If you’ve spent any time on LinkedIn lately, you’ve probably seen someone rave about Substack. Maybe it was a thought leader posting weekly essays, a coach launching a paid newsletter, or a consultant building their “personal media company.” Suddenly, Substack is everywhere—and if you’re running a business, you might be wondering: Should I be doing this too?
Let’s press pause.
The truth is, just because a platform is popular doesn’t mean it’s right for your business. And when it comes to Substack, there’s a lot of hype and not a lot of clarity—especially for B2B service-based companies.
In this article, we’re going to cut through the chatter and give you a clear, honest answer. We’ll look at:
- What Substack actually is (and isn’t)
- The real pros and cons for business use
- Who Substack is a great fit for
- Why most B2B businesses won’t benefit—and what to do instead
Spoiler alert: Most of our clients wouldn’t see a strong return on Substack. But that doesn’t mean you should ignore what’s working for others—it just means you need to filter it through your strategy, not your feed.
What Is Substack, Really?
Substack is a platform that lets you write and publish email newsletters—think blog meets inbox. Each issue gets emailed to your subscribers and also lives on a public-facing page (like a blog). You can offer both free and paid subscriptions, and Substack handles the payments, email delivery, and basic formatting.
It’s designed to be simple, clean, and creator-friendly. And that’s part of its appeal—it strips away the complexity of building a website or setting up email infrastructure.
Why Would a Business Even Consider Substack?
Usually, when we hear businesses ask about Substack, what they’re really exploring is: “How should we do newsletters and email marketing?”
That’s a smart question. For B2B companies, writing and publishing newsletters can be a powerful email marketing tactic to:
- Stay top-of-mind with prospects and clients
- Share valuable insights and build trust
- Nurture long sales cycles
- Support the sales team with relevant content
Substack looks like an easy way to make that happen—no email platform, no templates, no fuss (and it’s free). But simple doesn’t always mean strategic.
If you’re serious about using email newsletters as a marketing and sales tool, you’re better off with platforms like:
- Mailchimp – Great for small businesses getting started, with strong templates and automation
- ActiveCampaign – Ideal for companies ready for advanced segmentation and lead nurturing
- HubSpot – Perfect if you need CRM integration, deeper analytics, and full marketing automation
These platforms offer what Substack doesn’t:
- Audience segmentation
- Lead capture forms
- Automation workflows
- A/B testing
- Visual templates
- Custom branding
- Integration with your website and CRM
So, yes—you absolutely should have a newsletter.
No—it doesn’t (and probably shouldn’t) need to live on Substack.
The Pros of Substack for Business
Let’s give credit where it’s due. There are a few things Substack gets right:
✅ 1. Direct Audience Connection
You’re not at the mercy of social media algorithms. If someone subscribes, your content goes straight to their inbox.
✅ 2. Built-In Newsletter + Blog
It’s an all-in-one writing tool that’s easy to set up—no web developer or designer needed.
✅ 3. Great for Thought Leadership
If you’re a solo consultant or expert, Substack can help you share your insights in a consistent, personal format.
✅ 4. Clean User Experience
Your readers aren’t bombarded with ads or popups. It’s just your words, their inbox, and a simple design.
✅ 5. Monetization Tools (If That’s Your Thing)
You can turn your newsletter into a paid subscription with Substack taking a 10% cut. (Not a fit for most B2B, but worth noting.)
The Cons (and They’re Big Ones for Most Businesses)
Here’s where it starts to break down—especially for B2B companies with a clear growth strategy.
🚫 1. You Don’t Own the Platform
Like any third-party tool, you’re building on rented land. If Substack changes their policies or shuts down, you could lose your content or access to your audience.
🚫 2. Weak SEO Value
Substack content doesn’t live on your website, which means it doesn’t boost your Google rankings, domain authority, or long-term organic visibility.
🚫 3. Limited Branding & Customization
Want your newsletter to match your brand? Good luck. Substack gives you a logo upload and a couple of colors—but not much else.
🚫 4. No Built-In Lead Gen Tools
You can’t embed lead magnets, create custom landing pages, or segment audiences. It’s a one-size-fits-all experience.
🚫 5. Discovery Is Hard Unless You Already Have a Following
There’s no magic “get found” button. If you don’t bring an audience with you, it’s going to be a slow climb.
When Substack Might Work for a B2B Business
While Substack isn’t the best fit for most B2B companies, there are a few exceptions. If your business relies heavily on thought leadership, personal brand visibility, or niche audience engagement, Substack could play a strategic role in your content mix.
Here are a few cases where it might make sense:
1. You’re a Solo Consultant or Fractional Executive
If your business model is built around your personal expertise, Substack can help you build direct relationships with a niche audience. It gives you a simple, low-friction way to share your ideas, build trust, and stay top-of-mind. For example, CEOs can absolutely build successful newsletters on Substack—but I’d be curious how much of that effort actually drives traffic back to their company’s website, rather than just building Substack’s platform.
2. You’re Targeting a Very Specific Niche
If your B2B company serves a highly specialized vertical (think: legal tech, nonprofit finance, or sustainability compliance), and you’re offering deep insights that don’t translate well to mainstream channels, a Substack newsletter can become a trusted resource in that space.
3. You’re Using It as a Side Channel—Not Your Core Platform
If you already have a strong marketing foundation (blog, CRM, SEO, etc.), and you want to experiment with more personal or long-form content, Substack can be a great add-on for community building or storytelling. Just make sure it complements your strategy, not competes with it.
4. You Have a Clear Plan for Driving Readers Back to Your Website
If you’re using Substack primarily to reach new audiences but you’re including strong calls to action, linking back to core pages, and tracking engagement, then you’re making the most of the platform without sacrificing your own lead generation efforts.
SEO Warning: Duplicate Content Risk
One more quick caution: if you’re tempted to publish blog content both on your website and on Substack (to get more reach), be careful.
Google doesn’t like duplicate content—and if you’re not using canonical tags properly, your site could lose SEO authority. That means your own blog might get outranked… by your own Substack.
If you do republish elsewhere, make sure your original post lives on your website first, and that you follow best practices for syndication. But generally? You’re better off investing in traffic to your site, not someone else’s.
So, Should You Use Substack to Market Your Business?
If you’re a solo expert or niche creator trying to build a personal brand, Substack might be worth exploring. IMHO, that’s the biggest difference between Substack and other email marketing tools. Substack is a creator’s platform designed for branding, while the email marketing tools mentioned above are marketing tools designed for lead generation.
With that in mind, Substack isn’t the move for B2B email marketing if:
- You’re trying to build long-term SEO value
- You need to capture leads and drive conversions
- You want control over your brand experience
- You’re investing in content to support your sales team
In short: Substack isn’t built for strategic, scalable B2B marketing. It’s built for writing, curating influence, and thought leadership with an established audience, and growing a lifestyle or personal brand. Can these work together? Sure. But for most of the clients we serve, I believe they’d see a better return using an email marketing tool designed for lead generation rather than branding.
What to Do Instead
If you’re interested in building trust, visibility, and a stronger digital presence, here’s what we recommend:
1. Build Your Content on Your Website
That’s your home base. It’s where SEO works in your favor, where you control the experience, and where traffic can convert into leads.
2. Use a Professional Email Platform
Tools like Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, or HubSpot let you segment lists, nurture leads, automate follow-ups, and track engagement in ways Substack just can’t.
3. Distribute Content on the Right Channels
LinkedIn, your blog, your newsletter, and even YouTube or podcasts—pick the right places based on where your audience actually spends time.
4. Focus on Strategy, Not Trends
Just because Substack worked for a solo consultant doesn’t mean it makes sense for your marketing strategy. Stay focused on what drives measurable growth.
Let’s Be Clear: Substack Isn’t Bad—It’s Just Not Strategic for Most Businesses
This isn’t a Substack takedown. It’s not an indictment of the platform or the people using it. There are creators making real money on Substack, and for certain use cases, it works beautifully.
But from a business strategy and ROI perspective—especially in the B2B space—Substack just isn’t the strongest investment.
Why? Because when you compare it to other email and content tools, it lacks key features:
- You can’t build complex automations
- You can’t segment or personalize messaging
- You don’t control the platform, the SEO benefit, or the user experience
So yes, Substack can be nice to have.
But if you’re building a real marketing system that supports sales and drives long-term results, it’s not essential—and it shouldn’t be your starting point.
Final Word: Strategy Over Trends
Marketing tools come and go. Remember Google+? Exactly.
If you’ve been wondering, “Should I use Substack for my business?”—now you’ve got a clear answer. For most B2B companies, it’s not the right fit. That doesn’t mean Substack is bad. It just means your time, money, and energy are better spent building a system that supports your long-term goals.
👉 Want to know what’s working—and what’s not—in your current marketing?
Take our free B2B Marketing Assessment right now. It only takes a few minutes, and you’ll get a customized report with practical next steps.
🎧 And if you’re looking for more clear, honest marketing advice, catch Steve and AnnieLaurie on the Growth-Minded Marketing Podcast.
FAQs: Should I Use Substack for My Business?
1. Can I use Substack instead of my usual email marketing platform?
Not effectively. Substack lacks features like list segmentation, automation, custom templates, and CRM integrations. Platforms like Mailchimp, ActiveCampaign, or HubSpot are more robust for business use.
2. Is Substack good for SEO?
Not really. Content on Substack lives on their domain, not yours—so it won’t improve your website’s domain authority. If you repost your blog on Substack, you also risk duplicate content penalties unless you use canonical tags correctly.
3. Can I collect leads and segment audiences on Substack?
No. Substack has basic email collection and a single welcome email. It does not support custom forms, lead magnets, or list segmentation—essential tools for nurturing B2B leads.
4. Does Substack integrate with my website or CRM?
Not directly. Substack doesn’t offer native integrations with CRM platforms or marketing tools. You’ll need third-party workarounds (like Zapier), which add friction and limit automation.
5. Is Substack a good way to monetize my content?
Only in niche cases. Substack supports paid newsletters, but it takes a 10% cut plus processing fees. It works best for solo creators with loyal audiences—not B2B businesses focused on lead generation or long sales cycles.
6. What happens if Substack changes its terms or shuts down?
You’re at risk. Like any third-party platform, you don’t own the audience or the platform. If Substack changes policies or goes offline, you could lose access to your subscribers and content.
7. Who should use Substack—and who shouldn’t?
Best for: Independent writers, coaches, or niche creators who want a simple way to publish.
Not ideal for: B2B service-based companies that rely on SEO, lead generation, branded content, and CRM integration.
