👋 Hey!
Ready to level up your newsletter game this week? We've got massive CTR boosts from video newsletters, AI tools crushing it for creators, and effective A/B test & growth ideas. Plus, a wild automation win that'll make you rethink your strategy.
Let's dive in! 👇
⚡ Your Newsletter Should Be Your Money Machine
See exactly how we 2x'd TWISM's income in 90 days (and can do the same for you).
🔥 Limited Premium Newsletter Ad Spots
Reach highly engaged audiences through our portfolio of trusted newsletters.
🔥 This Week's Hot Takes
Video newsletters drive 300% higher CTRs than text-only formats. Switching from text to video massively boosts engagement and conversions for newsletter creators, no studio or video team needed.
Substack launches new growth chart for source-level analytics. Newsletter operators can now see exactly where new subscribers come from and double down on their best-performing channels.
Buttondown launches tailored onboarding for diverse newsletter creators. Custom onboarding speeds up launches and helps creators, no matter their experience, get the right tools from day one.
Kit launches streamlined tag & segment management. You can now organize subscribers faster, saving serious time on audience targeting and cleanup.
'I answer EVERY newsletter reply' sets engagement bar high. Personally replying builds trust, boosts loyal readership, and increases overall engagement; simple, scalable, and highly effective for creators.
💡 Growth Hack of the Week
Launch a 7-Day Email Challenge for Engagement Boost
How: Offer a free mini-course or challenge (e.g., "Grow Your List in 7 Days"). Create daily actionable lessons that subscribers can implement in under 5 minutes.
Why: Subscribers love structured, time-bound value that delivers quick wins and builds momentum.
Expected Result: 25% increase in engagement and shares, plus higher conversion to paid offerings at challenge completion.
Pro Tip: End each challenge day with a teaser for tomorrow's lesson to maintain momentum and reduce dropoff rates.
Spotlight: How I AI by Nathan Rodgers
What Works:
Embraced early-stage experimentation, testing multiple formats and angles before committing to a sustainable long-term approach.
Building relationships through content creation by featuring other Substack creators, turning newsletter curation into networking and community building, while establishing credibility.
Developing a cross-platform presence (Substack for relationship building, Beehive for growth features) to validate content-market fit and maintain authentic connections with readers and potential collaborators.
Created the monetization infrastructure early (Beehiiv ad network and boosts, lead magnet, info products, coaching offer) rather than waiting for scale, creating multiple revenue pathways from day one.
Creator Quote: "Where you start is not necessarily where you end up. When you're getting started, you don't know what's going to land with others or what you'll be able to stick with long-term, so you have to be open to a lot of experimenting. What's great is that you can be bad while no one's looking, so you're good when they finally see you. But at some point, you do have to stick with something long enough to see if it gets the result that you want."
🛠️ Tool of the Week
Why You'll Love It: Connect your newsletter to the entire fediverse; publish once on Ghost and automatically reach audiences on Mastodon, Threads, Bluesky, and more. Build cross-platform communities, get native interactions, and expand your reach without managing multiple accounts.
Best For: Newsletter creators who want to break free from platform silos and tap into decentralized networks for massive organic growth and engagement.
🧪 A/B Test of the Week
Test: Single "Subscribe Now" button vs. multiple options like "Subscribe Free," "Get Weekly Updates," and "Join Community"
Result: Single CTA sees a significant increase in conversions by eliminating choice paralysis; users got confused about which button to click with multiple competing options.
Takeaway: Choice paralysis kills conversions. Give newsletter visitors one clear, compelling action instead of multiple competing options.
⚙️ Automation Deep Dive
Headless WordPress RSS + Next.js + Mailchimp: Seamless Newsletter Pipeline
Before: Newsletters sent with broken links (subscribers landing on wrong domains) and off-brand templates. Manual URL workarounds stalled scalability.
After: Next.js API routes auto-convert WordPress RSS URLs into clean Next.js news links, and a custom Mailchimp HTML template matches website branding perfectly.
Result: Fully automated, scalable RSS-to-newsletter flow, no manual redirects, consistent brand design, improved deliverability. Handles growth with zero extra maintenance.
Read the full workflow and implementation guide to copy this setup for your own headless CMS.
😂 Meme of the Week
Newsletter creator checking their analytics dashboard:
Open rate: 62% → "I'm basically the Shakespeare of newsletters!"
Scrolls down
Click rate: 1.1% → "Actually, I'm more like the Shakespeare of subject lines only."
Cue the frantic googling of "how to write better CTAs" at 1 AM.
🔗 Quick Links
Questions? Just write a comment below. I read all the comments and respond to them.
Thanks for reading,
Eren Daskesen
BEFORE YOU GO
📢 Want to automate your newsletter and reclaim your time?
See how HeyNews Automation can help you boost efficiency and engagement; risk-free!
If you have something important to share, you are a writer. If you are a writer, you need HeyNews to create unique and engaging content easily.
No technical background is needed. All you need to do is book a 25-minute meeting, and you’re all set!
So what are you waiting for? Don’t you want to grow your newsletter? Of course, you do. C’mon now.