Substack Note

Substack Notes is a feature on the online platform Substack where users can share short form content and ideas. Anyone with a Substack account can publish Substack notes. As of July 2024, Substack Notes do not have a character limit; however, videos are not supported. Users can include posts, quotes, comments, links, and up to six photos or GIFs in their Substack Note. Users may tag other Substack users by mentioning them through their notes. Notes are available to the public, where anyone on Substack may view users’ notes; Substack Notes also appear on the users’ profiles.

Publishing a Substack Note is similar to posting on any social media platform. Substack Notes are available for anyone to see, even if they aren’t a subscriber. Users can use the Substack Notes feature to captivate their audience and allow them to anticipate new content between Substack post releases. This feature will enable creators to engage with their audience and build a stronger community without having to curate a long and detailed post each time.

Benefits of Making Substack Restacks:

• Short-form Content: Contrary to an average Substack post, which tends to be longer and more detailed, Substack Notes are meant to be concise, allowing users to update their audience and post their thoughts quickly.****
• Promotes Engagement: The Substack Notes feature can spark user conversation, allowing users to share their insights. Creators can read their audiences’ comments and questions, allowing for more meaningful conversations.
• Discovery: Readers can discover more creators, allowing them to see other writers’ notes without fully committing to a subscription. This feature will enable creators to reach a broader audience and provide content samples for potential subscribers. Engagement such as replying and reposting notes helps increase the visibility of the creator’s work on the Substack platform.
• Strengthen Profile: Notes can complement users' longer published content, such as Substack newsletters and posts, providing additional ways for the audience to engage with the content and allowing creators to further boost their profile and content.

Substack Notes are an excellent and effective way for social networking within Substack. Users can treat Substack Notes as a way to microblog and connect with their readers to grow their audience. Users with a smaller audience can grow their subscriber base by consistently communicating with their audience; this allows the readers to build a deeper connection with the creator and be more enticed to purchase a subscription to read more of their content. Promoting engagement between reader and creator is crucial for the creator's success as any form of boosting, whether that be liking or commenting on Substack Notes, widens the creators’ visibility and allows them to reach a wider audience. This feature is a great way to connect to readers without adding to their inboxes.

How to Publish a Substack Note

Publishing a Substack Note is similar to publishing on other social media platforms, such as X. Users can publish a Substack Note using either the mobile app or the desktop version. Here is a step-by-step guide to help publish a Substack Note for the first time:

• On the home screen, click the ‘+’ button
• Add any comments or thoughts alongside any media, if desired, in the box that says ‘What’s on your mind?’
• Once happy with the Substack Note, users can click ‘Post’ to publish

Note: There is no way to put a paywall behind Substack Notes, meaning that the user cannot allow only paying subscribers to view the Substack Note, however there is an option to allow only paying subscribers to reply to the note. Otherwise the Substack Note will be published to the public where any user with a Substack account can view the note.

Substack Note versus Substack Post

The difference between a Substack post and a Substack note is that the feature allows users to post short-form content between their usual longer posts. Using Substack notes, users may keep their audience engaged while anticipating the subsequent publishing. Having Substack notes published between Substack posts may allow the user to be seen by a newer audience, reaching a wider audience. The goal of many Substack users is to convert their casual readers into paying and loyal subscribers; by posting Substack notes alongside their usual Substack posts, their audience might be more substantial as a community and interested in users’ content.

How Other Creators Are Using Notes

Substack Notes are an excellent tool that can help build a subscriber base. Here are some ways that other writers and creators are optimizing the Substack Note feature to boost their profile and build deeper engagement with their subscribers.

• Supporting Other Creators –Users are sharing posts, quotes, comments, and links, recommending other creators’ work to their audience, and helping other creators widen their visibility.
• Efficient Communication –Users use the Substack Note feature to post commentary and inspirational content that their audience would enjoy without sending the content through their emails.
• Sharing Exclusive Content –Substack Notes can contain up to six photos or GIFs, creators can include images in the replies as well. Sometimes users share a behind-the scenes look to capture the attention of their audience to their upcoming work.
• Start a Conversation –Users can @mention other creators that they admire and can start a conversation with them.
• Repost –Similar to the Substack Restack feature, users are “reposting” using Substack Notes as they can highlight a specific part on any post published on Substack.
• Promoting Themselves –Substack Notes is a great tool for promoting a published Substack post as users can highlight a captivating part of their post to hook in their audience and new subscribers want to read more of their content.

In summary, Substack Notes is a versatile tool for Substack writers to maintain a more dynamic and retrain a deeper connection with their readers. Posting through the Substack Notes feature promotes previously published content, gives the audience a sneak peek of content they can anticipate, and allows new users to sample their content without fully committing to a paid subscription.