Substack’s influencer marketing era has arrived

Substack isn’t just for writers anymore.

It’s also for influencer marketers.

The newsletter platform has become an increasingly important social media tool for brands looking to find creators to work with and to reach potential customers. “Substack is one of the most exciting channels out there right now,” said Anna Doré, Rothy’s vice president of brand and communications.

Doré is featured in Business Insider’s 2026 list of 14 innovative influencer marketers.

Before influencers, there were magazines and blogs.

Substack, where people can write — while also sharing visual content like photos and videos — marries the media’s past with its present.

Rothy’s, known for its comfortable, washable flats, is doubling down on the platform. “In this AI-driven algorithm world where we’re all being served the same content on the feed, we more than ever are going to be looking to great tastemakers,” Doré said. “We’re looking for the gatekeepers to tell us what we should care about in this world.” Here are 5 examples of how Rothy’s has leveraged Substack in its marketing: “People follow these Substack writers because they are in the know,” Doré said.

It’s not only Rothy’s dabbling with Substack.

Sophia Sesto, Poppi’s vice president of culture, has been eyeing the platform as a tool for strategically partnering with creators.

Substack has replaced the blog for some creators and is where they share more personal anecdotes for their most loyal followers.

That helps Poppi plan future collaborations, Sesto said. “You can know more about the creators you’re working with,” she said, such as learning that they love to travel to a destination every year, and then coordinate a Poppi bar for that trip — planting the brand into that creator’s content.

Other brands are looking to Substack as a channel for their own content.

The Knot Worldwide, which owns several wedding planning platforms, is “bullish” on expanding into Substack, said Kiara Kempski, the company’s vice president of global consumer marketing. “We’re actually starting up our own Substack from The Knot,” Kempski said. “Our editors are moving over there and creating owned content for us and building that out.” Several brands have taken the same leap and launched their own Substack publications, such as Rare Beauty, The RealReal, Tory Burch, and even the dating app Hinge.

Substack cofounder Chris Best announced in June that the company was launching a native brand sponsorship program, highlighting work already underway on the platform, such as Sundberg’s partnership with Hinge.

This week, the platform is expanding the program to introduce new sponsorship formats.

One option would allow brands to gift a one-month subscription, giving readers access to a writer’s content behind the paywall.

Another option is for brands to sponsor a creator’s single post, making it free for anyone to read.

Brands can “earn real standing instead of shouting through feeds and swipes,” Dan Robbins, who joined Substack as head of brand sponsorships this year, wrote in a blog post on Thursday.

Substack wants brands to see its newsletters as a “space to go deep, to say thank you, and to back communities that will grow your business,” Robbins said.