In the ever-changing digital marketing sphere, email newsletters have become an engaging, brand-building, and revenue-generating medium. Because they have direct access to subscribers and the ability to be tapped more than any other type of message, marketers and business owners are asking: Can you sell ads in your email newsletters? And, more importantly, should you?
Selling Ads in Email Newsletters: Does It Make Sense?
1. The Mechanics of Selling Ads
To begin with, you have to remember that it is indeed possible to sell ads in your email newsletters. Many brands, blogs, and independent newsletters already do this to make money off of an established readership. Ads can be embedded in the following ways:
a. Sponsored Content
Sponsored content is content that’s owned by a third party but made available in a format your audience will appreciate. They should be complementary to your regular material and not too pushy or invasive. Sponsored articles give brands an opportunity to showcase themselves and you are protecting your newsletter, win-win.
b. Banner Ads
Banner ads are snazzy areas in the email that promote a service or product. These spaces can be used strategically to grab the attention of your readers. Graphic designs and call to actions can help make banner ads effective, driving clicks and conversions and giving advertisers a boost of exposure.
c. Affiliate Links
Another way you can make money with your newsletter is affiliate marketing. When you embed affiliate links into your posts, you will get a commission when your audience clicks on the links and purchases something. This is especially useful if you regularly endorse products or services and are able to mesh your content with the ads.
2. Compliance and Best Practices
While promoting ads in your email newsletters, it’s important to adhere to the CAN-SPAM Act in the United States and the GDPR in Europe. These regulations mandate you should tell people what sponsored content you’re offering and also allow them to unsubscribe from ads. When you properly label something (i.e., “Sponsored” or “Advertisement”) you can stay accountable to your followers.
Benefits of Selling Ads
1. Monetizing Opportunities
Perhaps the most hopeful explanation for placing ads on your email newsletters is revenue potential. Advertising can be a major revenue generator for newsletters that have massive subscriber bases. This is especially true if you have companies who have real-world followings that actually care about their testimonials. Selling that ad space correctly will help cover the expenses of your operation and even help pay for new projects, projects or improvements to the content you’re sending in your newsletter. This creates entire new worlds for bringing new offerings to the table, all the while earning money along the way.
2. Diversification of Income Streams
In a more volatile economic climate, being tied to just one source of income is extremely risky. By integrating advertising into your business, you strengthen your financial foundation. This diversification protects your business from market movements and occurrences that are outside your control and which impact core sources of income (ex., product sales, service rendering). Having multiple streams of income gives us more opportunities to make business choices. Be it putting money into products or building marketing campaigns, an effective ad revenue channel gives you funds to hit the ground running.
3. Additional Subscriber Value
Intentional advertising can even enhance your newsletter subscribers. You can show that it’s something they’ll enjoy exactly as it is. Ads will introduce subscribers to services, products, and solutions they might not otherwise have heard of. Advertisements deliver valuable information to subscribers that complements your newsletter. The practice thus inculcates a sense of belonging and importance, where the advertisers are welcome to subscriber homes and are not unwanted visitors.
This can be achieved by tailoring your advertising to the liking of your subscribers. This will be a win-win situation where brands can build brand awareness and reach new customers and subscribers can receive offers based on their preferences.
The Risks of Selling Ads
1. Dilution of Content
The number one fear with selling ads in email newsletters is that you risk weakening your content. The excessive advertising distracts readers, reduces the usefulness of your newsletters, and can increase unsubscribe rates. Your readers paid for your expertise, not a barrage of offers.
2. Audience Trust and Authenticity
Authors value authenticity, and ads can change how they think about your brand. If they think the content is edited for profit, this destroys trust. Keep it in check — only promote items and brands that are relevant to your values and your audience’s values.
3. Managing Relationships with Advertisers
Advertising partnerships require careful management. If an advertiser’s offering isn’t helpful to your target audience, or they’re leaving you negative feedback, then it will reflect poorly on you. It is very important to have strong long term relationships with good advertisers in order to reduce these risks.
Do You Sell Ads In Your Email Newsletters?
Whether or not to sell your email newsletter ads is ultimately up to your purposes, audience and brand philosophy. Consider the following:
Audience Expectations: Will your viewers like the ads or will it turn them off? Always poll subscribers on a regular basis to get an idea of their likes.
Qualitative Content: Do you have a robust content plan that will handle ads? Make sure the quality of your content is always your top priority.
Brand Consistency: Are the advertisers you’re thinking about aligned with your values and mission? When you work with brands that appeal to your brand, it can become an effortless experience for your audience.
Final Thoughts:
Monetizing your email newsletters with advertisements is a good way to make money, but it is not without its challenges. There is an important trade-off between making money and retaining the trust of your readers. The wise choice is to use the ads as a supplement to your newsletter, one that will improve both reader experience and profitability. So it’s not really about “can you” but instead “should you?” It’s a choice that should fit both your business goals and your audience.
