Are Reddit and Substack the most overrated PR channels right now?

Every few years, PR professionals fall in love with a new “must-use” channel. Right now, two platforms are enjoying that status: Reddit and Substack.

And that is understandable. Reddit has become one of the most influential repositories of real human conversation online. The platform has more than 25 billion posts and comments and over 126 million daily active unique users. That reach is significant in itself, but Reddit’s value today is not only about audience size. Its massive archive of natural discussions makes it attractive to AI systems. They increasingly use Reddit as a source – and it matters, as more consumers now start searches with AI instead of Google. According to Tinuiti’s AI Citation Trends Report Q1 2026, social media accounted for 9% of total AI citations in January, with Reddit leading the category at 5%.

Substack, meanwhile, makes publishing easier, lowers the barrier to testing different angles, and gives experts, founders and brands a direct relationship with readers. It also allows companies to build a more personal, editorial voice – something that is difficult to achieve through a press release. According to its website, the platform currently has more than five million paid subscribers, and says that “tens of millions” of people read, watch and listen on Substack every week. Large brands are already noticing this audience. Last year, e-commerce technology provider Shopify became one of the biggest companies to launch a Substack newsletter.

Attention vs. overestimation

It is not surprising that PR teams are paying attention. The problem is that attention can quickly turn into overestimation.

Reddit is not a place where brands can easily “place” narratives. It is a community-driven platform with its own norms and deep scepticism toward obvious PR messaging. A polished brand post that might work on LinkedIn may be mocked and downvoted on Reddit. An example came in November 2025, when game marketing agency Trap Plan was criticised after Reddit users discovered that it had promoted War Robots: Frontiers through posts and comments designed to resemble organic fan activity.

As for Substack, many companies confuse the platform with a plug-and-play distribution machine. Many assume it’s easy to start a newsletter there and gain traction. But in reality, writers often talk about how difficult it is to grow beyond their initial readership. Many also reach a plateau despite producing high-quality content.

The platform’s economics and functionality can create friction too. In May 2026, The Verge reported that several prominent writers and companies had moved away from Substack, citing the 10% fee, as well as limited customisation and third-party integrations. The piece specifically mentioned The Ankler, a popular entertainment industry publication. It announced plans to leave Substack as it needed “more flexibility and control across products, revenue and audience relationships".

So, how do you use the hype wisely?

Show up on Reddit to contribute before you promote. 

That may mean joining relevant discussions, answering technical questions, sharing transparent product updates, and allowing credible employees to participate as individuals. The brand should not be the hero of every interaction.

Also, use Reddit for intelligence. Monitor what people say about your category, competitors, and customer pain points. New tools can support this kind of work. HubSpot’s integration with Reddit, for example, allows companies to create and schedule posts to subreddits, respond to comments, analyse brand, product and competitor mentions, and track post performance.

Treat Substack as an editorial product. 

A good Substack needs a recognisable voice and a reason for readers to return. American cosmetics brand Saie’s From the Saie Office is one of the successful examples with visible traction: its Substack profile shows more than 6,600 subscribers. The newsletter works because it feels like an insider note from the brand’s creative team rather than a conventional promotional email. The same logic explains why some brands, including Walmart, choose to sponsor established newsletters on the platform instead of launching their own.

Connect both platforms to a wider communications strategy. 

Reddit can surface authentic questions and objections. Substack can turn those insights into deeper arguments. Media relations can then build on the strongest ideas. Used this way, these platforms become part of a PR ecosystem rather than overhyped replacements for it.

Reddit and Substack become overrated when PR teams expect them to behave like traditional media channels. But their strength is different: trust, community, directness, and unfiltered insight. For brands willing to give up some control, that can be powerful. For brands looking for quick, polished visibility, disappointment is almost guaranteed.