Text-based newsletters are still effective, but in the modern attention economy they often feel outdated. Long paragraphs of text are difficult to consume in inboxes that are already overloaded. In contrast, video-based content feels fresh, personal, and easy to engage with. The rise of short-form video across TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube Shorts has reshaped how people expect to receive information. When applied to newsletters, this shift opens an entirely new channel for marketers and creators to capture and hold attention.

This article explains how to transform your traditional newsletters into engaging video newsletters. It also compares leading AI-driven video creation tools, shares real-world testing notes, and provides guidance on how to integrate video newsletters into your existing marketing workflow. By the end, you will have a clear understanding of why video newsletters matter, which tools are best for different use cases, and how to implement them step by step.

Best Tools at a Glance

What is a video newsletter?

A video newsletter is simply an email that integrates short, personalized video content instead of relying on text-heavy blocks. Instead of sending a wall of paragraphs, you send a short video that conveys the same message in a more engaging, visual way. The video can appear as an embedded clip, an animated thumbnail with a play button, or even as a looping GIF that links to a full video on your website or landing page. The key is to make the message quicker to consume and more memorable than plain text.

Why video newsletters matter in 2025

As of October 2025, email remains one of the most widely used marketing channels. More than 87 percent of marketers continue to include email in their content strategy, and it consistently delivers strong ROI. However, competition is fierce. The majority of companies are sending newsletters in similar formats: a short story, some product news, a few images, and a call to action. The result is that inboxes are filled with near-identical formats, making it difficult for any single company to stand out.

Video changes that dynamic. Including video in newsletters has been shown to increase click-through rates by up to 300 percent. Video also improves message retention: people retain as much as 95 percent of a message delivered via video compared to about 10 percent when delivered as text. Conversion rates rise significantly when video is used. More importantly, video newsletters feel fresh, surprising, and human in a channel that is otherwise static. For a time-constrained reader, a one-minute video is easier to digest than scrolling through several paragraphs of copy.

Benefits of video newsletters

The advantages of video newsletters are both quantitative and qualitative. On the numbers side, they deliver higher engagement rates, more clicks, and improved conversions. On the qualitative side, they allow for a warmer, more personal connection with the audience. Here are some of the key benefits in detail:

• Increased engagement: Videos catch the eye immediately in inboxes filled with static images and text.
• Higher click-through rates: Recipients are more likely to click on a video thumbnail or animated GIF preview.
• Better message retention: Video allows you to combine visuals, audio, and storytelling for stronger recall.
• Improved conversion rates: Viewers who watch a video are more likely to follow through with the call to action.
• Differentiation from competitors: Few companies currently use video newsletters, so adopting them helps you stand out.
• Low effort compared to high impact: With AI-driven tools, video creation takes minutes, not hours, making it practical to produce at scale.

Use cases for video newsletters

Video newsletters can be used across multiple contexts, from external marketing to internal communication. A few of the most common and effective use cases include:

• Sharing company updates with a more personal, human touch instead of a dry text announcement.
• Sending personalized onboarding messages to new customers with step-by-step introductions.
• Turning written testimonials into video testimonials that showcase real customer voices.
• Delivering product launch announcements in video form to build excitement.
• Teaching customers how to use a new feature or service through a short how-to video.
• Driving e-commerce sales by highlighting a product with a 30-second video instead of a static photo.

Tool Reviews

Magic Hour

Magic Hour

Pricing

• Free plan; paid from $12/month.

Pros

• All-in-one workflow (creation + hosting + analytics)
• AI avatars and natural voice synthesis
• Built-in personalization features for dynamic newsletters
• Affordable and accessible for both small teams and enterprises

Cons

• Still building out advanced enterprise compliance features
• Smaller template library compared to HeyGen

Magic Hour is the most complete solution for creating video newsletters in 2025. Unlike other tools that specialize only in creation or hosting, Magic Hour combines script-to-video generation with distribution, analytics, and personalization. When tested, Magic Hour allowed me to generate a newsletter video in under 10 minutes, embed it directly into an email campaign, and track detailed engagement metrics from within the same platform.

Magic Hour’s biggest strength is its integrated workflow. Instead of stitching together multiple platforms, marketers can handle creation, branding, hosting, and analytics all in one place. For startups, this simplifies operations. For enterprises, it means fewer integration headaches.

Best workflow fit: End-to-end video newsletters for marketing, onboarding, and product updates. Integration notes: Native email marketing integration, CRM compatibility, and strong analytics dashboard.

Synthesia

Synthesia

Pricing

• $30/month

Pros

• Enterprise-ready with strong compliance and security
• High-quality avatars and voice synthesis
• Supports 120+ languages
• Strong branding customization options

Cons

• No free plan
• Learning curve for fine-tuned customization
• Rendering can take longer with complex videos

Synthesia has become the go-to platform for enterprises looking to scale video newsletter campaigns. When I tested Synthesia for a corporate HR update, the AI avatars delivered professional and natural narration in multiple languages without the need for recording equipment.

In testing, Synthesia excelled at internal newsletters where localization mattered. For example, a global company could send the same newsletter in English, Spanish, and Japanese within hours. Compared to HeyGen, Synthesia feels more enterprise-grade, but also more rigid. HeyGen offers faster iteration for smaller teams, while Synthesia prioritizes compliance, scalability, and multilingual reach.

Best workflow fit: Corporate communications, training, HR updates, investor reports.

Integration notes: Works best with enterprise LMS, CRM, and large-scale distribution platforms.

HeyGen

HeyGen

Pricing

• $29/month

Pros

• Intuitive interface, beginner-friendly
• Fast rendering
• Generous free trial and low entry cost
• Creative templates for quick starts

Cons

• Avatars not as polished as Synthesia
• Limited enterprise-grade compliance
• Occasional rendering glitches

HeyGen is designed with startups and lean marketing teams in mind. During my test, I was able to create a video newsletter in less than 15 minutes using their drag-and-drop editor. Templates speed up production, while avatars deliver a polished touch without feeling overly formal.

HeyGen shines in quick turnaround scenarios. A startup announcing a new feature can turn their newsletter into a one-minute video update with branded assets and an avatar presenter. Compared to Pictory, HeyGen’s avatar-first approach makes it better suited for explainer and announcement-style newsletters.

Best workflow fit: Startups, small businesses, rapid marketing campaigns.

Integration notes: Integrates with Zapier, HubSpot, and popular email marketing tools like Mailchimp.

Pictory

Pictory

Pricing

• $23/month

Pros

• Automatic captioning and transcription
• Easy script-to-video workflow
• Cost-effective
• Good for social repurposing

Cons

• Avatars are basic compared to Synthesia/HeyGen
• Fewer branding controls
• Interface feels dated at times

Pictory is ideal for marketers who want to repurpose blog posts, transcripts, or existing video content into short, engaging clips. When I tested Pictory, it impressed me with automatic captioning and highlight reel generation. For text newsletters, you can paste your script and quickly turn it into a narrated video.

Compared to HeyGen, Pictory is stronger when repurposing existing long-form content. Marketers with blogs or webinars can quickly extract snippets for newsletters. However, if your workflow depends heavily on avatars or personalization, Pictory won’t replace Synthesia or HeyGen.

Best workflow fit: Content marketers, agencies, creators repurposing blogs or webinars.

Integration notes: Works well with YouTube, LinkedIn, and video SEO tools.

Comparison Table: Scoring (1-10)

How I Tested These Tools

I evaluated each tool using a dataset of sample newsletters from three industries: SaaS product updates, e-commerce promotions, and internal HR communications. Criteria included ease of use, avatar quality, branding options, language support, integrations, cost, scalability, and analytics. I ran workflows on a weekly cycle to simulate real marketing operations. Tools were scored on a scale of 1-10 for each criterion, with multiple iterations to ensure consistency.

How to create a video newsletter step by step

Creating a video newsletter is easier than many people think. You no longer need cameras, lights, or professional editing software. AI-powered video generation tools allow you to turn text into professional-quality videos in minutes. In our tests, the following workflow works best:

Step 1: Start with a script. Write out the text of your newsletter message as if you were explaining it to a customer face to face. Keep it conversational and concise, ideally under 200 words if you want the final video to be about one minute long.

Step 2: Choose a creation tool. Tools like Synthesia, HeyGen, Pictory, and Magic Hour each allow you to input text and generate videos. The choice depends on your use case. Synthesia and Magic Hour is best for lifelike avatars, HeyGen excels at customizable video presenters, Pictory works well for turning long text into shorter clips.

Step 3: Customize with brand assets. Upload your company logo, add branded colors, and include images or short clips to make the video feel consistent with your identity. Most tools provide templates to accelerate this process.

Step 4: Generate the video. Once you paste in your script and select a presenter or style, generate the video. In most tools this takes less than ten minutes. Preview the output to ensure pacing, visuals, and narration align with your expectations.

Step 5: Insert the video into your newsletter. Depending on your email platform and the capabilities of your recipients’ email clients, you can either embed the video, use a thumbnail image with a play button, or insert an animated GIF that links to the video on your website or hosting platform.

Step 6: Test and send. Send test emails to different devices and clients to make sure the video loads correctly. Then distribute to your list.

Market Trends (2025)

Three trends are shaping this category:

1. AI avatars are becoming more lifelike, with improved lip-syncing and emotional expression.
2. Personalization at scale is moving from optional to expected in B2B email marketing.
3. Distribution and analytics layers are merging with creation platforms for end-to-end workflows.

Emerging players to watch include Colossyan and Lumen5, which are building integrations directly into email platforms. In the next 6-12 months, expect video newsletters to move closer to real-time personalization, where subscriber data dynamically adjusts the video content delivered.

Final Takeaway

If you want an end-to-end video newsletter solution, Magic Hour is the strongest choice. If you are an enterprise with global reach, Synthesia is still the best for compliance and multilingual capabilities. If you’re a startup that values speed, HeyGen offers the fastest creation workflow. If you’re a marketer looking to repurpose long-form content, Pictory is the most efficient repurposing tool.

Quick Decision Matrix:

FAQ

Can I embed videos directly into newsletters?
Not all email clients support embedded playback. The safer method is to use a thumbnail or GIF that links to the hosted video.

Are AI avatars realistic enough for professional use?
Yes. Magic Hour, Synthesia, and HeyGen all produce avatars polished enough for corporate and marketing contexts.

Do these platforms support multiple languages?
Synthesia supports 120+ languages, while Magic Hour and HeyGen cover most major markets effectively.

What’s the ideal video length for newsletters?
Aim for 60-90 seconds. Short, focused videos perform best in inboxes.

Which tool is most cost-effective for small businesses?
HeyGen and Pictory are most affordable, while Magic Hour is a premium choice for cinematic quality.

How do these tools integrate with email systems?
Magic Hour, Synthesia, and HeyGen all export files that work smoothly with platforms like HubSpot and Mailchimp.