π Lessons from how other brands approach Substack
30 Days of Notes, pt. 3
Substack shares lessons from other brands' approaches to the platform. The brand highlights examples of successful Substack newsletters, including Rare Insider by Rare Beauty. Substack showcases these examples as part of its 30 Days of Notes series.
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π Lessons from how other brands approach Substack
30 Days of Notes, pt. 3
Tami from Buffer
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After we decided to move The Weekly Scroll to Substack, I knew weβd need to understand platform norms before committing to a voice of our own, so I dove into research on other brand newsletters on Substack. They ran the gamut, from very industry-focused to the more personal to ones reminiscent of magazines.
I looked through each one to try to determine a particular style that would best fit us, and I think that naturally meant Frankenstein-ing a bunch of things together, which turned out to be the right move, not a wrong turn, because, spoiler alert: no single brand offered a complete model to copy. Each one has a specific approach thatβs rich in its own right.
On this journey to post a Note-a-day, I thought itβd be interesting to share which examples I looked at within the constraint of similar models and what Iβve observed about their approach to posts and notes on Substack.
If you want a more extensive look at brand Substacks than my ten, The Brand Substack Directory is a rich resource with about 60 of them.
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