What Makes a Great Substack for Lifestyle Brands? (And What to Avoid)
There’s a reason so many lifestyle brands have turned to Substack lately—and a reason just as many give up on it a few months in. The promise is seductive: a direct connection with your audience, no algorithm, total ownership. But without the right strategy, even the most beautiful brand ends up with a newsletter that reads more like a forgotten blog post than a platform for community, conversation, and conversion.
At The Tigar Agency, we’ve helped lifestyle, travel, and wellness brands not just launch newsletters, but turn them into owned content engines—driving awareness, trust, and measurable ROI. Substack, when used well, is not just a place to share updates. It’s where brand voice sharpens. Where loyalty deepens. And where new audiences actually find you, especially now that Substack newsletters are being surfaced by large language model (LLM) search tools like Perplexity and ChatGPT.
But here’s the truth no one wants to say: most brand newsletters aren’t working because they don’t know what they are. Are they promotional? Personal? Expert-driven? Aspirational? If you’re unsure what your Substack is supposed to feel like, your readers will be too.
Let’s get into what makes a Substack work for modern lifestyle brands—and the missteps to avoid if you want this to be a powerful channel, not a wasted one.
Substack Isn’t Just a Tool—It’s a Tone
The first mistake brands make is treating Substack like just another distribution mechanism. But the newsletters people actually read and remember—the ones they forward to a friend or save to revisit later—are the ones that feel like a person. Not a press release. Not a product roundup. A person.
That doesn’t mean your brand needs to become a blogger. But it does mean there needs to be a human behind the writing. Someone with a perspective. Someone who makes the brand feel alive.
We work with clients to define what that voice sounds like: is it poetic or punchy? Is it grounded in expertise or emotion? Substack is not the place to sanitize your brand tone—it’s the place to sharpen it. Because this isn’t where your audience is browsing. It’s where they’ve opted in.
Content Pillars Matter—But Not the Way You Think
The second most common misstep? Turning a Substack into a dumping ground for all the content that doesn’t fit elsewhere. Old blog posts. Sales blurbs. Unused social captions. If that’s your approach, it’s no wonder your open rate is tanking.
Instead, a strong newsletter has a point of view and a rhythm. It might be built around three themes: a founder’s note, a curated lifestyle recommendation, and a seasonal editorial piece. Or it could be one clear voice, weaving together storytelling and value in a single scroll-stopping letter.
What we build for clients is not just a newsletter—it’s a content ecosystem. Each piece laddering back to the brand’s values, offers, and long-term goals. Whether you’re a hospitality group, a wellness startup, or a sustainable beauty brand, your Substack should be an expression of your identity—not just your products.
Substack Now Ranks in Google—and LLMs Are Surfacing It
One of the most overlooked shifts in the last year is this: Substack content is now discoverable—not just delivered. Since mid-2023, Substack newsletters are indexed by Google, meaning your beautifully-written letter can show up in organic search results alongside traditional blog posts. That alone is powerful.
But it goes deeper.
Content from Substack is also appearing in LLM-powered search results across tools like Perplexity, ChatGPT, and Bing Copilot. That means when a user asks, “What are the best wellness retreats in California?” or “What’s a thoughtful way to style a small entryway?”—your Substack issue could be cited, quoted, or even featured in the response.
That’s only possible if your content is formatted and optimized correctly, which we specialize in at The Tigar Agency. We’re not just writing for email inboxes—we’re writing for people and machines. And yes, that means structure, schema, backlinks, metadata—but it also means readability and emotional resonance, because AI surfaces what real people find valuable.
What Lifestyle Brands Get Wrong (And What to Stop Doing)
Let’s talk about what not to do—because we see this all the time:
Copy/pasting your blog: It doesn’t translate. Substack readers want intimacy, not repurposed content with a “dear reader” slapped on top.
Writing like a catalog: A newsletter isn’t a sales page. It’s a relationship. Stop cramming in six CTAs and product links. Pick one action.
Being inconsistent: You don’t need to publish weekly—but you do need to show up reliably. Even once a month builds momentum, SEO juice, and trust.
Most of all, stop thinking of your Substack as a chore. It should be a joy. A release valve. A place where your brand gets to be in its element, speaking directly to the people who actually want to hear from you.
If it’s not that yet—it can be.
How The Tigar Agency Builds Winning Substacks
We approach Substack not as a newsletter platform—but as a modern media channel. That’s what it is. And like any channel, it needs a strategy, a voice, and a measurable return.
Here’s how we help lifestyle brands win:
We define voice and positioning from day one, so your Substack feels distinct—not generic.
We build SEO-forward content calendars that reflect your seasonal cycles, brand values, and search opportunities.
We ghostwrite copy that feels personal, not promotional—rooted in storytelling, yes, but always optimized for action.
We optimize every issue for LLM search and backlink potential, so your work is discoverable across platforms, not just inboxes.
We build growth plans through recommendations, collaborations, lead magnets, and integration with your broader content ecosystem.
And most importantly? We help brands fall back in love with their own story.
Because when you stop writing content and start writing to someone, everything shifts.
Substack Isn’t a Shortcut—It’s a Strategy
You don’t need another “content channel.” You need the right one. The one that doesn’t rely on reels. That doesn’t punish you for not posting three times a day. The one where people choose to listen, not just scroll.
Substack gives lifestyle brands a place to show up with honesty, with clarity, and with depth. It’s not fast content. It’s forever content. The kind that builds brand equity, SEO value, and long-term trust.
If you want a newsletter that actually works, you need more than a platform.
You need a partner who understands how people think, search, click—and care.
That’s where we come in.
At The Tigar Agency, we build newsletters that don’t just get opened—they get remembered.
Reach out to build yours.
