Advertising in a well-chosen e-mail newsletter helps you reach your ideal prospect. Buy newsletter ads in e-newsletter’s with a subscriber base matching your target audience. Advertise in the right e-newsletter and your results will outperform other channels. For success, you need to:
- Buy newsletter ads in the right e-mail newsletters
- Negotiate the right price
- Create the right copy
The first challenge is finding the right e-mail newsletters for placing your ads.
Buy newsletter ads in e-newsletters going to your target audience
To locate ideal email newsletters for ad placement, you can:
- Interview your top customers – ask your best customers what e-newsletters they receive. If they consistently give the same name, you know your ad will reach the right audience.
- Search like a qualified prospect – think about the current problems your customers want to solve; then search online for e-newsletters covering those topics. Not sure what to search terms to use? Look at your Web site’s search files. If you have a keyword referrer report, it will tell you what keywords brought new visitors to your Web site. If you have a search feature on your Web site, check to see what phrases visitors are entering on that tool.
- Contact the top publications that your target audience reads – many publications have an e-mail newsletter companion. If you know what magazines or specialty newspapers your prospects read, query them about their e-pub offerings.
- Contact relevant associations – there is an association representing almost any trade group or issue. Identify the associations with a member profile similar to your ideal prospect and contact them about their e-mail newsletter and advertising information
Craft the ideal delivery package
Once you identify potential email newsletters for your advertising campaign, ask about the e-pubs’ demographics. If the fit of the entire list is not spot-on, some publishers will allow you to segment.
For example, maybe you only want to contact businesses in the mid-Atlantic. A national e-newsletter may allow you to buy newsletter ads for just your target. The more you can personalize the message to the right audience, the better your chances of generating a good response.
One word of caution: make sure you get statistics about open-rates, the number of recipients that actually click-on links in the e-newsletter. A large list does not mean you will reach a large audience if people do not actually read the e-newsletter.
Consider a bundled purchase. If your budget can support it, look at running a banner ad on the publication’s Web site and an email newsletter ad. The more places prospects see your message, the better.
Can you “own” the news in the e-mail newsletter? One medical publisher we spoke with on behalf of a client, offered to send a “branded” e-newsletter to its list. Only our client’s message would appear in the newsletter. The publisher offered to match the e-newsletter’s content specifically to our client’s target market. This publisher also offered to send that edition to its subscribers with the ideal job title.
Some publications will allow you to sponsor an edition of their e-newsletter and submit a column. Many e-publishers operate with a thin staff and will welcome valuable content. For tips on writing content, see our writing for e-mail newsletter section.
If multiple ads appear in the email newsletter with your ad, negotiate a higher spot. In general, the higher ad’s position, the better the response. The best spot is top left corner; since many people view their email in the preview pane.
Negotiate e-newsletter ad prices and delivery schedule
Price is often negotiable. Most publications have a pre-printed rate card. You can often negotiate a lower price. If you are buying a series of ads, you have a stronger opportunity for a negotiated package. You will get a better price and placement location when you buy a series.
Also, buying a series of ads is a good idea in terms of response. Most people need to see a message many times before they respond. Some research suggests the magic number is seven times. You should test to see what your sweet spot is.
Also, purchase ads in sequential e-newsletters rather than spread out. If you spread your across a long time period, they will lose effectiveness.