The rise and rise of Substack

In the golden age of social media, platforms like Vines, Instagram, and for a while even TikTok, convinced us that information was best communicated quick and easy  - six seconds at most. Today, we still miss Vines bold comedy, yet the internet seem to have rediscovered an appreciation for long-form content. From cinema, now producing films that go well over the two and a half hour limit, to social media itself, which has updated its algorithmic compass to promote videos over three minutes, all spaces that until recently were thought to be done for, doomed to shrink in order to please an audience ever-afflicted by severe attention disorders, have been able to breathe a sigh of relief. Alongside the dilution of media content, media are witnessing a strong shake-up in the world of influencer marketing. The introduction of further regulations for brands and creators, an increase in advertising, and an exponential growth in influencers have saturated the market and left consumers weary. It is in this shaken scenario that newsletter platform Substack comes into play as the new frontier of influencer marketing. Born in 2017, immediately loved by journalists and writers, the network for independent creators saw an 80% boom in fashion and beauty subscriptions this year, according to company reports from January 2024. Behind the safe walls of a paywall, influencers have found a new space to offer style advice. 

In many ways, the rise of Substack as the new favourite among influencers was to be expected. The reign of #paid and #gifted content has been undergoing a slow but unforgiving phenomenon of disenchantment for years, both from the public, who's had enough of slimming teas, and from creators, who are now tired of having to respond to the Meta algorithm and seeing their earnings halved by agencies and the like. They call it “influencer fatigue”, the feeling of tiredness experienced by users towards the overabundance of advertising on social media, a phenomenon that is slowly gnawing away at the foundations of the online marketing empire. In a study conducted by YPulse, 61% of young people (aged 13 to 39) admitted to not trusting influencers who post too many ads, while 65% said they preferred recommendations from creators with a smaller following. “Influencer fatigue” is one of the main drivers behind influencers' shift from Instagram and TikTok to independent platforms: last fall, we reported on the rise of SMTM, a site generator where content creators can archive every item ever worn with a list of affiliate links from which to earn a percentage. With a tagline that evidently refers to Substack’s philosophy – «We believe that creators should own their platforms, not the other way around» – it is a newsletter for influencers who recognise the potential of a page filled with links, but don’t have the time or desire to write. Nonetheless, the subscription boom on Substack for the fashion section rages on, confirming the desire for new, freer, and less regulated horizons on the part of content creators and their followers. 

For Emilia Petrarca, freelance writer and former senior fashion writer for The Cut, starting the newsletter Shop Rat was a choice driven by nostalgia, but also by the challenges of freelance journalism. «From pitching to payment, everything about freelancing takes forever», says Petrarca. «I missed being able to do quick, fun, voice-y posts like I did at The Cut. I also missed interacting with people, the newsletter is a great reason to get outside and immerse myself in the city. Also, of course, it’s a steady source of income, which is a huge relief.» Timing and economic security aside - which, judging by the writer’s description, really make Substack the digital paradise it claims to be - what makes the platform an ideal digital oasis for lost influencers is the authenticity it exudes. With a following measured by reading time rather than clicks, on Substack the best audience is small but loyal. « It feels more genuine, which is why I get a bit concerned about quote-unquote “influencers” using the platform to sell stuff that they may not necessarily feel an emotional connection to,» adds Petrarca. «To me, Substack is at its best when it feels like an intimate correspondence, not an ad, and I hope it stays that way. But hey, writers need to make money so no judgement.»

Substack's success among fashion influencers not only benefits the pockets of content creators, who can count on the guarantee of monthly or annual subscriptions averaging from $5 to $8 per user per month, but also those of the platform. Substack reports that from July 2018 to February 2021, it grew from 11,000 to 500,000 paying subscribers, and by January 2024, it had 49.4 million active users, with 2 million paid subscriptions. As one of Substack’s co-founders, Hamish McKenzie, recounts in an interview with Thought Economics, the start-up represents the perfect counterpart to apps that leverage user attention. «The things that are rewarded in these systems are those that provoke, divide, and trigger outrage,» McKenzie says, commenting on how social media has transformed the media economy. With paid subscriptions, he adds, it has been possible to «monetise trust rather than content. Readers can become customers and pay directly the authors they trust».

The endless economic and creative possibilities that Substack is equipped with - newsletters are an absolutely limitless domain: they can be 100 or 10,000 words, contain any theme, and vary in font, graphics, or color according to one’s preferences - make it an idyllic playground for anyone wanting to escape Meta's binding laws. At the same time, however, like all independent platforms that experience a peak of media attention, it risks going off track, or rather, being pushed off track by competition. After “borrowing” some features from Snapchat, BeReal and X, Instagram is eyeing the potential of paid content. In 2022, it launched Instagram Subscriptions in the United States, now available also in Europe, Australia, Japan, Brazil, and the United Kingdom. In many ways, the recent growth of Substack heralds a critical moment for the platform. Faced with a new wave of influencer subscriptions and Meta’s subsequent envy, the app could find itself forced to choose between continuing to protect long-form content or succumbing to the tempting allure of marketing. To flip the coin, it will have to contend with authenticity. But we all know that a weight like that is hard to replace.