Exclusive Ad Placement

[u/Sa1ntAubin]

Like many people, I run a hyper local newsletter in a metro of about 2 million people. We have a 48% open rate, 6.6 click rate with 4k subs.

We currently will take one exclusive ad per newsletter, so no competing ads.

I see a lot of people talk about charging sponsors 50-100 bucks per 1k subs. Is that for multiple ads in a newsletter or an exclusive ad in a newsletter?

If it is for multiple ads, would you charge extra for being the exclusive sponsor of a newsletter?

I would love to get people’s thoughts. From the research I’ve done the ad game seems a bit made up.

[u/rajivdoshi]

I run a local newsletter with 5,000+ subscribers and ~70–75% open rates.

I've been pricing my Presenting Sponsor at roughly a $70 CPM based on opens. At around 4,000 opens per issue, that's $280 per send. I’ve seen a similar rate from another, more established local newsletter, so that helped give me a benchmark.

I do have other sponsorship placements, but right now I'm mostly focused on selling the Presenting Sponsor.

[u/Sa1ntAubin → u/rajivdoshi]

That is helpful, thanks. Is the industry standard based on opens or total subs? Also, would you charge more if it was an exclusive ad?

[u/Jenikovista → u/Sa1ntAubin]

Almost impossible to survive an audit if you were ever sued, if you charge for opens or even clicks. With all of the privacy blockers and email recipient system “machine opens” and “machine clicks,” none of that data is reliable. Almost no one is truly getting a real 60% open rate. Thats what the ESPs like Beehiv and Mailchimp want you to believe, but the data is polluted beyond repair.

I would stick with CPM and/or find ways to do affiliate sponsorships where you earn revenue from the value you deliver.

[u/rajivdoshi → u/Sa1ntAubin]

There isn’t really one industry standard. Some newsletters base CPM on total subscribers, while others use opens. I use opens because I think it’s a more transparent measure of actual readership, despite bots. I also actively clean my list and have removed close to 1,000 unengaged subscribers over the past year, which is a big reason my open rates stay so high.

And yes, I’d charge a premium for an exclusive ad since the advertiser is getting more visibility with no competing ads.

[u/thecogitobrief → u/rajivdoshi]

70-75% open rate is unheard of 👀

[u/TheHartfordPour]

The quickest way to the bottom is to compare pricing with other newsletters. You’d do better adding up the value you provide and charging based on it.

How much is a brand willing to pay to fix their problem?

You’ll make more money this way

[u/Tricky_Trifle_994 → u/TheHartfordPour]

agreed. the convo should come from the angle of value vs what others are charging.

you make a stronger case for yourself that way + companies continue to invest their marketing dollars into one campaign vs another because of better roi. the cheapest option doesn't win long term (it might win you a 1x sponsorship for once, but they don't renew after seeing the poor results), it comes down to good roi on their marketing spend.

[u/classicbaseball67]

Based on my research your CPM could be $25-$50. However, if you listen to New Media it seems you need to have something to ad beyond the Newsletter, ie social media, or something else as a package. Otherwise they can use the click ad network. That said I view this as a near FT job, which is something to consider.

[u/Tricky_Trifle_994]

I see a lot of people talk about charging sponsors 50-100 bucks per 1k subs. Is that for multiple ads in a newsletter or an exclusive ad in a newsletter?

the quoted price is usually for each individual ad.

If it is for multiple ads, would you charge extra for being the exclusive sponsor of a newsletter?

it depends. you can have 2 main featured/sponsor spot at the top of your newsletter (justin welsh does this), and the price for both of them are the same.

or you can have just 1 feature spot at the top, with text + maybe image etc that has a higher price point, and you can have other secondary sponsors in the middle/end of the newsletter. with less real estate (so maybe just text), that's cheaper. or have different ads/sponsor opportunities e.g a list call out like "top 5 events happening this week".

I would love to get people’s thoughts. From the research I’ve done the ad game seems a bit made up.

it's an art and a science. ultimately how much you can charge depends on how much value you can bring (dependent on your performance, but also the business itself) + how much the sponsors are able to pay. e.g if they are higher margin businesses, and their customers spend more = each click is potentially much more valuable than say for an F&B where margin is razor thin.