Why Substack and Not LinkedIn?
It's about signaling.
If you’re a business professional, it’s safe to say that you have a LinkedIn profile. And rightly so. It is by far the largest professional networking platform on the planet.
So, if I really wanted to share ideas and research about sales, as well as connect with other like-minded sales leaders, why didn’t I just decide to post more on LinkedIn?
I’ll explain my rationale for why I think Substack is vastly more appealing than LinkedIn for Elevate Sales Hub. And it revolves around signaling.
Signaling theory (see Connelly et al. 20111) teaches us that in any market, how we communicate (signals) matters just as much as what we say. These signals act to reduce information asymmetry (what you don’t know about the other party) in order to make decisions or take actions.
Job applicants convey signals to interviewers about their credentials for a job.
Salespeople communicate signals to customers about the value of their offering.
Signals are what individuals use to make sense of the market. Strong signals are costly, which means they are credible and hard to fake.
For example, an outreach message to a potential customer that includes personalized and timely positioning of problems facing the buyer’s role, business, and industry is a stronger signal than a bland, generic email that could be sent to anyone.
Or, large sales force layoffs/hirings are a strong signal of anticipated changes in a firm’s market performance.2
Strong signals are key to differentiation. They help people quickly filter out noise (i.e., weak signals) to interpret and find quality in a market. Just count how many emails you delete every day, and you’ll get a sense of strong versus weak signals.
When we think about how we look at content and signals, the choice of platform becomes a signal in itself.
You see, LinkedIn is a great platform for REACH. You’ll see that I still use it to share about my ESH posts.
BUT the focus on LinkedIn is on content volume over content depth. This incentivizes quick takes, surface engagements, and viral content. We have also seen the platform evolve closer to TikTok in attracting more influencers and marketers with short-form video. As a result, LinkedIn abounds in WEAK signals.
For a profession that is negatively stereotyped by both consumers3 and university students4, perhaps a platform like LinkedIn is not the best place to build credibility in the sales profession.
On the other hand, Substack offers strong signals of quality and intentionality for multiple reasons.
It’s harder to post fluff. Substack is all about long-form, idea-driven articles. As a result, readers expect original thinking, depth, and a deeper understanding of new ideas. The constraints on LinkedIn posts make it impossible to include the citations, curated resources, and other elements that make the content more credible.
Readers opt in. Subscribing to content gives you easy access to get exactly what you want to read, instead of doomscrolling. At the same time, I get clearer signals of readers’ interest (or lack of interest!) and trust in the writing. LinkedIn incentivizes more passive engagement, often through social obligation (How often do you feel compelled to give a thumbs up?)
Friction of Writing = Better Thinking. Substack articles carry a much higher cost (writing, editing) for me than LinkedIn posting. But this friction forces clarity, which I need as a professor. My hope is that this costliness offers a more credible signal, especially in an age when most LinkedIn posts are written by AI.
For the kinds of articles I want to write that elevate sales — research-backed, experience-informed, and field-tested — Substack is the better signal.
Connelly, B. L., Certo, S. T., Ireland, R. D., & Reutzel, C. R. (2011). Signaling theory: A review and assessment. Journal of management, 37(1), 39-67.
Panagopoulos, N. G., Mullins, R., & Avramidis, P. (2018). Sales force downsizing and firm-idiosyncratic risk: The contingent role of investors’ screening and firm’s signaling processes. Journal of Marketing, 82(6), 71-88.
Babin, B. J., Boles, J. S., & Darden, W. R. (1995). Salesperson stereotypes, consumer emotions, and their impact on information processing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 23, 94-105.
Lee, N., Sandfield, A., & Dhaliwal, B. (2007). An empirical study of salesperson stereotypes amongst UK students and their implications for recruitment. Journal of Marketing Management, 23(7-8), 723-744.