Most conferences suck. Matt McGarry’s New Media Summit is not one of those conferences.
Last week in Austin was a blur of off-the-record conversations, hotel bar drinks, and popping in and out of official sessions.
So it wasn’t exactly surprising that when I sat down to review my notes on the long plane ride back to CT, my first reaction was “Oh sh*t… what a mess.” After consolidating my Apple Notes, AI transcripts, and handwritten notes, I realized most of them came from one place: conversations with other newsletter and media operators.
But the strange part was where the rest came from: a YouTube deep dive.
Seriously. Most of my takeaways about newsletters came from a YouTube creator. Stay with me…
Sam Gaudet, who heads up media for Dan Martell, put on a clinic in how to get your YT stats moving up and to the right.
I don’t think he mentioned newsletters once. But there were plenty of takeaways we can all be applying to our newsletters…
Newsletter topic validation (and subject lines)
It’s hard to know which of your competitors’ newsletters “hit.” Even if you did have their data, open rates and clicks are directional at best. But YouTube doesn’t lie. Stats are on full display.
Sam explained exactly how to identify and “borrow” (not copy) topics and titles from competitors in your space to create great YouTube content. And I’m convinced we can apply it directly to newsletters.
Here’s the framework:
Set up a blank slate YouTube page (don’t worry, Gmail is free)
Follow a bunch of YouTube channels that discuss your newsletter topic. If you’re a crypto newsletter, only follow the specific type of crypto investor channels you give a damn about
Sit back and let the algo do its work. YouTube will start serving you the best damn content on that subject.
Tell the algo what you like via follows, likes, and views
Now, ID the topics that have been working over the past 6 months. Prioritize the ones that have worked for smaller (less than 1M subs) accounts (Sam pointed out that larger accounts may get views simply because they’re so popular - we want to focus on the ones that are popping organically)
This exercise shouldn't take more than a few days to supply endless topics for your newsletter.
Bonus thought: a YouTube title is basically the subject line of a newsletter, and the thumbnail text is more or less a preview text.
Now, don’t get it twisted, I am not condoning ripping off the subject, title, and thumbnail and making it a newsletter. But this is probably one of the best ways to get actual data about what your ICP cares about. Use it (responsibly).
Newsletter opening
Sean Devlin from Nice News gave us a friendly refresher on how important “above the fold” is for a newsletter.
And Sam hammered home how important the hook is (even though he was talking about YouTube).
But let’s steal his framework and put the newsletter spin on it, shall we?
Obsess over the first 1-3 lines. So many newsletters waste that space with introductory fluff. That is the time to set the hook. You got them with the subject line (good job). Now it’s time to start the slippery slope, so they read the whole damn newsletter (or at least get them to your ad/CTA).
You can do that by reassuring readers you’re going to deliver on the promise you made in the call to action or subject line. Sam recommends adding a micro roadmap or teasing an open loop. Bullets work well here.
Asymmetric pacing in long emails
Go watch a MrBeast video.
Sam pointed out that the first section of his videos is typically shorter than the rest. Why? Because it’s a quick win that gives your brain a dopamine dump. It keeps engagement high and creates perceived progress.
I think that could translate to newsletters. Broadly speaking, newsletters follow a very similar cadence set by Morning Brew and The Hustle during the Obama administration: big blocks of longer-form text followed by more digestible bullet points or shorter sections.
Maybe it’s worth giving bullet points or smaller bite-sized content some love before going all deep dive on everyone. A brief, value-packed opening with a roadmap (see above) can get the job done too.
“Thumbnails”
It’s actually shocking to me that there isn’t a major newsletter that has taken the “thumbnail” approach with its header. If you know of one, please send it over ([email protected])
The closest I’ve seen is Publish Press, which isn’t shocking given its subject matter…
I think this works for a few reasons:
Almost no one is doing it - stand out in the inbox
See the bullet point about hooking readers above
If it’s a newsletter that’s personality-driven, it’s a great opportunity to set the tone with an image of the writer/creator
That said, some things I’d caution against:
Make sure to cut down on the height - don’t eat up your entire above-the-fold
Images don’t show up in some inboxes - make sure the content can stand on its own
Complement (don’t repeat) the subject line (Sam pointed this out)
A thumbnail is doing a bit of a different job in your inbox vs. on YouTube. On YouTube, it’s trying to get a person to click and watch. In your inbox, they’ve already clicked, and the image is doing work to earn the scroll.
The call to action (not the one you’re thinking about)
How does your newsletter end? Probably with a footer and an unsubscribe button. And above that, maybe there’s some “leftovers” or company updates.
Sam shared some thoughts on getting the YouTube watcher to go find the next video. Leave something unresolved or, better yet, build on the current topic: “Now you know how to set up Claude for Excel… in part 2, we’re going to discuss building your P&L. Go check it out now.”
My question to you: Why aren’t you teasing your next newsletter at the end of your current one? Some newsletters are great at this, but it’s a tiny fraction.
That said…
Allow me to leave you with this teaser…
On Friday, I’m dropping my big picture takeaways from the New Media Summit at 8 AM EST. Subscribe to Chief Newsletter Officer (newsletter) so you don’t miss it…