Display ad monetization is continuing to evolve, with many sites relying on “non-traditional” implementations for a significant portion of overall revenue. One new opportunity embraced by many publishers is email, a medium that has historically not been populated by ads.
For sites that sell ads directly, including email banner ads can be a creative way to boost both overall revenue and performance. (Also see our list of 14 creative ad units for your next proposal.) If you don’t have direct relationships in place, however, there are a few options out there that can deliver relevant advertisers to you. Below we will highlight some of the best options for monetizing email via display ads. (By the way, if you’re enjoying this article, you may want to subscribe to our free newsletter; we’ll send monetization tips straight to your inbox each day.)
Basics of Email Ad Networks
Advertisements in email is nothing new. Web publishers, e-commerce sites, and other online properties have been sending promotional messages to their subscribers for years. But the idea of a third-party ad network extending to email is a relatively novel concept.
Email ads represent a unique opportunity because they allow advertisers to promote their products through a medium that has historically been free of third-party advertisements. Display ads within email can also be integrated with the content created by the publisher, allowing advertisers to leverage that brand and trust and overcome banner blindness.
The concept of an email ad network is pretty straightforward. The primary purpose is to match up:
Here’s the MonetizePros newsletter that we send out several times a week. Note the section identified as an ad right at the top:
Here’s another example, this time of a longer form email newsletter. The ads in this one, sent by TheStreet.com, appear further down in the right-hand column:
Before we jump into the actual networks, one final example. This one is a reminder of an event from Evite, and includes a 300×250 banner ad within the email:
LiveIntent
LiveIntent is the biggest player in the email ad industry, with a large network of publishers and advertisers. Their requirement of three million monthly ad impressions (i.e., emails opened), however, means that they aren’t a viable option for many smaller publishers.
If you are large enough to be accepted by LiveIntent, getting set up is pretty straightforward. LiveIntent is integrated with a number of email service providers, including SilverPop and Mailchimp. (See the full list here.) That means that you likely won’t need to change ESPs and will have a relatively automated experience.
This solution is powered by static HTML tags, which publishers can inject into their email templates as appropriate. Because most email ad networks generate revenue on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis, publishers have a great deal of control over the monetization. The position of the ads within the email will have an impact on total clicks and therefore revenue. If ad code is buried at the bottom of the email, performance will probably be pretty poor. But if it’s effectively integrated into the content of the email, it will be more likely to generate clicks.
Once the tags are integrated into email templates, the maintenance is minimal. Ads start appearing with your next email blast, and you should see fill rates close to 100%.
NewsletterDirectory.co
This platform isn’t nearly as large as LiveIntent, but it’s a usable solution for smaller publishers looking to monetize email. Though the dashboard isn’t as polished as LiveIntent, the technology is pretty straightforward and easy enough to implement. There are two options for ads to serve, giving publishers some degree of customization:
NewsletterDirectory.co also uses static HTML tags to serve ads; once this code is inserted into your email templates, you’ll be up and running. The ads that appear are generally for SaaS companies; Shopify and FreshDesk are a couple advertisers who appear regularly. The nature of the advertisers who use this network will make it a better fit for certain publishers. For example, the ads likely won’t be very relevant for a cooking newsletter. But we’ve had some success with this network in our MonetizePros email campaigns.
Though the site isn’t as fancy as LiveIntent, NewsletterDirectory.co is easy to use and pretty darn effective. (We’ve been using this network to serve ads in the daily MonetizePros newsletter for the past few months, but are receiving no compensation for this review.) Because this network works on a cost-per-click basis, performance will depend in large part on open rates and positioning of ads within emails. As a rule of thumb, every 1,000 opened emails can be expected to make publishers about $25.
The drawbacks of NewsletterDirectory.co are primarily related to account administration. For example, the reporting features are a bit limited and tough to figure out.
AdSense, InfluAds, and More
For the time being, it isn’t possible for AdSense partners to include ads within emails. When FeedBurner was still around, this could be accomplished by setting up AdSense for Feeds and then sending out an email version (either through FeedBurner or another platform such as MailChimp).
When researching email ad networks you may also come across LaunchBit, a startup that has received quite a bit of attention recently as a solution for SaaS companies to generate leads via email banner ads. The aforementioned NewsletterDirectory.co is owned by LaunchBit, so that’s the way to get into this network.
You might also come across InfluAds, which popped up in 2011. That platform is now part of BuySellAds, which is another option for publishers looking to monetize a list of email subscribers. On this platform, which also includes traditional on-site display ads, publishers can create a profile and list prices for banner ads in their email newsletters.
Because BuySellAds is more of a marketplace than a network, fill rates from this partner will generally be way less than 100%. We suggest using BuySellAds in combination with either of the networks above; list your email newsletter ads at premium prices on this platform, and use the network to backfill the ad inventory whenever a list isn’t purchased.
Bottom Line
If you want an easy solution to monetize your emails, there are two primary options available to you for now. Larger publishers will likely be best off with the LiveIntent network, while smaller publishers should use NewsletterDirectory.co. Both are easy to implement, and effective at generating incremental revenue for publishers.
Because both networks utilize static HTML tags to serve ads, it’s pretty easy for publishers to run both of them and compare the earnings.
For sites that sell ads directly, including email banner ads can be a creative way to boost both overall revenue and performance. (Also see our list of 14 creative ad units for your next proposal.) If you don’t have direct relationships in place, however, there are a few options out there that can deliver relevant advertisers to you. Below we will highlight some of the best options for monetizing email via display ads. (By the way, if you’re enjoying this article, you may want to subscribe to our free newsletter; we’ll send monetization tips straight to your inbox each day.)
Basics of Email Ad Networks
Advertisements in email is nothing new. Web publishers, e-commerce sites, and other online properties have been sending promotional messages to their subscribers for years. But the idea of a third-party ad network extending to email is a relatively novel concept.
Email ads represent a unique opportunity because they allow advertisers to promote their products through a medium that has historically been free of third-party advertisements. Display ads within email can also be integrated with the content created by the publisher, allowing advertisers to leverage that brand and trust and overcome banner blindness.
The concept of an email ad network is pretty straightforward. The primary purpose is to match up:
- Publishers with “inventory” (i.e., a list of email subscribers and a regular content distribution schedule); and
- Advertisers with creative that can run within an email newsletter.
Here’s the MonetizePros newsletter that we send out several times a week. Note the section identified as an ad right at the top:
Here’s another example, this time of a longer form email newsletter. The ads in this one, sent by TheStreet.com, appear further down in the right-hand column:
Before we jump into the actual networks, one final example. This one is a reminder of an event from Evite, and includes a 300×250 banner ad within the email:
LiveIntent
LiveIntent is the biggest player in the email ad industry, with a large network of publishers and advertisers. Their requirement of three million monthly ad impressions (i.e., emails opened), however, means that they aren’t a viable option for many smaller publishers.
If you are large enough to be accepted by LiveIntent, getting set up is pretty straightforward. LiveIntent is integrated with a number of email service providers, including SilverPop and Mailchimp. (See the full list here.) That means that you likely won’t need to change ESPs and will have a relatively automated experience.
This solution is powered by static HTML tags, which publishers can inject into their email templates as appropriate. Because most email ad networks generate revenue on a cost-per-click (CPC) basis, publishers have a great deal of control over the monetization. The position of the ads within the email will have an impact on total clicks and therefore revenue. If ad code is buried at the bottom of the email, performance will probably be pretty poor. But if it’s effectively integrated into the content of the email, it will be more likely to generate clicks.
Once the tags are integrated into email templates, the maintenance is minimal. Ads start appearing with your next email blast, and you should see fill rates close to 100%.
NewsletterDirectory.co
This platform isn’t nearly as large as LiveIntent, but it’s a usable solution for smaller publishers looking to monetize email. Though the dashboard isn’t as polished as LiveIntent, the technology is pretty straightforward and easy enough to implement. There are two options for ads to serve, giving publishers some degree of customization:
- 125×125 with text (this is the ad used in the example above)
- 468×60 banner
NewsletterDirectory.co also uses static HTML tags to serve ads; once this code is inserted into your email templates, you’ll be up and running. The ads that appear are generally for SaaS companies; Shopify and FreshDesk are a couple advertisers who appear regularly. The nature of the advertisers who use this network will make it a better fit for certain publishers. For example, the ads likely won’t be very relevant for a cooking newsletter. But we’ve had some success with this network in our MonetizePros email campaigns.
Though the site isn’t as fancy as LiveIntent, NewsletterDirectory.co is easy to use and pretty darn effective. (We’ve been using this network to serve ads in the daily MonetizePros newsletter for the past few months, but are receiving no compensation for this review.) Because this network works on a cost-per-click basis, performance will depend in large part on open rates and positioning of ads within emails. As a rule of thumb, every 1,000 opened emails can be expected to make publishers about $25.
The drawbacks of NewsletterDirectory.co are primarily related to account administration. For example, the reporting features are a bit limited and tough to figure out.
AdSense, InfluAds, and More
For the time being, it isn’t possible for AdSense partners to include ads within emails. When FeedBurner was still around, this could be accomplished by setting up AdSense for Feeds and then sending out an email version (either through FeedBurner or another platform such as MailChimp).
When researching email ad networks you may also come across LaunchBit, a startup that has received quite a bit of attention recently as a solution for SaaS companies to generate leads via email banner ads. The aforementioned NewsletterDirectory.co is owned by LaunchBit, so that’s the way to get into this network.
You might also come across InfluAds, which popped up in 2011. That platform is now part of BuySellAds, which is another option for publishers looking to monetize a list of email subscribers. On this platform, which also includes traditional on-site display ads, publishers can create a profile and list prices for banner ads in their email newsletters.
Because BuySellAds is more of a marketplace than a network, fill rates from this partner will generally be way less than 100%. We suggest using BuySellAds in combination with either of the networks above; list your email newsletter ads at premium prices on this platform, and use the network to backfill the ad inventory whenever a list isn’t purchased.
Bottom Line
If you want an easy solution to monetize your emails, there are two primary options available to you for now. Larger publishers will likely be best off with the LiveIntent network, while smaller publishers should use NewsletterDirectory.co. Both are easy to implement, and effective at generating incremental revenue for publishers.
Because both networks utilize static HTML tags to serve ads, it’s pretty easy for publishers to run both of them and compare the earnings.
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