The goal is to make people feel like they’re a part of something — and like you’re part of their identity. And the payoff — if all goes well — is in the form of fierce loyalty, word-of-mouth promotion, organic curiosity and attention, higher lifetime customer value and share of spend, lower acquisition costs, etc.

Many content-oriented companies try this approach of just gathering as much content as possible and offering it at a monthly price when their members might want depth in a few key areas or access to a community of like-minded people. In many cases, it’s not the stuff people want; it’s the curation and community. If the primary benefit is supposed... See more

But what's amazing with Substack that's under discussed is that subscribers actually do feel like they're investing in creator success. They subscribe for the content but also because they want that creator to continue doing what they do. There's just no financial association with that success.