WELCOME
Hello👋, it’s Chris Fernandez, the CEO of Letter Operators.
CEO of Letter Operators? Yep, that’s right.
My business partner, Jared Fallon, and I recently purchased Letter Operators from Richard Patey.
We’ve successfully transitioned everything and have been running newsletters smoothly for our clients for several months now.
I wanted to take a quick moment to introduce myself to those of you who don’t know me.
Quickly: I’m a 25+ year internet marketing veteran and serial entrepreneur who started using newsletters for marketing before social media ever existed.
I love newsletters and helping business leaders grow through smart, engaging content.
In that spirit, I wanted to welcome you to our new weekly newsletter, Smarter By Friday, where we unpack what’s actually happening in the newsletter world and what it means for your business.
If you have any questions about the transition or working with us, please don’t hesitate to reply to this email with any thoughts, questions, or comments, or reach out to me on LinkedIn.
Let’s get to it.
This week, I dig into research that should change how you think about using AI in your newsletter. Consumers are making up their minds about AI-generated content right now, and the gap between what they feel and what they know is wider than most business owners realize.
AI Copy Wins. Until Readers Find Out.
Here's a stat that should make you rethink your next campaign: 56% of readers preferred the AI-generated article over the human-written one.
Same topic. Two articles. One written by ChatGPT, one by a professional copywriter. Neither labeled. Among people who had a preference, the majority chose the AI version as more engaging.
But this is the really interesting part.
When researchers told those same readers the content was AI-generated, 52% said they felt LESS engaged. Same article. Same words. Completely different reaction.
I often find myself facing the same predicament and wondering internally, “Am I reading an AI-generated article?” before realizing that I don’t really care, as long as it is engaging, informative, and useful.
That gap between anonymous and labeled is the real story for business owners using AI to create content right now.
Readers cannot reliably detect AI writing. Only 43% of consumers say they can. But their trust response kicks in the moment they suspect it.
Validity's data, drawn from 1,000 US consumers, found that 40% would trust a retailer's marketing emails less if they knew AI wrote them. Only 25% said knowing would increase their trust.
And there is something else worth paying attention to.
Trust in AI-generated content fell from 73% to 55% between 2023 and 2025, according to Capgemini research tracking consumer sentiment across that period. That drop happened across every age group.
55% of consumers now make inbox decisions based on AI-generated email summaries without ever reading the full message.
So your newsletter copy needs to work for both audiences: the reader who goes word by word and the reader who only sees the three-line preview.
The businesses threading this needle are the ones thinking about transparency before they are forced to.
Tactical Takeaways
• Audit your subject line and the short preview text that appears below it in readers' inboxes. A growing share of subscribers decides whether to open based on that preview alone, not the full message.
• If you use AI to write your newsletter, consider adding a brief disclosure note. The data shows that honesty with readers outperforms silence over the long run.
• Review how you measure email performance. If you count only opens and clicks, you are missing subscribers who take action after seeing an AI-generated preview without ever opening the email.
STAT OF THE WEEK
71% of people admit to checking their work email while on vacation, according to ZeroBounce, which means your newsletter has a real shot at reaching readers even when they are supposed to be off the clock.
Bulk Email Restrictions from Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft: What You Need to Know
Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft all now require bulk email senders to meet strict rules around email authentication and spam complaint thresholds. If your newsletter reaches 5,000 readers or more, these rules already apply to you. Beehiiv handles one-click unsubscribe mechanics, but custom-domain users must set up DMARC, and high-volume senders should use a custom domain with DMARC to comply. Other providers also vary in what they handle.
3 Ways to Make Your Business Newsletters More Engaging
Readers skim more than they read, and your layout matters as much as what you write. Inc. shares three moves that can turn a newsletter from something subscribers ignore into something they actually look forward to receiving.
Anthropic's Best AI for Newsletter Work Got Pulled From the Market
Fable 5 was already outperforming every model available for complex writing and content generation tasks when the US government ordered it offline over national security concerns this week. Anthropic is working to restore access, but the lesson for your content workflow is plain: do not build your process around a single AI tool without a backup.
Until Next Week
This newsletter is written by AI, edited by humans. That's not just a feature, that's the point.
Want us to run your newsletter?
We’ll source the stories, write every issue, manage your ads, and publish consistently on Beehiiv. You keep 100% of your ad revenue.
— Chris & The Letter Operators Team