{"id":324,"date":"2026-06-26T08:30:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T08:30:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wpfastserver.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/12\/substack-is-the-new-branding-frontier-for-founder-influencers-is-it-working\/"},"modified":"2026-06-26T08:30:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T08:30:28","slug":"substack-is-the-new-branding-frontier-for-founder-influencers-is-it-working","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wpfastserver.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/26\/substack-is-the-new-branding-frontier-for-founder-influencers-is-it-working\/","title":{"rendered":"Substack Is The New Branding Frontier for Founder-Influencers. Is It Working?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Welcome to Trends, a weekly newsletter with the zestiest business trends and actionable insights for entrepreneurs.Welcome to Trends, a weekly newsletter with the zestiest business trends and actionable insights for entrepreneurs. The best part of my job is being surrounded by content-obsessed folks. They\u2019re pros at creating great content, but also at sniffing it out. So when two of them, without coordination, point me to Substack, I pay attention.  Source: Google Trends, six-month rolling average Apparently, the self-publishing platform is enjoying a fresh boost in popularity \u2014 many entrepreneurs are seeing it as a better alternative to social media. \u201cSubstack is the new Instagram,\u201d Free People\u2019s director of brand marketing<\/a>, Libby Strachan, told Glossy. What\u2019s Old Is New Again  Substack was founded to help content creators, writers, and journalists connect with their readers in a way that wasn\u2019t possible in traditional media. They get to be their own publisher, and build up a loyal audience who\u2019s willing to pay them directly for their work. Yup, that’s creator economy 101 stuff. But what\u2019s interesting now is that a wave of D2C founders are rediscovering this platform as their personal branding outlet. Melanie Masarin of Ghia (that vintage chic non-alcoholic brand), for instance, has a Substack newsletter where she shares \u201cfounder musings\u201d and other snippets of her life. Source: Substack It\u2019s a more curated take on \u201cbuilding in public,\u201d where founders get to connect with potential customers in a more intimate way. They write like influencers \u2014 about what they wear, what they eat, where they travel to \u2014 and plug their products when the time is right. The writing<\/a>\u2019s clear: as social media and short videos divide consumer\u2019s attention into a million different pieces, blogging is back in full swing to ensure you \u2014 and your brand, as an extension \u2014 get seen. Is It Working?   \ud83d\udc4d Yes\u2026 Creators own the audience they earn on Substack. These are real email lists (leads) that can be taken with them to any other platform. It\u2019s also easier to monetize than social media, even with a way smaller subscriber base. Say you charge $50 per annual subscription, 2,000 fans will get you to 100k ARR. Not too shabby. (That\u2019s <1% of Trends\u2019 subscriber count\u2026 maybe we should get on Substack??)  Jumping into Substack like\u2026 Source: GIFDB And if folks fall under your influence, then they\u2019re more likely to buy your products, too. This could work wonders for D2C brands in fashion, beauty, wellness, or food & bev \u2014 where people are more prone to follow the advice of a founder-influencer. \ud83d\udc4e \u2026And No But where does your personal brand end, and your \u201cbrand\u201d brand start? D2C investors are concerned about their ROI if a company\u2019s founder is constantly posting on Substack about their life and musings. Sometimes it can even mask the fact that the company isn\u2019t doing so hot. Get back to work. Source: Digiday So whether Substack will work for you depends on your goal. If you\u2019re fully invested in your business and see it as a new channel to meet customers, go for it.  If you\u2019re here for personal clout, or use it as a backup plan in case your business doesn\u2019t pan out \u2014 it most likely won\u2019t pan out. Want more content like this? Sign up for our weekly Trends email, filled with data, deep dives, and trend insights for business builders, entrepreneurs and innovative professionals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Welcome to Trends, a weekly newsletter with the zestiest business trends and actionable insights for entrepreneurs.Welcome to Trends, a weekly newsletter with the zestiest business trends and actionable insights for entrepreneurs. The best part of my job is being surrounded by content-obsessed folks. They\u2019re pros at creating great content, but also at sniffing it out.<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[278],"tags":[1249,437,643,890,1250,885,245,888,123,1117,666,886,887,1242,1303,99,182,889,1282],"class_list":["post-324","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing","tag-alt-tech","tag-business-finance","tag-corporate-financial-services-nec","tag-creator-economy","tag-cultural-trends","tag-director-of-brand-marketing","tag-food","tag-free-people","tag-google","tag-influencer","tag-instagram","tag-libby-strachan","tag-melanie-masarin","tag-neo-nazism-in-the-united-states","tag-newsletter","tag-search-engines","tag-social-media","tag-substack","tag-website-monetization"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t