Substack Product Guide
What do users really think about Substack? This product guide was created utilizing real, vetted user reviews and will help you get to the nitty-gritty details about where Substack performs well, and where it may have room for improvement.
Highlight the Right Reviews
Throughout the guide below, there are links directly to reviews. Select the reviewers most relevant to you, and those links will be highlighted in blue.
Table of Contents
Content Creation and Distribution
Content Creation
Users generally praise Substack for its content creation capabilities. Reviewers highlight the platform’s ease of use and support tools, making it ideal for creative writers focusing on personal experiences. Substack’s strength lies in helping writers craft engaging, educational, and entertaining content that effectively tells their company’s story. Additionally, users appreciate Substack’s ability to enhance site SEO subtly and efficiently. Despite some users desiring better multimedia tools for varied communication methods, Substack remains a favored choice for those looking to create compelling written content in a community-driven environment. (Source Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
“Real strength in creating relevant written content that tell your company’s story in an informal, entertaining and educational manner.” – C-Level Executive in Marketing, Internet, 1-10 employees
“It’s well-suited for a creative writer who is comfortable writing essays or short fiction.” – C-Level Executive in Marketing, Internet, 1-10 employees
“Substack is great for writers/content creators just getting started with wanting to monetize their ideas/content/writing, etc.” – Engineer in Professional Services, Professional Training & Coaching, 1-10 employees
Newsletter Publishing
Reviewers appreciate Substack’s newsletter publishing features for their user-friendly interface, efficient content delivery, and the ability to build direct relationships with readers through personalized emails. Users highlight the platform’s effectiveness in sharing updates, tracking important metrics, and facilitating easy content sharing within a community. While some users mention limitations in creating blog series or optimizing for SEO, overall, Substack’s newsletter publishing functionality is well-received for its simplicity and direct engagement with subscribers. (Source Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
“Substack is well suited for people who want to run a newsletter. Like it’s really good to share updates on your product, or your learnings.” – Employee in Research & Development, Information Technology & Services, 51-200 employees
“Once you’re happy with your newsletter, you just need to hit publish and it will get sent out to all your subscribers. How easy it is amazing so it’s a simple way to reach a large community and you can send it out to free or paid subscribers.” – Team Lead in Engineering, Computer Software, 51-200 employees
“It is not suitable to write a series of blogs on a particular topic as you can’t create a series. Every blog is separate, you can obviously link those but if you want to create a new series, then there is no place on the substack which user can see as an album where they can see the relevant blogs in that album.” – Employee in Research & Development, Information Technology & Services, 51-200 employees
Blogging
Users express varied opinions regarding Substack’s blog functionality. While some appreciate its ease of use and community-building features, others find limitations in terms of collaborative editing and organizing content into series. The platform seems well-suited for individual writers focusing on personal experiences and essays, but may not fully support those looking to serialize novels or long-form non-fiction. Additionally, users highlight the need for improved multimedia tools to enhance the overall blogging experience on Substack. (Source Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4)
“Substack is very easy to work in. The toolset they provide may not be as extensive as other platforms but it is certainly enough to create a meaningful, interesting post.” – C-Level Executive in Marketing, Internet, 1-10 employees
“It’s really difficult when multiple people are editing the blog at the same time. Some things change or get overwritten due to which have to reload the page multiple times. Would like to see an experience just like in Google docs.” – Employee in Research & Development, Information Technology & Services, 51-200 employees
“It is not suitable to write a series of blogs on a particular topic as you can’t create a series. Every blog is separate, you can obviously link those but if you want to create a new series, then there is no place on the substack which user can see as an album where they can see the relevant blogs in that album.” – Employee in Research & Development, Information Technology & Services, 51-200 employees
Monetization and Integration
Monetization Strategies
Reviewers express varied opinions regarding Substack’s monetization strategies. Some users appreciate the ease of monetizing their content through Substack, especially when starting out with a small following. However, as revenue grows, concerns arise about the percentage-based fee structure and the platform’s scalability. Users also highlight the need for more advanced features like integration with Google Analytics to better track and optimize their monetization efforts. (Source Reviews: 1, 2, 3)
“Forget trying to monetize anything or accept financial support in an integrated way. It has changed my workflow so much and made it much more efficient to use Substack for content distribution.” – Engineer in Professional Services, Professional Training & Coaching, 1-10 employees
“The percentage cut that Substack takes can become a burden as your revenue grows. Problems scaling.” – Engineer in Professional Services, Professional Training & Coaching, 1-10 employees
“The primary business problem it addresses was my inability to publish my Medium articles as part of a freestanding blog/portfolio separate from my account.” – Analyst in Other, Design, 1001-5000 employees
Platform Integration
Users generally agree that Substack excels in integration capabilities, particularly in areas such as email newsletter integration, social media integration, and payment integration with Stripe. However, some reviewers have pointed out areas for improvement, such as the need for better integration with Google Analytics and blog CMS. Despite these minor drawbacks, Substack’s platform integration features are seen as a valuable asset for writers and content creators looking to monetize their work effectively. (Source Reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4)
“Integration with payment/Stripe; custom domain – adds professionality; free to start – I used the free version for 9 months.” – Engineer in Professional Services, Professional Training & Coaching, 1-10 employees
“It can feel like you’re shouting into the mist; Would be good if there was more integration with blog CMS; Needs more support helping people getting a paying database.” – Manager in Other, Media Production, 1001-5000 employees
“Newsletter; Analytics; Integration with Twitter; Recommendation.” – Employee in Research & Development, Information Technology & Services, 51-200 employees
