Email Newsletters Build Loyal Audiences

Summary: Email newsletters outperform social media for audience loyalty because they're permission-based, direct channels. Unlike platform-dependent followers, subscribers actively choose your content. As AI disintermediates search traffic, owned email lists become strategic imperatives for direct audience access.

Email is a loyalty medium. (Imagen 4 Ultra)

I made a short song about newsletter user experience (YouTube, 3 min.).

Email might be the oldest Internet media form, but it’s far from obsolete. In fact, it’s a powerhouse for customer retention and loyalty. Unlike a social media post shouting into the void, an email newsletter is more like a friendly knock on your readers’ doors with their permission.

Email is old. That’s one of the reasons it works so well for reaching audiences — and will likely continue to do so. (GPT-Image 1)

The core reason for email’s persistence can be understood by contrasting it with its more modern rivals. Social media platforms are akin to rented land; a brand or creator can build a magnificent following, but they are ultimately tenants subject to the whims of an algorithmic landlord who can change the rules, restrict reach, or even evict them overnight. An email list, by contrast, is owned land. It is a direct, unmediated asset that provides a stable and reliable line of communication to an audience, insulated from the volatile ecosystems of proprietary platforms.

Publishing on somebody else’s platform means that you don’t own your digital future. (GPT Image-1)

Even after you start a newsletter, don’t give up on social media. But the goal of your social media strategy should be to grow your newsletter subscriber list. Assume that any social network may deplatform you at any time, or at least change its algorithm to make you virtually invisible. For example, link to your newsletter in your social media posts even if the platform’s algorithm limits the reach of posts with external links. It’s better for your long-term strategy to have fewer viewers of that post if that link gains you new subscribers. (GPT Image-1)

This structural advantage is built upon the foundation of permission. Unlike interruption-based advertising, permission marketing operates on explicit consent. When users subscribe to a newsletter, they are not being targeted; they are issuing an invitation. This act transforms the dynamic from an adversarial one, where the user is defending their attention from a brand, to a cooperative one, where the user anticipates value. This permission contract is a powerful psychological trigger, activating the reciprocity principle: the user awards attention in exchange for valuable content, creating a positive feedback loop of trust and engagement.

Robert Cialdini is the author of the most influential list of influence principles, of which the first is reciprocity: If I give you something, you have a strong urge to give me something back in return. (GPT Image-1)

Furthermore, email is an integral part of our digital lives. It is a utility, a daily ritual for nearly every Internet user. The number of email users worldwide has reached approximately 4.5 billion people. Email’s open, decentralized protocol has allowed it to outlive countless closed, proprietary systems. This ubiquity, combined with high ROI creates an unshakable incentive for businesses to continue prioritizing it as a primary channel for customer retention.

A recent study by Ramp (an issuer of company credit cards) found that U.S. companies in the technology and manufacturing sectors now spend more money on paid email newsletter subscriptions than they do on newspaper subscriptions, with retail and healthcare being close to even in spending on these two media types. However, subscription fees are not the main way to derive value from most email newsletters: the increased audience loyalty from a much larger free subscriber base is usually much more valuable.

(In case you want to pursue a paid newsletter, the Ramp study also found that Substack, which is the publishing platform I use for my newsletter, was the main home for newsletters that customers pay for, hosting 61% more than the number-two platform, Medium.)

Jakob’s Newsletter Reaches 25K Subscribers

My own newsletter (which you’re reading now) crossed the 25,000 subscriber mark this week, which was my impetus for writing this article.

First, let me say: THANK YOU! Thank you to each and every one of the 25,000 fans who permit me to add to their inboxes every week. I am grateful for your support.

My email newsletter now has 25,000 subscribers. Thank you! (Seedream 4)

My 25,000 newsletter subscribers generate 44 times more page views than my 166,000 LinkedIn followers. This means that each newsletter subscriber is worth an astronomical 295 times more than a LinkedIn follower. When it comes to reliably reaching your audience, newsletters’ signal-to-noise ratio is hard to beat.

In my case, my content is free, and I no longer run a consulting business, so “worth” is not calculated in monetary terms, but rather in terms of getting my message out, which is my only goal now that I am an independent influencer.

World travel through email: my newsletter now reaches 151 countries and territories. (Seedream 4)

I now have subscribers in 151 countries and territories, up by only two from the 149 countries and territories when I celebrated the 20K mark in March. The geographic distribution of my subscribers is shown in this pie chart:

Subscribers by area for Jakob Nielsen’s newsletter.

The only change since March is that Europe and North America are each down by one percentage point, and those two percent are now in Asia. On a per-country basis, the leaders remain the same as before: USA, India, United Kingdom. Within the list of the top 25 countries, the only changes are that Chile and Colombia entered the list, whereas Norway and South Korea dropped out, although they only dropped to rank as number 27 and 26, respectively, so there is no significant change.

Subscriber growth per region was as follows during this half-year period:

• Africa: 41%

• Asia Pacific: 34%

• Middle East: 34%

• Latin America : 34%

• North America: 22%

• Europe: 21%

While changes in the subscriber base happen slowly once you reach a certain size, I am happy to see greater penetration of my message in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East, where many companies and countries are moving aggressively to invent the future, while my native Europe hesitates in embracing the cognitive revolution caused by AI. My numbers are too small to predict the world economy, but Latin America might be next.

Start a Newsletter

In the future, traditional corporate career advancement will diminish, and you can expect career growth to come from personal branding and the pursuit of the three skills for human relevance in an AI economy: agency, judgment, and persuasion. My advice is for you to start your own email newsletter now to position yourself for this future.

One reason to start now is that it takes time to grow a strong subscriber list. I have only started newsletters twice, but both times the initial subscriber numbers were abysmal. Unless you’re a K-pop idol with millions of fans, expect the first issue of your newsletter to go out to a handful of subscribers. Announcing your newsletter on your social media channels and to friends will give you a modest start, but a very modest one. Don’t despair. If you have a unique voice, your subscriber base will grow with every issue. I started my current newsletter in June 2023, so it took me two years and three months to reach 25K subs.

Consistent publishing over a long period is the only way to build a strong mailing list. Don’t stop because your first few issues only reach a handful of initial subscribers. Your list will grow, but only if you persist. (GPT Image-1)

(My current subscriber number is 75% bigger than what I had for my first newsletter, which I wrote from 1995 to 2012, at the equivalent time after I started that newsletter. Now that I know more, I’m doing better the second time around, but even so, list-building is slow going.)

You do need that unique voice, which leads me to my second piece of advice: do not get discouraged by critique or people who don’t like your material. Just hit the “ignore” button. The job of a newsletter influencer is to lead the brave, not follow the sheep. There will always be people who don’t like your take, your style, your videos, your illustrations, or whatever. Ignore them and double down. In fact, if enough people hate something you do, that’s reason enough to do it even more because the only sin in a world that’s overflowing with content is to be bland and inoffensive, so that nobody feels anything about your material.

If there is one lesson I have drawn from 42 years of being in the public eye, it’s to ignore the haters: you will have plenty unless you are insufferably boring and conforming. Responding to haters soaks up time that’s better spent creating content for readers who appreciate you. Don’t change who you are to conform to narrow-minded outsiders, because authenticity is the only way to thrive in an AI-dominated content world. (GPT Image-1)

Newsletters are a narrowcast media form, not a mass medium. If you can reach 1% of the world’s Internet users, that’s 45 million subscribers. While virtually nobody will reach nearly that high, the point remains that you can safely ignore 99% of the people and their opinions.

Newsletter User Experience

Now that I have hopefully convinced you to start an email newsletter, whether for your company or for yourself, let’s turn to how to design it. Yes, it’s just an email, but newsletters still have a user experience.

Newsletter design can be divided into 4 steps:

1. The subscription experience

2. The email itself

3. The content

4. The unsubscribe experience

Subscription UX

Minimize Friction in Sign-Up: If you want visitors to subscribe, don’t make it a Herculean task. Keep your sign-up forms short and simple. Often just an email address is enough; asking for too much info (full name, birthday, preferences, first pet’s name, blood type…) right upfront will tank your conversion rates. Users are wary of giving out data, and every extra field is an extra chance to second-guess signing up. The form should clearly state what they’re signing up for, e.g., “Subscribe to our weekly UX insights newsletter.” Transparency here builds trust. It’s also good to mention if you plan to send a confirmation email or what content to expect (“Join 5,000 others to get our best articles and exclusive discounts every Thursday”). This manages expectations and can even serve as a little teaser of value.

Shorter form = higher completion rate = more subscribers. (GPT Image-1)

Immediate Welcome and Onboarding: Once someone is confirmed, roll out the red carpet. The welcome email is arguably one of the most important newsletters you’ll ever send to a person: it’s your first impression in their inbox, and may see open rates north of 60%. Take advantage of that. A best practice is to send the welcome email instantly or within a few minutes of sign-up (while the user still remembers they subscribed). In this email, do a few things: warmly welcome/thank them, remind them what they’ll get and how often (“We’re excited to have you! You’ll receive our tech deals newsletter every Sunday night.”), and deliver any promised incentive. Incentives are common in e-commerce (e.g. “Here’s your 10% off coupon for signing up”), but even in content newsletters, you might give a “top content” roundup or a free PDF as a thank-you.

A pro tip for UX: also use the welcome email to set the tone and maybe encourage a next action. For instance, a personal newsletter might share a bit of the author’s backstory and invite the subscriber to follow on Twitter or add the sender’s email to their contacts (to ensure deliverability). A brand might highlight how to manage preferences or what to do if the emails go to spam (with easy instructions to safelist the sender). Since welcome emails generate 10 times more clicks than regular emails on average, it’s a golden opportunity to deepen engagement right from the start; consider suggesting that the user read a popular article or complete their profile on your site.

Send any welcome email immediately after users subscribe, so that they remember doing so and don’t wonder why they’re getting his message or think it’s spam. (GPT Image-1)

Clarity and Consent in Permissions: In all of this, be very clear about the user’s consent. If your sign-up form subscribes them to multiple types of emails (newsletters, promotional blasts, etc.), let them choose or at least know. Nothing kills loyalty faster than feeling tricked; if I thought I signed up for a weekly tips newsletter and instead get daily product pitches, I’m hitting “unsubscribe” (or worse, “mark as spam”) pretty quickly. A pleasant surprise (“oh, they send me cool bonus content sometimes”) is fine; an unpleasant surprise (“why am I suddenly getting daily emails from this brand?”) is not.

Offer Frequency or Content Choices (Advanced): One of the emerging best practices, especially for content-heavy sites or e-commerce, is to let users customize what they subscribe to. This can be done at sign-up or via a preference center later. For example, some sites allow users to select the topics they care about (say, “Tech” vs “Design” vs “Marketing” content) or the frequency (“Weekly digest” vs “Real-time updates”). While not every site needs this complexity, offering these options can reduce future unsubscribes. Research by the Baymard Institute found that a significant share of users would remain subscribed if only they could dial down the frequency of emails.

In fact, that Baymard study found that 59% of people unsubscribe because they get too many emails in general, and 51% specifically leave because a particular sender emails too often. Clearly, “one-size-fits-all” frequency doesn’t fit everyone. If feasible, consider allowing a few settings – e.g. “I’d like to receive: [ ] All updates as they happen, [ ] A weekly summary, [ ] Only big announcements.” This kind of user control is empowering and can be the difference between a user saying “I’m sick of these daily emails, goodbye” versus simply opting for a lighter cadence and staying happy. Baymard’s testing observed that when presented with a simple all-or-nothing newsletter choice, many users choose nothing to avoid overload. But given a Goldilocks option (“no more than once a week”), users often appreciate it and remain subscribed.

Ideally, allow users to control the frequency at which they receive your newsletter. AI will soon be able to convert any amount of published content into appropriately-sized newsletters at each individual user’s desired frequency. A simpler newsletter system should simply pick a publishing cadence and stick to it. The main risk is sending subscribers too many messages so that they unsubscribe. (GPT Image-1)

The UX mantra here is user control and freedom (usability heuristic number 3), which shows respect and can dramatically extend the life of a subscription. Some brands even let you pause emails for a while (taking a “vacation” from the newsletter) or switch between content types (say, you only want the “Tech” category newsletters). This level of personalization at the subscription level can be resource-intensive to implement, but it pays dividends in retention.

The subscription UX should embody courtesy and clarity. The user is doing you a favor by granting permission; reciprocate by making the process smooth and transparent. The positive tone you set at the beginning can carry forward: a subscriber who had a painless sign-up and got a friendly welcome is already inclined to view your ongoing emails positively. It’s like the first date went well: now they’re actually looking forward to hearing from you again!

A final point: do not auto-subscribe people to your mailing list unless they have explicitly signed up to receive your newsletter. Doing so creates a highly negative brand impression. (GPT Image-1)

Email Design

Once you have subscribers on board, the real work begins: delivering a newsletter that users actually want to open and read consistently. This is where good UX design and good writing must join forces like a dynamic duo. The inbox is a harsh environment where users sift through dozens, if not hundreds, of emails a day, triaging what to open or ignore in seconds. Your newsletter’s content and design need to work together to grab attention (without being gimmicky), deliver value efficiently, and leave a positive impression. Essentially, you must respect the user’s time and cognitive load while also standing out in a crowded inbox.

From, Subject, and the Inbox Snapshot: In the split-second triage that users perform on incoming email, the two things they see first are who it’s from and what the subject line is (often along with a snippet of preview text). These are make-or-break for your open rates. A guiding principle here is recognizability and honesty. The From field should clearly communicate who the sender is. If it’s an individual influencer newsletter, this is straightforward: use your name (e.g., “Jakob Nielsen”). If it’s a company or brand newsletter, you have a few choices: the brand name alone (“UX Tigers Newsletter”), the name of a person at the brand (“Jane from UX Tigers”), or a combination (“UX Tigers Weekly” with the email address perhaps showing the domain). There isn’t one right answer for all cases, but consistency and recognition are key.

Don’t forget the humble “From” field in the email protocol: it has a strong influence on your open rate, and a well-written “from” label helps recipients recognize you in their crowded inbox. Don’t let “From” be determined as a side-effect of your email implementation. Design it. (GPT Image-1).

Avoid confusing or overly long sender names. “AcmeCorp Customer Communications Dept” is less inviting (and will be cut off in narrow inbox columns) compared to “AcmeCorp” or “Jane at AcmeCorp”. No-reply addresses are a no-no. They send a message that you don’t want to hear back from your customers, which is not exactly relationship-building. Instead, use a monitored email for the reply-to (and even say so: e.g., “Reply to this email to reach us; we actually read these!”). Having a working reply-to completes the feedback loop and builds trust. It assures subscribers that this is a two-way channel, not a dead end.

The subject line is your headline in the inbox. A classic piece of advice is that the subject should answer the question: “Why should I open this email?” In other words, what’s the benefit or intrigue inside? Clarity trumps cleverness here, as in most aspects of UX writing. Users scanning their inbox are like shoppers in a hurry and want to know, at a glance, “what’s in it for me if I open this?” If your newsletter is content-focused, the subject might be the title of your lead story or a clear description (“5 Tips to Boost Your Website’s UX”). If it’s a promotional email, the subject might highlight the offer (“40% Off All Winter Gear, This Weekend Only”).

The subject line is the most important part of newsletter UX. You should maintain a collection of good subject lines for inspiration. (GPT Image-1)

Avoid spammy elements: excessive punctuation (!!!), all-caps shouting, or misleading bait-and-switch phrasing will hurt you. Not only do such tactics annoy recipients, they can also trigger spam filters. It’s fine to be a bit catchy or use a friendly tone. An influencer might have a playful subject like “Surviving Monday: Caffeine and UX Tips Edition,” but ensure the content delivers on the subject line’s promise. Length is another consideration: shorter subjects (perhaps 30–50 characters) tend to perform well since many email apps will truncate longer ones. Mobile devices, especially, may show only ~30 characters of a subject line. So put the most important words up front (for example, don’t start with “[Newsletter]” every time, which wastes precious characters).

If you need more context, the preheader text is your friend. This is the snippet (often the first line of the email’s body, or a designated header) that many email clients show after the subject. Think of it as a subtitle. Use it to complement the subject. For instance, subject: “Your Weekly Photography Digest”, preheader: “Top 5 camera apps tested, plus a special discount inside.” Many teams forget to craft the preheader, and it ends up showing something random like “View email in browser.” Truly a lost opportunity. When you purposefully craft both subject and preheader, you create a one-two punch of information and enticement in the inbox list.

Content Design

When users open your newsletter, the design should facilitate easy reading and navigation. You have approximately 11 seconds to communicate your main message, though some estimates suggest only 8 seconds. Users scan emails rather than reading every word, making a scannable layout essential.

Adopt clear headings, short paragraphs, bullet points, and strategic whitespace so readers can grasp key points quickly. Walls of text cause readers to close or delete emails immediately.

Decide your most important message and design accordingly. Use bold headlines for top stories, larger fonts, or hero images at the top, then structure supporting content with subheadings and bite-sized chunks. Effective content hierarchy includes headlines as the largest text, slightly smaller subheadings, and comfortable reading-size body text.

Unless your newsletter is intentionally long-form, limit word count and focus each issue on key items. (I’m notoriously bad at following this advice, since my newsletters often run to 5,000 words. Sigh.) Keep sentences and paragraphs concise. Use bullet points or numbered lists for multiple items since they're easier to scan than dense paragraphs. Bullet lists create natural visual breaks and draw attention, making them perfect for tips, features, or updates.

Design assuming readers won't read everything. If they only scan headlines, subheads, and captions, they should still understand the main points. For content newsletters with multiple stories, include a headline (linked to the full article), a one or two-sentence summary, and a “Read more” link. For promotional emails, display product names, key benefits or prices in bold, and clear buttons like "New Winter Jacket: 30% off [Buy Now]."

Use images and color strategically to enhance hierarchy, not merely decorate. Common patterns include thumbnails for articles or product photos for items. Optimize images for quick loading and include proper alt text for accessibility. Many email clients block images by default; if your newsletter is one large image, users might see nothing until clicking “download images.”

Keep emails honest and straightforward without unnecessary fluff. Apply the “squint test:” when squinting at your email, elements that stand out (bold text, colored buttons) should represent your most important points.

Your newsletter design should pass the squint test: when blurring a screenshot (or looking at it without your reading glasses), do important element stand out? (GPT Image-1)

Strong writing and genuinely useful information form the backbone of successful newsletters. Write conversationally, keeping in mind your brand and audience. Many newsletters benefit from personal touches, even company newsletters can include brief intros that feel personal.

Lead with your most valuable or timely piece. Every content piece should answer “What’s in it for me?” Clarify whether you're educating, entertaining, or offering exclusive deals.

Be honest and transparent. Clearly state offer details without bait-and-switch tactics. Focus on delivering value in every issue. Apply the “Glad I opened this” test: subscribers should feel their time was worthwhile. Consistently passing this test develops loyal followings; failing it increases unsubscribes and decreases opens.

Unsubscribe UX

A key aspect of building loyalty through email is making it easy for people to leave if they want to. If users can’t easily find the unsubscribe link or, worse, click it and can’t complete the process, they’ll feel trapped and frustrated. Many will respond by hitting the “Report Spam” button out of frustration, which is far worse for you than a clean unsubscribe.

At all costs, avoid the dark design pattern of hiding the unsubscribe option or making users jump through endless hoops to get out. This is evil and is becoming illegal in many countries.

Avoid the dark pattern of making it difficult to unsubscribe. (GPT Image-1)

The recommended UI design is simple: put a clear “Unsubscribe” link in the footer of every email. When people click this link, the next step should be a confirmation page stating: “You have been unsubscribed.”

One click must suffice to get off a mailing list! (GPT Image-1)

One advanced practice: provide an option to “opt-down” instead of out. On the unsubscribe page, a nice design is to give a simple yes/no choice: “Stop all emails” vs. “Reduce frequency or change content”. For example, you might say, “Would you rather hear from us monthly instead of weekly? [Switch to monthly] [Unsubscribe entirely]”. In usability tests, some users appreciate this, as Baymard’s research found: an option like “Receive no more than one email per week” was welcomed by participants who were otherwise ready to unsubscribe. But again, the fail-safe must be there: one click and done if they truly want out.

Different Senders, Different Newsletters

The term “newsletter” is a broad descriptor for a wide variety of email communications. Not all newsletters are created equal, nor should they be. Newsletters can be categorized into three primary archetypes, each with a distinct goal and a unique relationship with its audience.

The Influencer Newsletter builds on a personal brand foundation. Its primary goal is creating direct, authentic connections where trust in the individual transfers to their recommendations. The strategy centers on authenticity: unique voice, personal stories, and expert curation that feels like a letter from a trusted friend. Subscribers are loyal to the person, not the product, opening emails for that specific individual’s perspective. Design remains minimal and text-focused, with the sender’s full name prominent. Monetization includes premium subscriptions, affiliate links, and selective sponsorships aligned with personal brand.

The Brand Content Marketer establishes the brand as an industry authority. The goal is nurturing leads and building loyalty by providing value beyond products. Strategy focuses on educational or entertaining content that helps subscribers solve problems or improve skills. The brand positions itself as a useful guide rather than direct seller. Subscribers seek information, professional development, and expert insights. Design is professional, organized, and scannable with clear branding, multiple sections, and links to deeper content like blog posts or webinars.

The Promotional Bullhorn, typically from e-commerce brands, drives immediate sales through commercial offers. Strategy is explicitly transactional, centered on products, discounts, and urgency. Subscribers are deal-motivated, having signed up specifically for sales notifications. They open emails expecting offers, with engagement measured through click-throughs and conversions. Design is highly visual with professional product photography, simple layouts built around single offers, and prominent call-to-action buttons. Language employs psychological triggers like “Limited Time Only.”

Success depends on honoring the psychological contract established at subscription: are you a confidante, guide, or salesperson? Mismatching promised and delivered content causes disengagement. If subscribers expecting personal insights receive impersonal promotions, trust erodes, and they unsubscribe. The critical strategic decision is choosing an archetype and executing with unwavering consistency.

Different Audiences, Different Newsletters

Understanding your target audience is crucial for newsletter success. A newsletter for general consumers differs vastly from one targeting hobbyists or B2B professionals, each requiring distinct approaches in design, content, and strategy.

General Public (B2C, Broad Audience)

Newsletters targeting wide consumer bases need accessible, inclusive content that assumes varied knowledge levels. When a tech company emails all product users, some may be early adopters while others are casual users, so avoiding or explaining jargon becomes essential.

Ideally, you can segment your mailing list by audience type, maybe with AI. Failing that, assume that readers span a wide knowledge range. (GPT Image-1)

Design matters significantly for broad audiences. Clean, visually appealing formats with images and clear headings help readers skim content effectively. Consider age diversity by using readable font sizes and strong contrast, as many retail customers are in their 40s, 50s, or older and appreciate clear text over trendy minimal designs.

Emotional and narrative elements resonate broadly when avoiding polarizing references. Subject lines should appeal to universal values, such as saving money or staying informed. Content must answer “why should I care?” in ways that connect with common needs and desires.

Enthusiasts and Hobbyists (Niche Audience)

Passionate audiences crave depth and details. Photography enthusiasts want detailed lens comparisons, not basic portrait tips. These readers speak the jargon fluently and appreciate granular content that general audiences would find overwhelming.

While enthusiasts value substance over style, relevant visuals enhance engagement. Photography newsletters need great photos; gaming newsletters benefit from screenshots. Community building matters significantly, so using insider references and spotlighting members creates camaraderie.

These audiences tolerate longer, more frequent emails if content remains substantial and focused. However, accuracy and authenticity are paramount. Enthusiasts possess deep knowledge and will publicly call out errors or inauthentic content, but meeting their standards creates loyal advocates who share content widely.

B2B and Professional Audiences

Time-starved professionals need concise, factual, outcome-oriented content. Headlines like “3 Marketing Trends You Need to Know (2-minute read)” appeal to busy readers. Bullet points, numbered lists, and executive summaries help professionals extract value quickly.

Data and evidence reign supreme. Including compelling statistics and case studies helps professionals do their jobs better. Most executives dislike sales-focused content, while valuing unique insights that in turn improve their perception of your brand. (Which leads to sales. You simply have to put the horse before the cart, and not the other way around.) Focus on thought leadership over product pushing.

Design considerations include ensuring compatibility with Outlook and corporate email systems, which often break modern layouts. Many corporate users have images disabled by default, so include meaningful alt text. Send timing matters: mid-week mornings perform best for B2B, while B2C may succeed evenings or weekends.

Successfully aligning content and style with audience needs creates lasting engagement. When newsletters truly understand and serve their readers’ specific needs, they become valuable resources rather than inbox clutter.

Align your style with your segment. Cracking too many jokes in a B2B newsletter is like serving a vegan meal to a meat lover. (GPT Image-1)

Newsletters Build Loyalty

Email newsletters are one of the best ways to maintain loyalty and connection with fans and customers. In summary:

• They are Permission-Based: Customers invite you in, making each touchpoint welcomed rather than resented, which nurtures positive sentiment.

The defining characteristic of email newsletters is that they are permission media rather than interruption media. Each individual subscriber has indicated that he or she wants to hear from you. This creates a positive, direct connection with that person. (GPT Image-1)

• They Deliver High Value: Through exclusive content, personalized deals, or useful info, newsletters reward subscribers for their attention, leading to higher engagement and conversions.

• They’re Measurable and Optimizable: You can A/B test subject lines, segment audiences, and see exactly who clicked what, allowing continual refinement of the experience in a way that mass media can’t match.

Classic email metrics include the number of subscribers who open the message, the number of clicks on links within the message, and the number of subscribers who unsubscribe. If you have a decent list (say, 10 K subscribers or more), you can typically obtain valid A/B testing data for subject line variations or different calls-to-action, as the percentage of users who perform these actions tends to be high. While some might criticize these numbers as vanity metrics, they are essential for the long-term newsletter health. Bottom-line metrics (such as purchases) are only applicable to sales-oriented newsletters, not to content-focused newsletters, and require significantly larger mailing lists to achieve statistically significant results, as conversion rates are often lower. (GPT Image-1)

• They Provide Consistency: A regular newsletter keeps the relationship alive during the quiet times between purchases. It’s the gentle touch that reminds customers “we’re here for you,” building familiarity and trust (the cornerstone of loyalty).

• They Adapt to Any Message: Need to announce a new product? Newsletter. Want to share a how-to guide? Newsletter. Running a sale? Newsletter. It’s a Swiss army knife channel that can do soft-sell and hard-sell equally well, as long as you frame it right for the audience.

• They Build Community: Especially for content or enthusiast newsletters, they make subscribers feel part of something: a group that learns or benefits together. That emotional connection can transcend a mere product/service transaction.

• They’re Cost-Effective: Maintaining an email list and sending emails (even beautifully designed ones) is relatively cheap, yet the returns are huge. High ROI means you can invest in better content or perks, further delighting subscribers, forming a virtuous cycle.

• They’re Durable: Through algorithm changes, privacy shifts, and whatever new network comes along, email remains a constant, grounded in the open standards of the internet. Owning that direct line is owning a piece of customer attention that can’t easily be taken away by external forces.

The digital media world keeps changing, but the simple open protocols for email delivery endure. (GPT Image-1)

In crafting your newsletter strategy, think of it as tending a garden of relationships. You prepare the soil (set expectations at sign-up), you water regularly (send value consistently), you pull weeds (remove friction, prune inactive contacts, fix UX snags), and over time, you watch loyalty bloom. Yes, it takes care and feeding and you can’t just blast out self-serving emails and expect loyalty to sprout. But with the principles I’ve recommended in this article (user-centric content, good UX practices, respect for preferences), your email newsletter program can become a linchpin of your customer retention strategy. You’ll know you’ve succeeded when your subscribers not only stay on the list, but actually look forward to your emails, maybe even rely on them. At that point, you’re not just marketing – you’re a valued part of their information ecosystem.

And that is a very powerful place to be. In a digital world where customers are one click away from bouncing to a competitor, having that loyal audience in your inbox is like having an army of engaged readers who trust you. They are more likely to buy from you again, to recommend you to others, and to give you the benefit of the doubt if something goes wrong (because you’ve built a relationship, not just pushed messages). In an era of fleeting TikToks and impersonal ads, the email newsletter might seem old-fashioned, but perhaps it’s old-fashioned like a handshake: a bit traditional, yes, but still one of the most human and effective ways to seal a connection.

Is AI the End of Newsletters?

Will AI finally kill off email newsletters, after they survived the Web, Facebook, and TikTok? I think not, even though the AI Revolution is bigger than the sum of the Web, social media, and mobile computing combined.

AI will change how newsletters are created, filtered, summarized, and measured. It will not change the core reasons email works. Think of AI as a new climate system for a very sturdy house. The foundation holds. The weather patterns around it shift.

The coming decade will see AI fundamentally reshape how users access information. AI is increasingly answering user queries directly, summarizing content and providing answers without requiring a click-through to a source website. This trend poses an existential threat to business models built on search engine optimization (SEO), as the flow of organic traffic from search engines drops like a stone. (Instead, use GEO, but hoping for a sliver of traffic from AI answer engines is not a solution, only a band-aid that’ll prevent the patient from bleeding out overnight.)

In this new landscape, where AI acts as the primary gatekeeper of information, the value of a direct, permission-based channel becomes paramount. The email list is the strategic imperative for survival. It is the one channel that an AI cannot fully disintermediate, because the relationship is direct between the creator and the subscriber. While AI agents eradicate search traffic, they won’t unsubscribe users from a newsletter they value.

Most people will soon delegate first-pass email triage to AI assistants that read everything, cluster topics, and propose what deserves attention today. These digital concierges, already emerging in Outlook and Gmail, will ruthlessly filter boilerplate while elevating trustworthy voices. This forces writers to craft for dual audiences: humans and their AI gatekeepers.

Clear subject lines, structured headings, and parsable takeaways will become essential. Meanwhile, authentication and reputation will harden into binary admission tickets rather than best practices, with low complaint rates and verified brand indicators becoming as essential for newsletters as HTTPS became for websites in 2016.

AI will soon become the first pass at deciding which email messages users even see. A high-quality newsletter that subscribers like is likely to survive this screening and may even be archived as a valuable resource that the AI refers to later when answering user questions. (GPT Image-1)

This shift coincides with a content landscape where AI floods inboxes with competent but generic newsletters. The value of authentic human curation, a unique voice, and a trusted perspective will skyrocket. Unique data, firsthand reporting, and earned authority become the only content that rises above the synthetic noise. These are materials that AI assistants quote rather than bypass.

If you think your inbox is full now, just wait. AI adds volume but also enhances filtering by leveraging superior modeling of content value and user intent. (GPT Image-1)

The newsletter is the perfect vehicle for delivering this premium human element. Successful creators will leverage AI as a co-creator or an assistant to handle the mundane, freeing them to focus on the high-value work of analysis, storytelling, and building a genuine connection with their audience.

Personalization will evolve beyond simple name insertion to AI-assembled, per-subscriber versions using content blocks and tone matched to reader history. Delivery frequency will become dynamically adjusted by AI learning each person’s patience threshold, creating personalized cadences where one subscriber receives daily updates while others get weekly or monthly digests. This will make the communication feel even more like a one-to-one conversation, strengthening the bond of loyalty.

Throughout these transformations, email remains the spine of digital communication. While AI disintermediates search and squeezes social reach, email’s protocol-based, identity-anchored, archivable, and permission-governed nature ensures its survival. Even as assistants become the front end, the message bus behind them will still be subscriber lists.

AI can analyze engagement data to help senders better understand what content resonates with their audience and what causes fatigue, allowing them to fine-tune their strategy to better honor the permission contract and reduce unsubscribes.

Far from being a threat, AI will become a powerful tool for enhancing the effectiveness of email newsletters.

Conclusion: Email Persists

Email persists because it is optimized for three things that rarely coexist elsewhere: open protocols, user control, and business predictability. The rest of the web chases novelty. Email sticks to reliability. That is why a newsletter subscriber often outperforms a social follower by a crushing margin in actual reading behavior.

AI will not topple email newsletters. It will simply raise the bar. Assistants will reward clarity, authenticity, and originality. The best newsletters will read like a well‑run lab notebook for their niche: careful observations, useful experiments, and conclusions that help the reader decide. The worst will be gently composted by an algorithm with excellent manners.

Cultivate a unique voice to plant the seeds for growing newsletter reach. Authenticity will thrive in the age of AI. Chasing viral trends on social media will make you drown in the flood of other AI-generated media chasing the same fads. (GPT Image-1)

If you want a single channel for reaching your fans, use email.

Email is the attention railroad. AI is the dispatcher. Build sturdy trains. File the right schedules. Carry cargo nobody else has. The dispatcher will keep routing you through. And your readers will keep buying tickets.

I made a short song about newsletter user experience (YouTube, 3 min.).

To compare, watch the song I made about my own newsletter experience when I hit 20,000 subscribers half a year ago (YouTube, 3 min.) and note the huge improvements in AI video quality in just 6 months.