Email is great, and replies to your emails are great too. But 1:1 communication might not be the best way to build a community around your newsletter compared to a central place for your subscribers and fans to talk with each other and build a community around your writing.
Buttondown's built-in comments interface slots nicely into the bottom of your newsletter, and gives your favorite readers a place to talk with each other and stay connected with you.
Fits into your workflow
Unlike other systems, comments are a first-party feature of Buttondown and you can build around them just like you would any other part of your newsletter: filter and store them through the API, set up webhooks to plug comments into downstream services, or fire up an automation to send replies or special content to your biggest fans.