What if I told you that you could pitch your product to someone who’s looking just what you’re offering for just $2? Would you?

Of course, you would!

Now, you might be thinking: “Sure, that sounds great, but it’s not realistic.” Well, here’s the thing… Email is one of the closest ways to get in front of your ideal customer.

Newsletters target specific audiences, and subscribers are more likely to engage with emails than social media posts. That’s why I decided to start a newsletter (also because I’m an introvert, and cold outreach isn’t my thing).

Sometimes, we overlook simple solutions. Email gets ignored because of experts promising that the latest trend will skyrocket your growth.

But here’s the truth: Email has still one of the best conversion rates.

So, let’s talk about how people are using newsletter sponsorships to grow.

StoryLearning

Olly Richards, founder of StoryLearning, used newsletter sponsorships as part of a strategy that generated $175,461 in revenue and 12,631 newsletter subscribers.

He allocated 80% of his paid budget to newsletter ads, which totaled nearly $49K, with an average cost per lead ranging from $2 to $50.

Olly discovered that success with newsletter sponsorships is similar to influencer marketing: “You have to set a healthy budget for testing, throw money at the wall, and then aggressively cut your losses and double down on the ones that work.“

His best results came from creating a $100 workshop series to measure which newsletters were driving actual sales, not just subscriptions. He realized some newsletters weren’t generating any sales, so he cut those and focused only on the top performers.

EmailOctopus

EmailOctopus is an email marketing platform. As a B2B product, it typically requires some research before customers make a purchase. That’s why they decided to focus on brand awareness as the main goal of their newsletter ad campaigns—it could lead to conversions down the road.

They discovered that longer-term partnerships performed better than one-off ads. So, they agreed to sponsor the Marketing Examples newsletter by Harry Dry. After meeting him at a local event, they agreed to pay £2000 for the first three months.

They ran the sponsorship campaign for over six months before being outbid by a huge offer from AHREFS. However, the campaign still delivered great results, with people continuing to sign up today, mentioning they heard about EmailOctopus from Marketing Examples.

Clever Zebo

The digital marketing agency Clever Zebo ran newsletter ads to target B2B software companies.

They repurposed their top-performing LinkedIn ads for newsletter sponsorships and launched them through a programmatic advertising platform for newsletters.

Clever Zebo focused on promoting gated content and landing pages optimized for lead generation, using lead capture forms to target specific audiences:

• Predefined audiences based on job title, company size, and industry (e.g., “startup VPs in the U.S.”)
• Contextual targeting to reach people who had shown interest in certain pages or skills.

Data tracking was crucial for their campaign’s success. They monitored not only click-through rates but also conversion rates, cost per acquisition, and marketing qualified leads (MQLs).

4 Key Tips for Newsletter Sponsorship Success

1. Define Your Goals
   • Do you want more brand awareness, sales, or email subscribers?
   • Your goals will shape your strategy and how you measure success.
     
2. Find the Right Newsletters
   • Look for newsletters that align with your target audience.
   • Tools like Paved, SparkLoop, and beehiiv can help you discover options.
   • They don’t need to match your customer profile exactly. For example, EmailOctopus sponsored newsletters that had potential “evangelists” who could spread the word about their product.
     
3. Track and Analyze the Data
   • Monitor metrics like Click-Through Rate (CTR), Cost per Acquisition (CPA), and Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs).
   • Adjust your approach based on the data: cut poor performers and focus on the best ones.
     
4. Build Relationships
   • Newsletter sponsorships aren’t just transactions. Build long-term relationships with the creators.
   • Offer value beyond just paying for ads, and you might secure better rates and opportunities.

Newsletter sponsorships can be a game-changing marketing tool if done right.

Don’t overlook the simple solutions. Sometimes, they’re exactly what your business needs.