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You Can be an Email Marketing Supergenius #108

Accepting Advertising
Issue # 108

1> Advertising Is Alright
2> Subscribers Are Worth More Advertisers
3> Are You Making Money?

1> Advertising Is Alright

It’s fine to put advertising in your email newsletters. Americans are incredibly tolerant of advertising, even if we complain about it. Think about it — we’ll pay for a newspaper or magazine, even though they’ve sold 70% of the space to marketers. Make sure the quantity of advertising is in proportion to your content. Put the ads in the middle of the copy or on the side — never on top. You want ads to be visible, but you don’t want them to distract from the main text.

2> Subscribers Are Worth More Advertisers

Don’t let ads for other companies obscure your brand and message. Is the advertiser’s logo and banner seen before yours? Redesign your newsletter so your identity is dominant. You don’t want busy readers to mistake your newsletter for an unwanted email from an advertiser — and unsubscribe. No ad should be visible in the Outlook preview window.

We strongly advise that you never send dedicated stand- alone emails for an advertiser. These emails cause many permanent unsubscribes and plenty of ill will. Is the money you make from one advertiser worth losing subscribers forever?

3> Are You Making Money?

There’s a good chance that you can make more money advertising your own products than by selling ads to other companies. Subtract the cost of your sales effort, billing, and time from your advertising income. You may find that you’re taking in less than the profit you’ll make by pushing your own stuff. Plus, you can get the brand-building benefits of repeated exposures to your own ads for yourself. You may even get a better payoff by using your ad space to promote your other email lists.

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