Latest / The Newsletter Podcast with Fexingo: Substack, Beehiiv, and Email Newsletter Business / Why Newsletters Are Using Video to Boost Subscriber Retention
Transcript
- Lucas: I have been watching a really quiet shift in the newsletter space over the past six or seven months, and it's something I don't think we've talked about yet on the show. Luna: Okay, I'm curious — what is it? Lucas: More and more writers are adding short-form video directly into their emails. Not as a link out to YouTube or Instagram — I mean a video file embedded in the email itself, or a Loom-style recording that lives in the body of the message. Luna: Right, I've seen that. Some of the newsletters I subscribe to now start with a 90-second clip of the writer just talking to camera. It feels very different from the traditional text-only approach. Lucas: Exactly. And the early data suggests it's having a real impact on retention. I've been tracking a Substack writer named Eliza Chen — she runs a weekly newsletter on behavioral economics for product managers. Around February of this year, she started embedding a short video recap at the top of each edition. Luna: And what happened? Lucas: She told me her churn rate dropped by about 40 percent over the next three months. Open rates stayed roughly flat, but the people who stayed subscribed — they were clicking through to the full article at significantly higher rates. The video seemed to create a stronger anchor for the relationship. Luna: Forty percent reduction in churn is huge. But I wonder — is that just because it's novel? Will the effect fade once every newsletter does it? Lucas: That's the million-dollar question. But I think there's something deeper at play. Video adds a layer of social presence. You see the person's face, you hear their tone of voice, you get a sense of their energy. That's hard to replicate with text alone, no matter how good the writing is. Luna: There's actually research on this. I remember a study from a few years ago — I think it was from the Journal of Consumer Research — that found people form stronger parasocial bonds with content creators when they see their face regularly. It triggers a kind of familiarity that reduces the likelihood of unsubscribing. Lucas: That's exactly the mechanism. Eliza told me that several subscribers have written back saying they feel like they 'know' her now. She's gone from being a byline to being a person. And that shift is hard to undo. Luna: What's the practical barrier for most writers? I imagine filming yourself every week, editing, embedding — that sounds like a lot of overhead. Lucas: It can be, but the tools have gotten really simple. Eliza uses Loom — she records a 90-second screen share where she walks through the key chart or concept from that week's article. She doesn't edit anything. She just records it in one take, copies the embed code, and pastes it into her Substack editor. Luna: So she's not doing any post-production? No cuts, no captions? Lucas: None. She told me the whole process adds about 15 minutes to her workflow. And she's seeing a 40 percent improvement in retention. That's an insane return on 15 minutes a week. Luna: It makes me think about the newsletter writers who are listening and feeling like they can't possibly add video — they're camera-shy, or they don't have a good setup. But a screen recording with voice-over is a pretty low bar. Lucas: Exactly. You don't need to show your face at all if you don't want to. A narrated screen recording can be just as effective. What matters is the voice — the sound of a human being explaining something directly to you. Luna: I want to push back a little, though. If the novelty wears off, won't subscribers just start ignoring the video the same way they sometimes ignore the text? It could become just another element in the inbox that they scroll past. Lucas: That's possible, but I think the key is that video inherently demands a different kind of attention. You can skim text in a few seconds and decide whether to read. With a video, you either press play or you don't. And if the video is short — under two minutes — the threshold to press play is very low. Luna: Has anyone looked at whether the video gets watched all the way through? I'd want to know if people are actually watching the whole thing or just the first five seconds. Lucas: Eliza shared her Loom analytics with me. Her average view duration is about 70 seconds on a 90-second video. So people are watching most of it. And here's the interesting part — she says the completion rate is actually higher on mobile than on desktop. People watch it in their email app, often while commuting or waiting in line. Luna: That makes sense. Mobile email is already a high-attention environment for most people. And a video feels more native to a phone screen than a long block of text. Lucas: We are an ad-free show, and we intend to keep it that way. The way we do that is through listeners who value the conversations enough to chip in a few dollars a month. If you've ever gotten a practical idea from this podcast — maybe a tip you've actually used in your own work — you can support us at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. That's what keeps us going. Luna: Yeah, and it really does make a difference. A small group of listeners already does it, and they're the reason we don't have to run ads or chase sponsors. It's a pretty straightforward trade. Lucas: Now, back to the video question. I think one of the most interesting developments is that platforms like Beehiiv are starting to build native video embedding tools. You don't need to use a third-party service anymore. You can just upload a video file directly and it plays inline. Luna: I saw that. They rolled out video hosting in beta earlier this year. For newsletter writers who want to avoid sending people off-platform, that's a big deal. Lucas: It is. And it changes the economics. If you're using Loom, the free tier limits you to 25 videos. That's fine for a weekly newsletter — that's about six months. But if you start doing more, you might need the paid version. Native embedding from your email platform removes that cost. Luna: But there's a trade-off, right? With Loom, you get analytics — you know exactly who watched, for how long, and whether they clicked after. Beehiiv's native video probably doesn't offer that level of granularity yet. Lucas: You're right. Last I checked, Beehiiv's video analytics are limited to total views and average completion rate. You can't tie a specific view to a specific subscriber. For a data-driven writer, that loss of individual-level insight might be a dealbreaker. Luna: So the choice comes down to priorities. If you want maximum personal connection with minimal friction, native embedding is great. If you want to measure and optimize every interaction, third-party tools still have the edge. Lucas: Exactly. And I think we'll see the platforms close that gap over the next year. The direction of travel is clear — newsletters are becoming more multimedia. The question is how fast and how deeply. Luna: I'm also curious about the implications for ad revenue. If you have a video in your newsletter, can you sell a pre-roll ad slot within that video? That could be a new revenue stream. Lucas: I've already seen a few writers experimenting with that. A writer I follow named Marcus Tobin, who covers the creator economy, now includes a 15-second sponsor mention in his weekly video recap. He charges a premium for that placement because he can show sponsors the view-through rate. Luna: So video isn't just a retention tool — it's also a monetization lever. That's a compelling combination. Lucas: It is. And it works particularly well for newsletters that already have a strong personal brand. The video reinforces that personality, and sponsors want to associate with a human voice, not just an inbox. Luna: I want to go back to the retention numbers for a second. Forty percent is impressive, but I wonder if that effect is concentrated among newer subscribers. Maybe the video makes the biggest difference in the first 30 days, when people are deciding whether to stay. Lucas: That's a great point. Eliza's data does show that the biggest drop in churn happens in the first month. Subscribers who joined after she started the video are staying at much higher rates than the ones who joined before. It suggests the video is particularly powerful for onboarding — it accelerates that feeling of connection. Luna: So maybe the strategy is to add a video to your welcome sequence, not necessarily to every single issue. That would be lower effort and might capture most of the benefit. Lucas: I think that's smart. A 90-second welcome video that introduces yourself and explains what the newsletter is about could set the tone for the entire relationship. Then you can experiment with regular video updates later. Luna: I'm also thinking about the content type. Eliza's newsletter is analytical — she breaks down behavioral economics concepts. That lends itself to a screen-share format. But what about a more narrative or opinion-driven newsletter? Does video work the same way? Lucas: Good question. I've seen writers who do long-form personal essays use a different approach. They record themselves reading a short excerpt — maybe one powerful paragraph — with just their face on camera. It's almost like a book trailer. It gives you a taste of the voice and the emotional register. Luna: That's interesting. It's almost like a teaser for the text. You get the emotional hit from the video, and then you dive into the full piece for the depth. Lucas: Exactly. And I think that's the key insight — video doesn't replace the text. It complements it. It creates a doorway. The text remains the main event. Luna: So where do you see this going in the next year? Do you think video will become table stakes for newsletters, or will it remain a differentiator for certain niches? Lucas: I think it will become table stakes for newsletters that want to build a strong personal brand and reduce churn. But it won't be necessary for every newsletter. A highly analytical, data-heavy newsletter with a strong institutional voice — like a financial research letter — probably doesn't need it. The trust comes from the rigor, not the face. Luna: So it's about audience expectations. If your readers subscribe because they want pure information, video might be a distraction. If they subscribe because they want a relationship with you, video accelerates that. Lucas: Right. And the smartest writers are already asking themselves that question: 'What does my audience actually want from me?' The answer will tell you whether video is worth the 15 minutes.