(Sub)stack Overflow

Welcome to the Loop. We, the newsletter reading elite have known for a long time that long form content is where it’s really at, but the commonfolk have seemed to start catching on. Substack currently is tooting its $45M a year revenue and looking for investors, signaling that maybe we’re gaining back some ground lost to TikTok videos.

This Week in Digital Marketing

🗞️Shortform News: The indie newsletter platform Substack had a record 73.9 million site visitors last month, beating the traffic on WSJ.com and CBS.com, according to Similarweb data analyzed by Sherwood. Substack isn’t a single news org but a social platform with newsletters (think X-like feed) and video content, with its surge in visits taking a cultural hold of newsletter connoisseurs

✍️(Sub)stack Overflow: Its 500,000 creators include prominent journalists who left legacy media jobs, and many Substackers have found that the platform can give them direct access to six-figure audiences that they can monetize: The top writers with paying subscribers are rolling in it, with Substack saying over 50 of its creators rake in $1M+ per year. The platform’s revenue reached $45 million this year, boosted by political content during President' Trump’s second term.

🎭 Content Filters: Some creators however have expressed preference to competing newsletter platforms like Beehiiv and Ghost, likely in protest against what they view as Substack’s lax content moderation. Meanwhile, some observers question whether Substack can continue to grow since readers might tire of paying for subscriptions to newsletters by individual writers, which can quickly add up to hundreds of dollars in monthly bills.

🐦 Ex-X: After two years leading X under Elon Musk, Linda Yaccarino announced she’s stepping down from the CEO role. Yaccarino didn't provide a reason for her departure, but according to sources, her exit has been in the works for over a week. Linda was brought in to continue her incredible track record of negotiating massive ad contracts during her time at NBC, facing criticism during her hiring that her CEO roll was in fact a CINO (CEO In Name Only).

🧑‍💻Closed Doors:  Japan’s Recruit Holdings, the parent company of Indeed and Glassdoor, is cutting about 1,300 jobs across both companies – roughly 6% of their workforce. The cuts target the companies’ research and development as well as “people and sustainability” teams in the U.S. as they shift to embracing artificial intelligence tools. According to CEO Hisayuki Idekoba, "[w]hen we think about HR industry, which is $300 billion-plus industry, but it includes like 60% or 65% of human labor manual cost.”

😊Searchable Grams: Starting July 10, 2025, Instagram will begin allowing Google to index public content from professional accounts, giving business owners and creators a powerful new channel for organic discovery. If you run a public business or creator account and are over 18, your Reels, photos, and videos could soon show up in Google search results, right alongside blog posts, product listings, and even competitor content.

🍗PJ Ace Strikes Again - This time as a rap battle “beef”ing with McDonalds with an even bigger advertiser - Popeyes. As usual not shy from showing his goods, he shares his protocol:

The spot was made using Google’s Veo 3, an AI video tool that’s shaking up ad creation by slashing costs and timelines. Here’s a sample of the prompt:

Pro Tip: For a convincing lip sync, include a heavy pop filter to cover up the virtual talent’s face!

It’s really that easy!

What’s the secret to staying ahead of the curve in the world of AI? Information. Luckily, you can join 1,000,000+ early adopters reading The Rundown AI — the free newsletter that makes you smarter on AI with just a 5-minute read per day.

Sign up to start learning.

ContactLoop is an integrated suite of lead generation & lead capture software that enables businesses to streamline, shorten, and scale their sales operations with data & experience driven workflows. To learn more about ContactLoop, click here. For further inquiries, email us at [email protected]