A guide to Substack Chat
A guide to Substack Chat
How to build a community with your free and paid subscribers all in one place
Chat is a community space reimagined specifically for writers and creators—it’s like having your own private group chat where you make the rules. Writers set the topic and the tone for every discussion, and can turn the feature on or off at any time.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through:
How to get started in Chat
How to spark conversation in Chat
How to promote your Chat
How to encourage subscriber participation
If you want to take a deep dive into the principles of community building, visit How to find and engage your readers.
How to get started in Chat
Composing your first chat is the first step to launching your new community space! We’ll walk you through sending your first chat and the other key steps to successfully getting started in Chat.
Step 1: Start your first chat thread
Visit Chat on the web or Substack app, tap on the Chat tab, and start your first thread.
In the app, tap the Chat icon in the bottom bar. There, you’ll see a “+” button to start a chat.
To start a new thread from the web, visit substack.com/chat and click “start a new thread” in your chat space.
Your first thread is a chance to welcome readers into this new space—or dive straight into conversation. For example:
- asked what people wanted to see in their chat
of asked for readers’ fall to-do lists
Faith writer
kicked off her chat with an intro thread
Each chat thread can include text, links, and images. Tap the lock icon to select whether you want all subscribers or only paid subscribers to be able to view and reply.
Step 2: Decide who can start a chat
By default, only publication contributors can start chat threads, but writers have the option in settings to let subscribers participate by starting top-level chats. This empowers subscribers to help steward the community around your publication.
To enable readers to start top-level chat threads, update your settings.
Step 3: Announce Chat to your readers
The most important part of launching your chat is emailing a dedicated announcement post to your subscribers. We’ll notify your readers via email when you post your first chat, and only your first chat, but it’s always better for them to hear in your own voice about why you’re doing this.
We’ve added a chat announcement template to your post drafts that you can edit and publish directly. In your post, be sure to include:
Instructions to join your chat, with a “Get the app” and/or “Visit my chat” button near the top (these can be found in the Buttons menu).
What you hope to do together and how your chat conversations might differ from other spaces, like social media. If you are letting subscribers start chat threads, be sure to let them know!
Great examples of announcements from other writers include:
-
Think of it as a giant group chat just for the Isolation Journals!
-
I see this as the digital version of the Grown-Ups Table [where we are] sitting around a big round table in a room sharing artwork with each other. I’m really excited about it, and hope you are, too.
-
So what is the JoeBlogs subscriber chat? Well, I don’t think this is exactly how Substack would want me describing it but … it’s kind of like Twitter, but just for us (A Fitter Twitter!).
We recommend sending this announcement right after you start your first chat so subscribers immediately have something to reply to. Simply copying and pasting a chat link into a post will also generate a preview of your chat.
Step 4: Keep the conversation going
In Chat, you can host quick commentary, conversation prompts, and life photos and tidbits. Each thread can be for all subscribers or just those who pay. It should feel low-pressure, like sending a text to your subscribers.
To continue the conversation from anywhere on the go, download the Substack app.
New to Substack?
On Substack, you’re not publishing into a void. Our community features like Chat connect you and your subscribers directly.
How to spark conversation in Chat
Just as no two communities are the same, there are endless creative ways to use Chat. But starting the conversation isn’t all on you. If you enable your subscribers to start chats, they can help steward the community around your publication.
Role-modeling great conversation can help set the foundation for a thriving community. Here are some exciting conversation-starter ideas from your fellow writers.
Get to know your community
For your first chat thread, we recommend asking for introductions so that you and your subscribers can get to know one another. You can ask them to share photos, where they live, or about the common interest that brings your community together.
Examples:
Ski expert
asked the community about their home mountain and skiing goals.Movie critic
asked ’s readers what movies they’d seen over the weekend.
Poet
asked ’s readers to introduce themselves, ’90s-chatroom style.“Salad CEO”
invited subscribers to share their favorite kitchen gadgets.
React to live events
We’ve seen many active chats cover live events, coming together to discuss and react to what’s going on in the world. Some writers even host their own “events” in chat.
Examples:
Politicos
(chat) and (chat) hosted chats for the 2022 midterm election results as those came in, discussing and reacting live with their subscribers.Sports writers
(chat) and (chat) hosted chats to discuss Sunday football and the World Series, respectively.Political scientist
invited subscribers of to ask him anything over the course of an hour.
Share a window into your life
Bring your subscribers behind the scenes. Share personal updates that build rapport and connection but might not warrant an emailed post. Chat provides a real-time space for subscribers to hang out.
Examples:
Mental-health writer
mimics BeReal by sending the view from their window and asking subscribers to share their own.
Farmer
uses Chat to share photos from life on the farm, from her fridge organization to her recent harvests.
Write with your readers
Readers make some of the best collaborators. As you research new topics and posts, turn to your community for questions, insights, and inspiration.
Examples:
Investigative journalist
asks readers what questions they have on key political topics during New Zealand press conferences.Writer
asks her readers to help with research for an upcoming project.
- and rounded up wacky, delicious holiday romantic comedies with subscribers.
Host an ongoing discussion
Some conversations take time to unfold. Writers host extended conversations about topics of shared interest that often stay active for days or weeks, almost like each thread is its own themed group chat.
Examples:
TV guru
hosts a chat about the new season of Love Is Blind. Her subscribers chime in with their opinions as the show progresses.Gossip writer
asked subscribers for their Kanye takes, and they continued to add thoughts as the news unfolded.
How to promote your Chat
As you engage in conversation in Chat, it’s important to remind your readers to participate. Here are a few ideas for how to promote your chat to existing subscribers and curious followers who haven’t yet joined you on Substack.
Embed a chat thread in a post
You can get a link to any chat thread by long-pressing the chat bubble or tapping the three-dot menu. By pasting a link to a post, an embed preview of the chat will appear.
Use the “Join the subscriber Chat” button
Adding the “Join the subscriber Chat” button to your post from the Buttons dropdown helps bring your subscribers directly to your chat space from any post.
Read more: How to use buttons
Email out new chats
When you start a new chat thread, you also have the option to send the chat out via email. In addition to a push notification, subscribers will receive a preview of the chat and be prompted to join the conversation. This helps reach subscribers who are not using the Substack app.
Start a new chat thread when you publish a new post
When you publish a new post, you also have the option to send the link to your chat. This can help spark deeper, informal conversation around the writing, podcasts, and videos you invest the most time in.
Update your subscription benefits and About page
Helping facilitate conversations on your topic and offering your subscribers a space to engage with a shared interest is a great paid benefit. Update your subscriber benefits to reflect your Chat as part of your free or paid offering.
Elle Griffin lists the benefits for subscribers at all levels, including the ability for paid subscribers to start their own chats.
Update your welcome email to introduce Chat
Your welcome email helps bring your reader deeper into your publication from the get-go. After you greet your subscribers and invite free subscribers to upgrade their subscription, you might include a call to action to say hello in Chat. Add the “Join the subscriber Chat” button or embed a dedicated chat thread for subscribers to introduce themselves.
Write a dedicated post to subscribers about Chat
We encourage you to write a personalized post when you start your Chat for the first time. From time to time, you might send another post to subscribers reintroducing Chat.
Here are a few great announcement posts for Chat:
Food writers Michelle Davis and Matt Holloway from The Broiler Room describe Chat as “a group chat or message board if you’re old enough to remember those golden days of the internet.”
Tsh Oxenreider explains that her Chat will be a space to share short updates, workshop ideas, and host more intimate conversations with paying subscribers.
Tyler Dunne introduced his Chat as the place to “rant, rave, [and] fire off any and all thoughts” about Sunday football games each week.
Culture writer Helena Fitzgerald notes she is “excited to have even more opportunities to hang out in the wonderful conversation pit we’ve built here” and expand on the community forming in her comments section.
Climate writer Emily Atkin introduced a weekly shared activity in a chat: a Thursday discussion with “people who give a damn about the climate crisis.”
Share a link to your latest chat on social media
Long-press the chat bubble or tap the three-dot menu to get a link to your post. Share it on social media when you start a new thread to make sure your followers know the conversation is taking place.
How to encourage subscriber participation
Allowing your free subscribers, paid subscribers, or founding members to start chat threads empowers them to build the community alongside you. The feature transforms a Substack from a broadcast medium into a place to hang out with other people with shared interests.
Here are a few creative ways to encourage reader participation:
Spotlight leaders. Giving subscribers who are active in chat a shoutout in a post by @mentioning them or embedding a thoughtful thread they started can help model good conversation.
Pay attention to who keeps showing up. Acknowledging meaningful involvement by responding directly to subscribers’ comments to celebrate them or sending a personal email to those who go above and beyond ensures that great participants keep showing up.
Host a “live” open chat. Time boxing when you open up a chat for subscribers to start a new thread creates a focused shared moment for everyone to be there together. Hosting a “live” open chat regularly creates a ritual that helps your subscribers realize their community’s purpose. For example, culture writer Rayne Fisher-Quann opened up her chat for all subscribers to start threads to discuss the Oscars.
If you have questions about Chat, visit our Chat FAQ.
If you want to take a deep dive into the principles of community building, visit How to find and engage your readers.
A guide to Substack Chat