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- Sponsorship formats of the top 1%
Sponsorship formats of the top 1%
Maximise ad revenue by diversifying and optimising
Dan Barry
January 29, 2024
Welcome to the last January Revenews, it seems crazy that we’ve already had a month of 2024.
🧐 Today we look at all different types of newsletter ads, I’ve done a deep dive into the depths of my inboxes to find all these formats.
Fun weekend plans aside, let’s dive in! 🚀
🤔 Sponsorship Formats
When Morning Brew re-introduced the world to newsletters, they reset the standard of what the adverts within should look like.
Most newsletters still follow that standard, which is great, it works well.
But there are tonnes of ways to integrate sponsored content into readers’ inboxes. So today we’re looking at them all, or at least all the ones I’ve noticed.
We’ll start with the more well-known, and then get into the weeds. Most of the examples link to the issue so you can see how they work in practice.
I do want to stress that I have no affiliation with any of these newsletters, this is just me using publically available knowledge to break down different ad types.
🏆 The Classics
👴🏻 The Classic Primary Placement, made famous by the likes of the Morning Brew and Finimize. This bad boy includes:
Creative - (a) a clickable logo at the top and (b) an ad block with a paragraph of text & image.
Links - Logo, image, multiple in the text.
Position - Top and middle or upper middle.
🥈 The Classic Secondary Placement, the Primary’s jealous younger brother. Typically including:
Creative - an ad block with a paragraph of text & image.
Links - Image, multiple in the text.
Position - Middle or lower down in the NL.
⚡️ Quick Hits. Not so common, often sold as ancillary touchpoints.
Creative - Usually 1 or 2 sentences of text.
Links - Normally just one (text-based).
Position - Near the bottom, in the recommended links section.
📢 Triple/takeover placement. An often overlooked option, ultimately selling the Primary & Secondary above as one. Obviously more expensive, but proportionately cheaper than buying separately.
Creative - Primary & secondary together.
Links - Logo, and 2 ad blocks ad above.
Position - Top, middle and lower down (everywhere)!
This gives buyers a chance to own the whole issue, increases your deal size, and helps you sell out more efficiently.
These are ultimately less common adaptions of the old faithful Primary Placements.
🔼 Primary Placement with the ad block at the top. Designed to increase visibility and engagement.
Creative - Logo & ad block (usually text only but not always).
Links - Logo and multiple text-based.
Position - Top (it’s in the name).
🐣 Primary with ad block after the intro. Very similar to the above, but the main ad block is just below the newsletter summary/introduction.
Creative - Logo & ad block.
Links - Logo and multiple text-based.
Position - Top and slightly below the top.
Same-same, but different.
🗣️ Primary Placement with intro slogan.
Creative - Logo, sentence & ad block.
Links - Logo, one text-based in the intro and multiple in the block.
Position - Top and middle or upper middle.
🔒 Ad Hoc Ad Blocks
These are cousins of the classics, just with different locations, lengths & looks.
🧐 The Mid Scroll Block, an ad block higher up than a secondary, but without a logo making it a primary.
Creative - One ad block, including text, and (not always) an image.
Links - One or Multiple text-based, and optional clickable image.
Position - Upper middle or middle.
😶🌫️ Mid Quick Hit
Creative - 1 or 2 sentences of text.
Links - Usually just one text-based.
Position - Upper middle, middle, or lower middle. Basically can be anywhere.
🏢 High up block. Can be seen as similar to the primary, without a logo/together with.
Creative - Paragraph of text and optional image.
Links - Image and multiple text-based.
Position - Just below the top.
🐐 Deep Dives
I’ve mentioned a few times how I think every newsletter should offer some form of deep dive. Read my 2024 predictions or how Alts utilise Deep Dives.
👊 The Dedicated Deep Dive. Insanely effective for advertisers, and ad-sales teams. But, use with caution. Caution to not piss off your readers that is.
Creative - A full article or text, images, or anything else! The length and format are really up to you.
Links - Various throughout the article.
Position - The whole damn email.
🏔️ The Deep Dive (non-dedicated), long-form ad sections wrapped around the story of the day.
Creative - Typically 2 long text blocks, can include images too.
Links - Various throughout both blocks, text and images as relevant.
Position - Top and bottom.
🖇️ Rare Add Ons
The shiny Charizards of newsletter ads.
These less common options can be added to your main ad offering, to increase deal sizes for you, and impressions for partners.
👀 Section Ownership, the classic ‘bought to you by…’
Creative - a single sentence of text, with a small logo and/or slogan.
Links - Normally 1 text-based and the logo.
Position - Under any subheading or section.
📼 Old School Banner, doing it like they did in 1999.
Creative - Rectangular image.
Links - clickable image.
Position - can be anywhere.
🩳 Header Intro line. Punchy sentence in the newsletter’s header.
Creative - 1 short sentence
Links - 1 text-based.
Position - above the title right at the top.
🤝 Drive more inbound sponsorships with this approach.
📈 Flippa launches a newsletter category as the industry booms
🛁 Are we in a newsletter advertising bubble? (I partially disagree, but good points)!
👏 The Newsletter Blueprint is now FREE! A discord community, I’ve been a member for 3 months and have made partnerships because of it.
🎭 The Content Entrepreneur Expo 2024 is for content entrepreneurs, join 500+ authors, podcasters, newsletter writers, speakers and coaches. We’ve partnered, so you can get $100 off with the code REVENEWS100.
Full disclosure, I’m not paid to say this. But I will get a free ticket if 5 of you buy with the code! Which would be awesome considering it’s a 9-hour flight!