YouTube to Newsletter Pipeline
Convert YouTube videos into weekly email newsletters automatically
Automatically pull your latest YouTube video, generate a newsletter-friendly summary with timestamps and key takeaways, and send it to your email list. Perfect for creators who want to grow their email list from YouTube content.
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Tools You'll Need
Step-by-Step Setup Guide
Configure Zapier to detect when you publish a new YouTube video.
Get your YouTube RSS feed URL
Your feed: https://www.youtube.com/feeds/videos.xml?channel_id=YOUR_CHANNEL_ID
Create Zap with RSS trigger
Zapier → Create → Trigger: RSS by Zapier → New Item in Feed
Test the trigger
Paste your RSS URL → Test → Should see your latest video
Find your channel ID at youtube.com/account_advanced
Automatically pull the video transcript or auto-generated captions.
Add transcript fetcher
Add step → Code by Zapier (or use a transcript API like Tactiq)
Extract video ID
From RSS item, extract video ID from the link URL
Fetch transcript
Use YouTube transcript API or manually upload to Descript if automated fetch fails
Auto-generated YouTube captions can have errors. Review important videos manually.
Use ChatGPT to create an engaging email summary with timestamps and key points.
Add ChatGPT action
Add step → ChatGPT → Conversation
Configure newsletter prompt
Prompt: "Create a newsletter email for this YouTube video. Include: 1) Catchy subject line, 2) 2-sentence hook, 3) 5 key takeaways as bullet points, 4) Suggested timestamps to jump to, 5) CTA to watch. Video title: {{title}}. Transcript: {{transcript}}"Parse the output
Add Formatter step to extract subject line and body separately
Add a personal note at the top of each newsletter - AI can't replicate your authentic voice
Draft the email in Mailchimp and either send immediately or schedule for optimal time.
Add Mailchimp action
Add step → Mailchimp → Create Campaign
Configure campaign settings
List: Your main newsletter list. From name: Your name. Subject: {{generated_subject}}Set email content
Body: {{generated_email_body}}. Include video thumbnail as header image.Choose send option
Either "Send immediately" or "Create as draft" for manual review
Start with "Create as draft" until you trust the AI quality, then switch to auto-send
Best email send times: Tuesday-Thursday, 10am or 2pm recipient's time
