How to Use Substack Notes (To Grow Your Audience)

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So you want to start using Substack Notes but don’t know where to begin?

You’re in the right place.

Substack Notes is one of the best ways to grow your audience, especially if you’re just getting started on Substack.

I’ve been using Notes since July 2024, and it’s helped me gather hundreds of new subscribers without spending a dime on ads.

Here’s everything you need to know (with specific examples you can model):

What are Substack Notes?

Substack Notes is like Twitter (X) and LinkedIn had a baby – but without the annoying character limits, the AI bots, and the trolls 🙂

Because let’s face it. Not all platforms are created equal. Special mention to:

Substack Notes is a social feed where you can:

  • Engage with other creators
  • Preview your newsletter content
  • Share quick thoughts and insights
  • Build an audience through short-form content

However, what makes Notes different from platforms like X or LinkedIn is that every engagement can turn into an email subscriber.

When someone sees your note and is not yet subsribed, they are incentivized to hit “subscribe”:

Unlike those platforms where you’re building someone else’s empire, Notes is designed to funnel readers directly to your newsletter.

Think of it as the perfect mix between social media and email marketing.

You get the engagement of social platforms with the ownership benefits of an email list.

You don’t need to be a professional writer to get started. Notes is much more forgiving than writing full newsletters – perfect if you’re just dipping your toes into content creation.

Substack Notes vs Posts:
When to Use Each?

Notes and posts serve different purposes in your Substack strategy.

Think of Notes as your social media content – quick insights, daily tips, and engagement with your audience. They’re perfect for:

  • Testing ideas before writing full articles
  • Engaging with other writers in your niche
  • Getting discovered by potential new subscribers
  • Sharing quick expertise that doesn’t need 2,000 words

Posts, on the other hand, are your proper newsletter content – the main course of your Substack meal. Use them for:

  • Case studies
  • Deep-dive tutorials
  • Long-form analysis
  • Comprehensive guides

Pro Tip: Use Notes to promote your posts. Share a compelling insight from your newsletter, then link to the full post. It’s like creating your own traffic loop within Substack.

You can repurpose your posts into multiple Notes, squeezing more value from content you’ve already created.

How does the Substack Notes algorithm work?

As any other social media platform. It looks for:

  • Likes
  • Shares
  • And Comments

The more you can make your Notes engaging, the better. (More about that, later.)

Why use Substack Notes?

For one reason: growth.

A mistake many new Substack writers make is simply focusing on posting long-form posts (blog articles).

Truth is when you’re just getting started and have no audience. Nobody’s going to see your articles. So you need to grow a readership first.

That’s where Notes come into play.

Notes allow you to get discovered and build an audience pretty fast. I’ve seen creators go from 0 to 500 subscribers in just a few weeks using Notes as their main growth strategy.

I’ve been using Substack Notes myself heavily since July 2024. And they’re one of the main reasons why I’m growing my Substack by 18+ subscribers a day (that’s 500+ new subs a month).

Now, if you’re anything like me – you’re an introvert. You might not be a fan of social media platforms. And the last thing you need is another social media platform to manage. But here’s why Notes is different – and why it’s worth your time, especially if you’re an expert looking to build an audience.

Every like, every comment, every restack (aka: share) can lead someone straight to your newsletter. Try getting that kind of conversion from Twitter or LinkedIn…

The interesting thing is that you can use parts of your articles and turn them into notes or you can simply quote your articles to drive more traffic to your Substack articles.

If you’ve already been posting on other social media platforms, you can repurpose that same content on Substack.

It’s what I did with a few of my X posts like this one:

Unlike platforms that force you to post 10 times a day, Notes can work with just 1 quality post a day.

How do Notes work on Substack?

Let’s break down the two main ways you can use Notes: creating original notes and restacking others’ content.

Original Notes

Think of original notes as your micro-posts.

They’re perfect for:

  • Brain farts
  • Observations
  • Insights about your industry
  • Quick tips from your expertise
  • Behind-the-scenes of your work
  • Previews and teases of your upcoming content

Notes are primarily text. You can write as much text as you want (limited to 9,999 charcters.)

But you can also spice things up by adding:

  • A single image
  • A short video clip

Restacks (Shares)

Restacking is like retweeting/reposting.

You can do that by simply hovering on the two-arrow button under any given note:

You have two options to leverage this feature:

  1. Regular Restack: This will share someone else’s note verbatim.
  2. Note Restack: This will share someone else’s note verbatim, but you’ll also be able to add your own comment on top of it.

But restacks are not specific to Notes.

  1. Restacking quotes:
    You can highlight any part of any article, and then share it as a note. When you do this, it automatically:
  • Links back to the full article
  • Shows the original source

I love using Quote Restacks to share the best parts of articles I’m reading (and posting) like so:

This allows to get more eyeballs on your past articles.

It’s also great way to provide value while giving credit to other creators.

It’s what I did here, with my writing friend Matt Barker:

Pro Tip: When you restack with your own commentary, you can also mention the author so that they get notified about it.

And perhaps, he or she will interact with you and help you get more engagement on your notes. I always try to interact with others who take the time to give credit like I did here with Vijaya:

How to Write Attention-Grabbing Substack Notes (With Examples)

Notes are short-form content.

Which means, you need to grab attention – fast.

Before diving into the frameworks, remember this: every note needs to achieve two things:

  1. Stop people from scrolling
  2. Get them to react to your note (liking, commenting, restacking).

That’s it.

And the best way to actually achieve this is by talking to strong emotions.

4 Proven Ways & Examples to Start Your Notes (Hooks)

The first sentence of your note is called the hook.

It’s the first thing people see on a text post. And it’s the most important part to get right if you want to get attention.

I’ve analyzed hundreds of Notes, and isolated a few patterns:

Substack Note Hook #1: A Bold Poralizing Statement

Point out a mistake/wrong practice and wrap it into a strong, bold, and polarizing statement.

This type of post works because it hits hard on several key psychological triggers:

  1. Pattern Interrupt: When you boldly point out a mistake, it grabs attention. People are used to hearing “safe” advice, so when you flip it and call out a common practice as wrong, it breaks the norm and pulls them in.
  2. Cognitive Dissonance: When readers are told they’re doing something wrong, it creates discomfort. This mental tension pushes them to resolve it by reading more to understand the issue and how to fix it.
  3. Polarization: Strong, polarizing statements force readers to take a side. Whether they agree or disagree, they’ll engage. This emotional reaction keeps them hooked and makes your content memorable.
  4. Authority: When you confidently call out a mistake, it positions you as an expert. Readers trust those who can point out what’s wrong and show a better way.
  5. Curiosity: The bold claim sparks curiosity. Readers want to know why they’ve been wrong all along and what they should do instead.

Here’s an example:

Here’s another one:

PRO TIP: Add specific numbers where you can.

Substack Notes Hook #2: Ask a question

Questions are powerful.

This question can be about something people want to achieve.
You can start with statements like:

  • The easiest way…
  • The fastest way…
  • The simplest way…
  • Want an easy way to…?

Starting your Substack Note with a question works because it taps into core human desires and psychological shortcuts:

  1. Instant Gratification: People want quick wins. Starting with “The easiest way” or “The fastest way” directly appeals to their desire for immediate results. It signals that they don’t need to wait long or work too hard to achieve their goal.
  2. Clarity and Simplicity: By using phrases like “The simplest way,” you eliminate complexity, which makes the solution feel achievable. It reduces the mental resistance.
  3. Curiosity: When you lead with an easy or fast solution, readers are curious to find out what it is. They want to know if it’s something they’ve missed or haven’t thought of before.
  4. Efficiency Bias: We’re wired to seek out efficiency. When you frame a solution as the fastest or easiest, you tap into this bias. People are more likely to take action when they believe they can get the result with minimal effort.
  5. Hope and Optimism: These phrases instill hope. People want to believe there’s a simple or fast way to solve their problems or achieve their goals. It fuels their optimism and keeps them engaged.

By using these lead-ins, you’re giving people what they crave—efficiency, simplicity, and the belief that success is within easy reach.

Example:

Substack Notes Hook #3: The Listicle

Listicles are a collection of tips.

They work like gangbusters.

Here’s why:

  • Our brains love simplicity. Listicles are easy to read and digest because they’re broken into chunks. The numbered structure signals that the content is organized, making it less overwhelming. This helps people process information faster.
  • We feel making progress: Lists give us a sense of completion. As we go through the list, we feel like we’re making progress. Each number creates anticipation for the next point, keeping readers hooked until the end.
  • Listicles talk to short attention spans: They allow us to scan information quickly. Readers can pick out what they find relevant without committing to long paragraphs, making the content feel more manageable.
  • Curiosity: Numbers, especially odd ones like “7” or “11,” create curiosity. It makes the reader wonder, “What’s the next point I haven’t thought of?” FOMO keeps people reading.
  • Satisfaction of Categorization: We love to categorize and rank things. Listicles give readers the satisfaction of learning in a clear, step-by-step way that feels organized and systematic.

Start your note with a clear number and statement.

Then, bang out your list like so:

Substack Notes Hook #4: The Whisper

This is a very powerful way to start notes.

Just say out loud the quiet whisper everyone already has in their mind. It works because of a simple brain trick: when you say what they’re thinking, they feel like you really get them.

Research in psychology shows that people who feel understood are more likely to stay engaged.

In fact, studies show that feeling heard activates the brain’s reward centers, making people more likely to trust you and pay attention longer.

This emotional connection is what keeps them coming back

Let’s see how this principle works with Substack Notes:

Or take this one:

Side note: you do not need to add hashtags to your Substack notes. (That’s so Twitter 2010!)

Now, you know how to use Substack Notes to grow your Substack subscriber base.

But there are still other growth strategies you can implement.

You’ll find them inside my free email course below:

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