New Ways to Add Personality To Your Newsletter

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In a world where direct relationships have become ever more important, and where huge emphasis is being put on authenticity, both individuals and organizations are doubling down on emails that have their own distinctive voice.

The rise of independent newsletters have made it even more obvious that voice is key. “Everybody knows people want to connect with other people,” Sam Brady, an account executive at Beehiiv, said. “And we see that when writers inject personality, there’s more engagement. The newsletter performs better.”

As the first head of newsletters at the Daily Telegraph and then head of newsletters at the Financial Times, I’ve seen first-hand how powerful newsletters can be when they have a clear voice and a strong sense of purpose. The most successful ones give readers expertise and personality, but also a feeling they are hearing directly from the writer in a way that is hard to replicate elsewhere. Not everyone does them well, and they do require consistency and commitment, but when they succeed, they are one of the most valuable ways of building loyalty and creating strong reader habits.

But there are other ways to bring personality to the inbox. Here are some other useful tactics, both big and small, that can inject more voice into your work and deepen reader relationships.

Take advantage of the sent-from name

The inbox is crowded, and your newsletter needs to stand out. One way to do this is to use the writer’s name as the sent-from, or sender, name. That way, as a reader scrolls through the inbox, they’ll see the name of a writer they trust. This should boost open rates, making inboxes feel less of a transaction and more of conversation between writer and reader. 

In other words, if you have a top name writing your newsletter, don’t be scared to shout about it. 

There are a few ways to do this. Some newsrooms use just the writer’s name in the sent-from slot. A newsletter from Jamelle Bouie of the New York Times, for instance, shows up in the inbox as coming from just “Jamelle Bouie.” Others pair the writer’s name with the publication name. Helen Lewis, a staff writer at the Atlantic, has an independent newsletter, separate from her Atlantic work, called the Bluestocking. It arrives in my inbox like this: “Helen Lewis from the Bluestocking.”

For a newsletter like Axios’ Media Trends, written by Sara Fischer, the sending strategy for a recent send looked like this:

• Sent-from name: Sara Fischer
• Subject line: “Axios Media Trends: 💸 Scoop… New ultra-wealthy club”
• Email address: sara@axios.com

In this example, even the email address is personalized. (Better yet: If I want to write back to Fischer, I can simply hit reply.)

The Economist is a fascinating test case for personality-based newsletters, as it does not use bylines in its magazine, but it does include a byline and a writer’s photo in some newsletters. Some of their newsletters even include the writer’s name as the sent-from name.

“We do it when we notice things click with the newsletter,” Aaron Coultate, head of newsletters at the Economist, said. “For example, with our War Room newsletter, written by Shashank Joshi, it was clear to us that Shashank was developing a relationship with readers, so we decided to use his sender name, too.”

The Economist only uses the writer’s name for a few of their newsletters, but when they ran an A/B test on the strategy, the newsletters with the names of the writer had higher open rates. “It was statistically relevant,” Coultate said. “And it backed our decision.”

Name the newsletter after the writer

It’s not only sender names that have become centered around the newsletter writer; often the actual name of the newsletter has as well. After all, if the writer is the attraction, why hide it?

The Independent doesn’t have many newsletters which use the writer’s name in the title, except for the one written by respected travel writer, Simon Calder. (His is called Simon Calder’s Travel Insider.) At the Financial Times, we launched a popular newsletter called Chris Giles on Central Banks. When we launched Giles’ newsletter, we knew that he — at that time the economics editor — was a huge star, and that if people read him in print and online, then they would hopefully want to read his newsletter, too. It seemed pointless to come up with a new and clever name; we simply wanted it to be clear the newsletter was written by him. The newsletter went on to win the WAN-IFRA award for best newsletter in Europe, so we did something right!

On independent platforms like Beehiiv and Substack, many top creators use their own names in titles. Some opt for the simplest possible newsletter name. (Paul Krugman’s newsletter is called Paul Krugman.) Others add something alongside their name. (Food writer Erin Clarke titles her newsletter like this: Well Actually…from Erin Clarke of Well Plated.) Naming a newsletter after its author signals that readers are subscribing for that person’s perspective.

Add personality in other places

There are other ways to reinforce the fact that a real person, not a brand, is connecting with a reader. From my work in the newsletter space, I’ve also seen anecdotal evidence that when author photos are added, reply rates increase, as readers feel they are emailing someone who might actually write back.

Add their photo to the top of the newsletter

At many news organizations, the newsletter banner — the image placed at the very top of the newsletter — has traditionally been a sedate illustration or text repeating the newsletter’s name. Now, more publishers are inserting pictures of the writers at the top, putting them front and center. 

The first newsletter we did this for at the FT was called the AI Shift, which launched last autumn and is helmed by John Burn-Murdoch and Sarah O’Connor. It makes a virtue of the fact that these are two of the FT’s most popular writers, and reminds the reader just whose email they are reading. 

Add a picture alongside the byline

A simple picture next to a writer’s name means readers grow to recognize the writer instantly — and spot any substitutes. (Writers do sometimes go on vacation!) It reinforces authorship and humanizes the email.

In marketing emails, particularly those asking readers to pay for a subscription, membership, or donation, it’s common practice to insert a digital replica of the sender’s signature. That’s a way to make the email feel more like a letter sent from that person to you.

Test out audio versions, events, or video content

These are typically used sparingly, but they can still reinforce the relationship between writer and reader and can really feel authentic.

Emma Barnett, a British broadcaster, writes a regular newsletter that can touch on difficult subjects, including aging and infertility. When she posts occasional videos, these can really resonate with readers, and make them connect with her on a deeper level. One particular video, about dealing with chronic pain, made a strong impression on me, as it was raw and authentic, showing the real person behind the professional broadcaster.

A number of organizations and individuals offer audio versions of their newsletter, so you can choose whether to listen to it online or read it. Some are read by the author, which builds further familiarity between writer and reader.

Events can also be a good way to bring out the personality of your newsletter or writer. These can be formal, like a webinar or interviews, or something more casual, where writers answer questions from readers. 

(Editor’s note: Looking for even more ways to embed personality into your email strategy, including in automations like a welcome series? We’ve got suggestions here.)

How to Add Personality and Personalization Into Your Emails

Involve the reader in the conversation

Communities can, and should, be built up around newsletters. A good newsletter should lead the reader to feel part of something, surrounded by like-minded people. “You should make it as easy as possible for your readers to communicate, reply and engage with you,” Brady said.

There are a few reliable ways to do so.

Ask readers questions

You can ask readers to share their thoughts on a particular issue, or offer a Q&A issue when you will answer any questions that have been sent in. The latter is especially effective around big events. 

Coultate said this builds what he calls a “harmonious feedback loop.” 

“Readers want to see if the writer has responded to their email,” he said. “The possibility that they have, creates a high incentive to open the next newsletter and read it.” He also feels that actually seeing readers’ questions answered encourages others to write and engage — hence, the loop.

Frank Bruni at the New York Times features examples of great writing in one section of his newsletter, and always credits the reader who has sent theirs in. The (London) Times, in their newsletter, the London, crowdsources answers to a question each week, and then highlights them within the newsletter. 

Newsletters like Tangle ask readers to share feedback on the news of the day, and then share a poll the next day showing how other readers voted. “Oftentimes, it reinforces the fact that we have a diverse political audience,” Tangle’s Isaac Saul told Inbox Collective in a 2024 interview. “We see how the responses come in; the breakdown of our audience, being conservative, liberal and independent, is pretty representative of the country.”

Use recurring personal sections and the first person

This is an easy way to emphasize voice, as well as create identity and habit, so creating a rhythm. In the FT’s Inside Politics newsletter, Stephen Bush always ends his newsletter with a section called “Now try this.” He might write about a book he has recently read, a film he has seen or a restaurant he has visited. Whatever it is, it is very much him, and the readers love it. 

Reply to emails

I know it’s probably unsustainable for the writer to reply to all of the emails they receive, but if they can create a personal connection between themselves and their readers, they will have a subscriber for life. I have always tried to reply to readers, setting aside time to do so. I particularly try to reply to those who have criticized my newsletters. They usually then reply back with something friendly and apologetic!

Using the P.S.

I’ve always been a big fan of this, as it can be a surprisingly powerful engagement device, and it somehow seems very personal. It’s a perfect illustration of leaning into the “letter” side of a newsletter.

It simply requires you to use the postscript, or P.S., right at the bottom of your newsletter to make a final point, or even to do something else important (like sell a subscription). In the Atlantic’s Intelligence newsletter, for example, the P.S. usually promotes another article from the publisher. 

I’ve found that readers often scroll straight to the P.S. because it feels so personal. That makes it a good place to call out something important, like an event coming up to attend. Even though it’s at the end of the newsletter, it’s a good place to add in those short promotional links.

Others add short, personal notes to the P.S. Axios Salt Lake is written by two staff writers, Kim Bojórquez and Erin Alberty. Each includes a short note about something they’re doing that week, like eating at a local restaurant. They then add a line about who edited the story, which reminds readers that each newsletter is edited by a real person.

There are lots of ways to add voice

Personality-led newsletters aren’t going away. If you want yours to become a must-read, then it needs to become part of someone’s routine and hard to ignore when it arrives in the inbox. This will be done — at least partly — because the reader has built up a relationship with the writer and wants to know what they have to say. 

But that doesn’t mean you have to write a huge, personal essay every time. There are small ways — from a byline to the P.S. — to add voice to each newsletter.

At the end of the day, people don’t just read newsletters, they follow people. Adding these elements, big or small, is a great way to get more readers to open and click.