Newsletters: Pipeline Generation, Audience Building, Authentic Engagement

A complete playbook for B2B marketers: how to use newsletters to build a pipeline, grow your subscriber list from zero, and create content people actually want to read.

Sep 12, 2025

Here’s a story I see every so often. A founder or a B2B marketer gets a burst of energy: “We need a newsletter.” They launch. They ship one issue. Then a second. Then… silence. The idea fizzles out, relegated to the strategy doc graveyard.

The problem isn’t the effort. It’s the feedback. Early newsletter growth feels like shouting into the void. The numbers are so small, the progress so slow, that it’s easy to get discouraged and quit.

This issue is the antidote. It’s a complete playbook dedicated to proving why sticking with it is the highest-leverage move you can make. We’ll cover why it works, how to build an audience from scratch, what real results look like, and show you that—when done right—it’s not a chore. It’s the most rewarding part of your marketing stack.

In today's edition:

The most underrated B2B channel: newsletters that build trust and performance
Founder-led newsletters that print pipeline: 40-60% opens and a $1M ARR playbook
4,879 subscribers in 8 months: LinkedIn-to-newsletter growth that prints ROI
Newsletter engagement that compounds: 2x CTR and ~50% opens with plain text and segmentation
The biggest B2B newsletter mistake: all-about-us content
Stop generic AI emails with a 3-part formula
Exit Five’s 45K B2B newsletter: how it wins attention and loyalty
Twice-weekly cadence: cutting items to 6-8 drove 179%-577% more clicks

The most underrated B2B channel – 71% use newsletters, 50% say they drive performance

Your sales team is fighting over 5% of the market. The other 95% aren’t buying, and they’re ignoring your ads. The newsletter is the only channel that earns their attention while they’re idle.

It’s not a sales tool; it’s a trust engine running on a six-month delay. While competitors chase clicks, you build relevance. The payoff isn’t a conversion today. It’s being the only name on the shortlist when they finally are in-market.

The goal isn't to close a deal this quarter. It's to be the only company they think of next year.

Curated newsletters also can be the lever – and ZestScout exists to make them easy for small B2B teams, so your newsletter delivers value consistently through sharp, point‑of‑view curation.

These are more like roundups. You’re sharing both your own content and helpful third-party content that supports your audience’s needs.
Curated newsletters tend to be a bit more designed, so readers can easily scan and find what’s relevant to them. The user experience of this type of newsletter is critical. And while they’re often built around distribution, that doesn’t mean they should be devoid of perspective.

Curated newsletters aren’t a shortcut; they’re a filter. Readers subscribe to avoid noise and borrow your judgment. Curation is the value. Don’t just drop links—add context and tell me why it matters now.

That’s exactly why we’re building ZestScout: to make high‑quality, POV‑driven curation radically easier for small B2B teams.

Selling to the 95%: How Newsletters Build Future Pipeline

Picture the moment your buyer finally enters the market. Who do they think of first? Not the brand with the loudest ad spend, but the founder or team that has been in their inbox twice a month with useful, specific insights. That quiet consistency beats sporadic campaigns and builds a line of credit you can draw on when timing clicks.

A few operators break down exactly how this works in practice — from starting tiny to engineering conversions — and their data lines up with what we see across B2B.

Most founders build a product, then hire salespeople to hunt the 5-10% of the market that’s actively buying. They spend fortunes on ads, cold outreach, and demos, fighting competitors for the same sliver of attention. The other 90%? Ignored. They’re not in a buying cycle, so they’re invisible to the sales quota.

This is where the founder-led newsletter becomes an unfair advantage. It’s a tool for selling to the majority—the silent, in-market-next-year audience - without ever sending a pitch. It’s not a sales tool; it’s a trust engine running on a six-month delay. The goal isn't to close a deal this quarter. It's to be the only company they think of next year.

The playbook isn't about volume; it's about trust. Nathan May, frames it as owning your most valuable asset — and shares practical, step‑by‑step guidance on how he did it:

• 90% of your ICP isn’t in the market to buy TODAY. But when they will be, you’ll be the first person they think of.
• You can meet only once per quarter on a sales call with your prospects —
miss it, and you wait for 3 months. But a newsletter lets you talk to your ideal customers 2-4X a month.
• Newsletters help you go from "pushy salesperson" to "thought partner" if you focus on consistently providing value (more on that below)
• <20% of your social followers are likely to see your content, but 40-60% of your subscribers will open/read your newsletter

The playbook isn't about volume; it's about trust. Nathan May, frames it as owning your most valuable asset: He built a $1M ARR business in 11 months,

If your deal cycles run months, a newsletter keeps you present in the “quiet moments” when trust is made. People buy when they are ready, not when you are; a weekly email keeps you top‑of‑mind so “maybe later” turns into inbound.

Owned distribution is the moat. While competitors rent reach from algorithms, you build a channel that compounds trust and recall — immune to platform risk.

And when that 90% of the market is finally ready to buy, you’re not one of the options. You’re the only option.

Max Bidna summarizes

“A weekly newsletter isn’t just ‘nice to have.’ It’s your silent sales machine.”

Sources and further reading (credit to the authors):

Long sales cycles? Weekly newsletters are your silent sales machine — Max Bidna link
Own the distribution, guide the journey — newsletter as the missing conversion layer — Daniel Bustamante link
Founder newsletter → $1M ARR in 11 months — 4 principles that convert — Nathan May link

What is a newsletter without subscribers? This story proves the compound effect, the joy of building, and the practical moves that grow a list fast.

The Subscriber Growth Playbook: From 0 to 5,000 Subs with No Budget

Everyone wants a list of 5,000 subscribers. Almost no one wants to do the work to get the first 50. Andrew Mewborn’s journey from 0 to 4,879 subscribers in 8 months—with no ad spend—is a masterclass in the unglamorous reality of growth. His start wasn’t a viral myth; it was a brutal grind:

The first month? 12 subs.
Second month? 84 subscribers.
Third month? 378 subscribers.
Then something magical happened...

The magic wasn't a growth hack. It was consistency. But effort alone isn't enough. You can show up daily and still talk to an empty room if you make one fundamental mistake: making the newsletter about you.

This is where most newsletters die. They become a megaphone for company updates. Michelle Pitcher puts it bluntly: the mindset has to shift from “what do I want to say?” to “what do they need to hear?” It’s about giving, not asking.

→ Forget what you want to say and think, 'what do they want to hear?'
An easy trick is to write down every question someone asks you.
Check your call recordings.
Social media comments.
Conversations with clients.
And notice what they're after...
→ Stop worrying about impressing and focus on connecting
Who cares about what recent awards or achievements you've made...
Sure, it's good for credibility, but you don't have to talk about it all. the. time.
Instead of trying so hard to impress people with your - knowledge - status - accolades. Focus on connecting.

So, the formula seems simple: brutal consistency (Mewborn) + radical reader-focus (Pitcher). But how do you execute that without burning out? You need a system. Amanda Goetz, who grew her list to over 60,000 subscribers, offers a practical playbook for starting smart and staying the course. Two rules stand out:

➡️ 1. Inject Yourself to Build Connection
Many newsletters miss the opportunity to build an emotional connection with their audience. They deliver information, but not personality. Goetz argues for injecting yourself into the narrative through images, life updates, and stories. It’s the difference between a report and a relationship.
➡️ 2. The 90/10 Value Rule
Most of you are starting a newsletter as a sales vehicle to your products…. And that’s OK but I’m starting to see newsletters that don’t add any value. They just sell. Focus on 90% value. 10% sales. This increases your referrals because no one refers commercials but they do refer documentaries.

In the end, the playbook is simple, but not easy. It’s a machine built from consistency, empathy, and a system. As Mewborn puts it:

You can start with 0 followers. You can start with 0 budget. You just can't start with 0 effort.

Sources and further reading (credit to the authors):

The Subscriber Growth Playbook: From 0 to 5,000 Subs with No Budget — Andrew Mewborn
5 Mindset Shifts to Grow Your Email Newsletter — Michelle Pitcher
How I'd Build a 60,000+ Subscriber Newsletter From Scratch — Amanda Goetz

Email newsletters have been declared dead more times than I can count. Too crowded, too noisy, too transactional. And yet—Exit Five has 45,000+ marketers eagerly waiting for every send. How? This story isn't about growth hacks. It's about a fundamental shift in mindset—from distribution to relationship—that every marketer needs to understand.

Exit Five’s 45K B2B newsletter: how it wins attention and loyalty

Email newsletters have been declared dead more times than I can count. Too crowded, too noisy, too transactional. And yet—Exit Five has 45,000+ marketers eagerly waiting for every send. Replies flood in. People actually look forward to it. How?

Ann Handley once said: “The most important part of the newsletter is the letter, not the news.” Danielle Messler, Head of Content at Exit Five, has built the newsletter on that principle. Where most B2B brands push out blog links, Danielle treats every send like a personal note: conversational, fun, sometimes confessional.

“It matters who the newsletter comes from. It matters what you’re saying. It matters that you respect people’s time.”

That shift—from distribution to relationship—explains why subscribers talk about Exit Five as the only business newsletter they always read.

Another differentiator: transparency. Instead of hiding behind an email wall, Exit Five publishes all past issues openly. Danielle calls it a “try before you buy” approach:

“Our inboxes are already packed with unwanted senders. To invite someone in, you’ve got to prove why you deserve it.”

This openness removes risk, builds trust, and self-selects the right audience. If you like what you see, you subscribe knowing exactly what you’ll get.

The content itself is sharp because each issue carries one clear takeaway. Danielle puts it simply:

“Make sure there’s something in your newsletter readers can learn today. Something they can implement in some way.”

That could mean unpacking a strategic framework or pulling a tactical hack from a community thread. When Dave Gerhardt interviewed Mutiny CEO Jaleh Rezaei, the newsletter didn’t just summarize. It showed how to apply her growth strategy immediately—a concrete play, not a recap.

Measurement also looks different. Exit Five isn’t chasing vanity CTRs. Danielle obsesses over replies, sometimes getting 30–40 to a single email—numbers almost unheard of in B2B.

“From the strategy side, replies boost deliverability. They tell email clients people want you in their inbox. But more importantly, they drive real conversation and connection.”

Here’s the kicker: Danielle reads and replies to every single one. Dave Gerhardt described her approach as “super unscalable.” That’s exactly why it works.

Subject lines follow the same logic. No clickbait—just curiosity gaps that promise value. One example: “Here’s what to do when you’re not the subject matter expert.” If you’re not an expert, you want to know what’s inside. If you are, curiosity still pulls you in. The difference is trust: Exit Five always delivers on the tease.

And when it comes to starting, Danielle has a blunt rule:

“You’ve got to get at least 10 newsletters in before you actually know what the format is going to be and what works. Don’t worry if it changes by issue 10. No one cares. Just keep getting the reps in.”

The lesson: stop polishing drafts that never ship. Consistency beats perfection. For Exit Five, that discipline turned a newsletter into the single most loved B2B media product in its niche.

Stop generic AI emails with a 3‑part formula

AI writes “correct,” not compelling. If your message could go to anyone, it lands with no one. The fix is surgical: codify who you write to, who is speaking, and why it matters now.

Define personas with Jobs–Pains–Gains. Use live data from surveys, CRM, and support to keep segments current and specific.
Codify the author’s style. Analyze actual team writing to extract tone, vocabulary, rhythm, and signature moves, then reuse as rules.
Inject company context. Values, product differentiators, target regions, and voice markers keep outputs on‑brand across campaigns and locales.
Operationalize the stack. Context = Persona + Author style + Company profile; then BrandKit + Context + Prompt → draft, human post‑edit for fit.

Real personalization = Contact + Context + Value.

Read this to build emails that scale without sounding machine‑washed. You’ll get faster drafts that still read unmistakably like you.

Twice-weekly cadence, 12–13 items cut to 6–8, drove 179%–577% more clicks

OI split a bloated weekly into two lean sends. Two extra house ad slots and smarter batching. Opens dipped slightly, yet CTR rose and monthly reach broadened.

Cut clutter to lift focus: Reduced per-issue load from 12–13 links to 6–8, improving visibility for mid-pack items.
Double cadence, measure outcomes: Q4 2023 weekly vs Q4 2024 twice-weekly. Unique open rate fell slightly, unique CTR increased materially.
Prioritize total traffic: Monthly outbound clicks grew 179%–577% after the change, sending far more visitors to featured sites.
Track reach rate: Share of subscribers who click at least once per month rose, indicating broader engagement, not just heavier activity from a few.

More frequent sends + less crowded issues = more engagement.

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