Ads in newsletters are great.
But many people are put off by bad experiences, and it’s because purchasing ads in newsletters isn’t a uniform experience.
There’s no overarching algorithm or standardized procedure, which means you’ll run into people who don’t have your best interests at heart.
It’s tricky to know what to avoid if you’re new. So here’s our advice:
Watch out for open rate statistics
Most newsletters will advertise their open rate as a primary selling point.
But get the specifics on how they’re calculating this rate. You want to learn a newsletter’s unique open rate: This is the percentage of individuals who opened the email.
Unfortunately, some newsletters (and even one of the big ones, in our experience) will advertise their total open rate.
This includes repeat opens. For instance, if you have an audience of 10 people and one of them opens your email 10 times, your total open rate would be 100%. It’s just a trick people use to inflate numbers.
And since Apple Mail Privacy is rolled out, open rates are even less relevant.
Be skeptical of sky-high prices
Yes, newsletters can give you access to high-quality audiences. No, that doesn’t mean you should pay more than it’s worth.
Here’s a general rule: Ask for the average number of clicks per sponsored placement. Divide the price by this number to get your CPC. For B2B, a number around $5 CPC is not bad. For B2C, you certainly want something lower than that.
Be cautious if you get pushback when asking for numbers
Great newsletters won’t hesitate to give you relevant numbers like unique open rate, average clicks on sponsored placements, and newsletter CTR. If they do hesitate…
You should be careful.
If you want to advertise in newsletters…
Oh, look: It’s a natural segway to telling you that you can advertise with us – without the red flags – by going here.
