Notes vs Articles: What Actually Brings Subscribers

The Subscriber Difference Between Notes and Articles

I discovered something interesting lately, and then saw that many other creators on Substack experience the same.

I looked at my stats both for the Notes I’ve posted and for the articles, and I realized that most of my subscribers came from Notes.

So let’s talk about this.

Now, I’m not saying this would be the case for everyone. Or that you must change your goals based on this.

I’m simply sharing my results and reflecting on them. Here’s what stood out:

Only my Notes brought me subscribers so far.

I’ve been active on Substack for 3 months, posting consistently, figuring things out, and engaging.

And the results so far for The 2-Hour Blogger look like this:

My first post got 3 subs. It was more like an introduction.

Another one got a subscriber too, but it was the only one not connected to blogging.

And from the latest articles, one got 5 subs (it was a round-up post and I’ll do more of these), my guide on sponsored blogging brought in 2 (which is great as that topic is my specialty), and my second income report brought in 1 subscriber (this is a paid post, so I guess they subscribed to get a teaser post - a free preview of a paid post).

My Notes, on the other hand, brought in quite a few subscribers.

The rest came from direct traffic. Not sure what that means yet, but I know some are from my actual email list because I shared my Substack there a couple times and will keep doing it. I also share the links on LinkedIn and socials.

Here’s the next thing I observed.

These subscribers aren’t my target readers.

That’s because my Notes are on more general topics, such as business, but with my publication The 2-Hour Blogger I write for bloggers, actual WordPress bloggers who want to grow their blog traffic and revenue.

Readers may be subscribing before fully understanding your niche through Notes.

The takeaway?

Stick to your niche with both your articles and Notes if you want to reach the right kind of readers on Substack.

Your growth might take a while.

That’s the case for every platform. And it’s easy to feel like we’re doing something wrong because we see the new Substackers that get viral Notes or articles soon after starting their account. This is possible, but it’s not what happens to the majority of writers.

And if you engage with one post like that, where someone bragged about their big and quick win, the algorithm will give you more of that.

Eventually, you’ll feel like you’re the only person who isn’t growing fast. But that’s not the reality.

There are many, many Substackers that have been around for a year and haven’t had a post or Note go viral.

However, our goal should be to see some traction in the first months. Or at least after a couple of months.

For that, you need consistency.

You need to actually show up (daily for Notes and weekly for articles, for example), and give Substack and the readers something to engage with.

And you also need to engage. A lot.

Is it worth posting articles then?

Is it worth it if almost no one reads it and instead Notes get all the attention?

Yes. You’d want to have good content ready for your ideal readers when they find you and subscribe.

You want to build authority, and get into the habit of posting weekly.

But at the same time, don’t go all in on content before you have readers who want to see more of it.

Notes are your key to growth now. So I’ll keep posting them daily. Subscriber decisions seem to happen faster with lighter content formats. Luckily, it’s super easy to post on Notes even multiple times a day. I wrote about it here.

For the articles, I’ll stick to once a week (minimum). Whenever I feel like and have more to say, there will be more. And when I run a blogging challenge, there might be 5 or more per week.

The conclusion: Notes are discovery, articles are positioning.

An article can also go viral and get a lot of attention, which in turn grows your account quickly. But that’s less likely to happen early on.

And don’t forget: your long-form content can be repurposed into short-form. Meaning that you can turn your articles into many Notes that you share over time (make that easier by scheduling them).

So that’s my experience so far. Have you noticed any of these trends for your Substack too?