Video for Newsletters: Boost Engagement

Why Video Newsletters Get More Clicks Than Text-Only

The average professional receives 121 emails per day. Newsletter creators are competing not just with other newsletters but with every message in that inbox -- meeting invitations, Slack notifications, shipping updates, and promotional blasts from brands the reader barely remembers subscribing to. In that environment, a text-only newsletter looks identical to everything else. A newsletter with a video thumbnail looks different. That visual break in the inbox scroll is worth measurable engagement.

Campaign Monitor data shows that emails with video content see a 65 percent higher click-through rate compared to text-only equivalents. HubSpot found that adding the word "video" to an email subject line increases open rates by 19 percent. Wistia reports that emails with video thumbnails generate 300 percent more click-throughs than those with static images alone. The numbers converge from different sources toward the same conclusion: video in newsletters is not a gimmick -- it is a structural advantage in the attention economy.

The reason is partly neurological. The human brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text. A three-second animated thumbnail communicates tone, energy, and personality before the reader has finished scanning the first sentence of body copy. For newsletter creators building a personal brand -- whether on Substack, Beehiiv, ConvertKit, or Mailchimp -- that instant personality transmission is the difference between a subscriber who reads and one who archives.

There is also a differentiation argument. Fewer than 12 percent of newsletters currently include video content, according to Litmus email analytics data from 2024. That means adding video places you in a small minority of senders who look and feel different from the rest of the inbox. Early adopters of newsletter video are capturing outsized engagement precisely because their competitors have not caught up yet.

How to Add Video to Newsletters (That Actually Play)

The biggest technical challenge with video in email is that most email clients do not support embedded video playback. Outlook, Gmail, and Yahoo Mail -- which together account for over 80 percent of email opens -- will not play an HTML5 video tag or an embedded iframe. If you paste a YouTube embed into your newsletter, the majority of your subscribers will see a broken image or nothing at all. This is the reason most newsletters still avoid video entirely, but it is a solvable problem.

The proven approach uses a static or animated thumbnail that links to a landing page where the full video plays. The thumbnail looks like a video player -- complete with a play button overlay -- so subscribers immediately understand they are being invited to watch something. When they click, they land on a page you control with the video ready to autoplay. This method works in 100 percent of email clients because it uses nothing more than an image and a link.

For the thumbnail itself, you have three options ranked by effectiveness. First, an animated GIF showing 3 to 5 seconds of the video with a play button overlay. GIFs are supported in every major email client except some versions of Outlook, which display the first frame as a static image -- still effective. Second, a static screenshot from the video with a play button graphic layered on top. Third, a custom-designed thumbnail that teases the video topic with text and graphics. The animated GIF consistently outperforms the other two because it provides a preview of actual video content.

1. Record or generate your video content (aim for 60-90 seconds for newsletter videos)
2. Extract a 3-5 second highlight clip and convert it to an animated GIF using a tool like Ezgif, Canva, or AI Video Genie
3. Overlay a play button graphic on the GIF thumbnail so subscribers recognize it as a video
4. Upload the full video to a landing page on your website, YouTube, or Wistia
5. Insert the GIF thumbnail into your newsletter as a linked image pointing to the landing page
6. Add alt text describing the video for subscribers whose email clients block images
7. Include a text link below the thumbnail as a fallback: "Watch the video (2 min)"
8. Test the email in Litmus or Email on Acid to verify rendering across Outlook, Gmail, Apple Mail, and Yahoo

The Best Video Formats for Newsletters

Not every type of video works in a newsletter context. Subscribers are in email-reading mode, not video-bingeing mode. The videos that drive the highest engagement from newsletters are short, specific, and feel like a natural extension of the written content rather than a detour from it. Newsletter creators who treat video as a complement to their writing -- not a replacement for it -- consistently outperform those who simply drop a YouTube link into their email.

Personal updates and behind-the-scenes clips are the highest-engagement format for creator-driven newsletters. A 60-second video of you talking directly to camera about the week's topic builds parasocial connection that text alone cannot achieve. Substack creators who include a weekly face-to-camera video report 35 percent higher reply rates because subscribers feel like they are hearing from a person, not reading from a brand. The production quality does not need to be high -- a smartphone recording in decent lighting outperforms a polished studio production when it feels authentic.

Product demos and tutorials drive the highest click-through rates for business newsletters. When Loom popularized the quick screen recording, it proved that people prefer watching a 90-second walkthrough over reading a 500-word explanation of the same feature. If your newsletter covers software, tools, or processes, a short demo video showing the thing in action consistently outperforms a screenshot with annotation arrows. ConvertKit and Mailchimp both support thumbnail linking, making it straightforward to include demo videos in commerce and SaaS newsletters.

Curated video roundups work well for media-style newsletters that aggregate content. Instead of linking to five articles, link to five short video clips with thumbnail previews for each. This format transforms a newsletter from a reading assignment into a viewing playlist, and subscribers who click on one video frequently click on two or three more because the format encourages browsing behavior.

• Face-to-camera personal updates: 60-90 seconds, highest reply rates, builds subscriber loyalty and parasocial connection
• Product demos and walkthroughs: screen recordings using Loom or similar tools, highest click-through rates for SaaS and business newsletters
• Tutorial clips: step-by-step how-to videos that complement written instructions, ideal for educational newsletters
• Weekly video summaries: a single video recapping the newsletter content for subscribers who prefer watching over reading
• Curated video roundups: embedded thumbnails linking to multiple videos, transforms newsletters into viewing playlists
• Event recaps and interviews: short highlight clips from webinars, podcasts, or conferences that add exclusive value

Creating Newsletter Video Content at Scale with AI

The biggest barrier to including video in every newsletter issue is production time. Writing a newsletter takes one to three hours. Recording, editing, and publishing even a simple video can add another two to four hours per issue. For weekly newsletters, that time cost is unsustainable for most solo creators and small teams. AI video generation tools have collapsed that production timeline from hours to minutes, making weekly or even daily newsletter video content practical for the first time.

The workflow that newsletter creators are adopting looks like this: write the newsletter first, then use AI to generate a complementary video from the written content. Tools like AI Video Genie can take a text summary, blog post excerpt, or newsletter section and produce a polished video with narration, visuals, and transitions in under five minutes. You are not replacing the writing -- you are creating a video layer on top of content you have already produced. This approach means the marginal cost of adding video to each issue is measured in minutes, not hours.

Batch production amplifies the efficiency further. Instead of creating one video per newsletter issue, record or generate a month of video content in a single session. AI tools make this practical because you can queue multiple text-to-video generations and export them all at once. A newsletter creator publishing weekly can generate four to five videos in a single 30-minute batch session, then schedule them to align with each weekly issue. Beehiiv and ConvertKit both support scheduled newsletter sends, so you can pair pre-produced videos with pre-written content for a fully automated pipeline.

AI-generated video summaries are particularly effective for newsletters with long-form written content. If your newsletter runs 1,500 to 2,000 words, a 90-second video summary at the top gives time-pressed subscribers an alternative consumption format. Wistia data shows that newsletters offering both text and video versions see 28 percent higher overall engagement because they capture two distinct reader preferences in a single send.

Does Video in Newsletters Actually Increase Engagement?

The theoretical case for video in newsletters is compelling, but newsletter creators rightly want hard numbers before restructuring their production workflow. The evidence from controlled A/B tests, platform analytics, and industry benchmarks is consistently positive -- though the magnitude of improvement varies by newsletter type, audience, and implementation quality.

The most cited metric is click-through rate, and the data here is unambiguous. Mailchimp internal benchmarks show that newsletters with video thumbnails achieve a 65 percent higher click-through rate than text-only equivalents sent to the same subscriber base. ConvertKit reports that creators who add video to their sequences see a 40 percent increase in link clicks within the first month. These numbers hold across categories including tech, business, lifestyle, and education newsletters.

Open rates tell a more nuanced story. Including the word "video" in the subject line boosts open rates by 6 to 19 percent depending on the study -- Syndacast and Campaign Monitor provide the high and low ends of that range. But open rate improvements are driven by subject line copy, not by the video itself. Once the subscriber opens the email, the video thumbnail drives the click-through improvement. The two effects compound: better open rates multiplied by better click-through rates can double total engagement versus a baseline text-only newsletter.

Subscriber retention is where video newsletters show their most strategic advantage. Beehiiv analytics data indicates that newsletters with regular video content experience 40 percent lower unsubscribe rates than text-only publications in the same category. The retention effect is driven by perceived value -- subscribers feel they are getting more from a newsletter that includes both written analysis and video content than one that offers text alone. Over a 12-month period, that retention differential compounds into a substantially larger and more engaged subscriber base.

Building a Video Newsletter Strategy from Scratch

Starting a video newsletter does not require a studio, a production team, or a six-figure budget. The most successful video newsletters launched with a smartphone, a free editing tool, and a willingness to publish imperfect first attempts. The strategy that follows is designed for newsletter creators who are starting from zero video experience and want a practical framework they can implement this week.

Begin with frequency. One video per week is the sustainable starting point for solo creators. Trying to include video in every daily send burns out production capacity and dilutes the novelty factor that makes video thumbnails effective attention-grabbers. A weekly cadence also gives you time to review analytics and iterate on format before committing to a higher frequency. If you publish multiple times per week, designate one issue as your "video edition" and promote it in your other sends to train subscribers to anticipate it.

Choose your primary format based on your newsletter category. Personal and opinion newsletters perform best with face-to-camera video. Business and SaaS newsletters benefit most from screen recordings and product demos. Media and curation newsletters get the highest engagement from curated video roundups. Educational newsletters see the strongest results with short tutorial clips. Pick one format and master it for at least eight weeks before experimenting with additional types.

Measurement determines whether your video strategy is working or needs adjustment. Track three metrics weekly: click-through rate on video thumbnails (this is your primary engagement indicator), video completion rate on your landing page (this tells you if your video length and content are holding attention), and unsubscribe rate compared to your pre-video baseline (this reveals whether subscribers value the addition). Mailchimp, ConvertKit, Beehiiv, and Substack all provide click-through analytics within their dashboards. For landing page video metrics, Wistia and YouTube Studio offer detailed viewer retention data.

• Week 1-2: Choose your video format and record your first two videos -- imperfect is fine, consistency matters more than polish
• Week 3-4: Create GIF thumbnails, set up a landing page template, and A/B test your first video newsletter against a text-only control
• Week 5-6: Review analytics -- if click-through rate increased by 20%+ on video editions, you have validation to continue
• Week 7-8: Experiment with AI video generation tools like AI Video Genie to reduce production time below 15 minutes per video
• Month 3+: Establish a batch production workflow, creating 4 videos in a single session for the month ahead
• Ongoing: Track click-through rate, video completion rate, and unsubscribe rate weekly to catch format fatigue early