ of the brand. For example, I’d love to see brands like The Row, Totême, Khaite, and even Madhappy join Substack.

Or – a brand whose founder or key person is a tastemaker in their own right.

I’m also fascinated by what a Substack from somewhere like Erewhon or a multibrand retailer like Revolve or Moda Operandi could look like if it focused on why they curate what they curate—what they say no to, what they’re watching culturally, and how taste is built behind the scenes.”⁵

Karin also highlighted some of her favorite accounts, all founder-led:

Melanie Masarin’s “Night Shade” where Melanie shares her favorite fashion, travel and food finds — on-brand, as the founder of Ghia, author of the upcoming cookbook, Riviera, and tastemaker who splits her time between NYC and Paris.

I also enjoy “Jing Theory” by Jing, founder of Fly By Jing, who shares her personal founder tips in a way that feels deeply native to Substack. I especially love her book reccos.

Ariana Ferwerda, cofounder of Halfdays and creator of “Over & Out”, does an excellent job of blending behind-the-build business insights with long-term vision. Reading it feels like watching Halfdays being built in real time – with readers invited into the thinking along the way. Fun fact: I discovered the ski apparel brand Halfdays thanks to Over & Out! So extra points to Substack as a brand discovery tool.

Cassandra Grey, founder of Violet Grey and the ultimate tastemaker, embodies exactly what I love seeing from brands and people on the platform, with her Substack, “Please Note”: taste, discernment, and a clear editorial POV.

Make it Good

Ultimately, the writing has to be interesting. You don’t have to be Toni Morrison, but do more showing than telling, and don’t treat your audience like they’re idiots. One of the best tips I’ve seen: write as if your smartest friend is the one reading it.

Earlier this week I tried to read the intro post from e.l.f. written from their CEO’s point of view. The word “community” appeared 22 times. My brain almost shut down. This is why you hire writers.

For brands who are ready to put their their creative caps on, are not scared to take a stance, and are ready to sustain both those things over time, I’m looking forward to seeing what you do.

Thanks for reading and would love to hear your thoughts about the matter,

Camila

1. This doesn’t apply to founder-led accounts.

2. (see what I did there)

3. Interviews from the brand’s perspective still don’t feel quite right, I would need to know who the person doing the interview also is.

4. See also Julie’s Sex Happens

5. Love this