Substack Notes is Not Like X

It’s not the average social media short-form writing. It’s something else…

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Most people think Substack Notes is like X.

I keep hearing that all you need is to:

• post short-form content

• stay consistent

• show-up

But it’s not the same to me.

Yes, Substack Notes has this social media element, but it works very differently.

Here are some examples:

Distribution

• X: You see what the algorithm decides you should see

• Substack: You see the Notes of everyone you follow or subscribe to, plus everything they interacted with.

Virality potential

• X: Your post needs to significantly outperform to go viral, which from my experience happens when your audience grows

• Substack: a good Note can go viral even if you have a small audience. All you need is to engage more with others on the platform

Virality is very relative on Substack, as the platform is still young. I’ve never seen millions of likes, but I did see some Notes with hundreds and a few with thousands. That is what is considered “viral” right now. It will change.

Growth potential

• X: you (veeery slowly) grow followers, which you cannot reach directly

• Substack: you (steadily) grow subscribers on your list — people, who you can reach directly

Engagement

• X: I see targeted promotions

• Substack: I see meaningful conversations

Writing

• X: I see a lot of sales-driven transactional stuff

• Substack: I see a lot of purpose-driven valuable stuff

So if you post Notes and interact with other people, you grow your chances of being seen exponentially.

You create a snowball effect.

But you have to be mindful of who you’re approaching for engagement.

These people are your potential free (and paid) subscribers.

That’s why writing on Notes matters.

There’s a science to writing on Notes.

If you don’t make it right, you’ll stay in the dark.

But if you write what you’d send to your subscribers you’ll get higher engagement.

Notes is not the average social media short-form writing where you share your thoughts or share links.

It’s an atomic version of your email. A lead magnet for your new subscribers.

So use it mindfully.

Thanks for reading!

Yana

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