What to Know About Sponsoring e-Newsletters

Many companies today publish their own e-newsletter. It's a great way to stay in front of your current database of customers and prospects. But how do you cast a net to reach a wider target audience through e-mail? Or what if you haven't launched your own e-mail marketing program yet? It may be time to try e-newsletter sponsorships.

The Benefits of Sponsoring e-Newsletters
A compelling case exists for suppliers and manufacturers to add sponsorship of e-newsletters to their marketing mix. The benefits of the right sponsorship include:

• Brand visibility — your company name/logo/message will be seen by your target audience, helping to increase awareness and visibility of your brand.

• Frequency — most e-newsletters are published on a regular schedule, allowing you to establish a sustained presence with your target audience.

• Low barrier to entry — you don't have to deal with the logistics of setting up the e-mail infrastructure, managing the e-mail address database including opt-ins and opt-outs, establishing the editorial calendar and policies, creating regular content, implementing tracking technology, and more.

• Audience — e-newsletters allow you to benefit from an established readership base where recipients trust the sender and are more likely to open the e-mail, versus delivering the same message on your own.

• Ability to test — if you find the right e-newsletter to sponsor, you can test different messages to the same target audience. Try product announcements, white paper offers, free trials, invitations to events, and more.

Questions to Ask an e-Newsletter Publisher
Before diving in, you should evaluate a number of potential sponsorships. Questions you should ask of the newsletter publisher include:

1. What is the profile of the audience receiving the e-newsletter? Does the profile match the audience you want to reach? How many recipients are there? Your goal should be to reach the maximum number of your specific target audience.

2. How frequently is the e-newsletter published? Are packages of multiple sponsorships available, allowing you to have a cost-effective presence in front of your audience on a regular basis?

3. Are different levels of sponsorship available? What are your options for ad placement? Can you use photographs and images? How much copy can you write?

4. Does the publisher have marketing expertise to help you execute your strategy and achieve your goals? Do they make good recommendations or are they just trying to sell you the top spot? Does the publisher offer other venues besides an e-newsletter to reach the same audience, offering you multiple touch points to increase exposure and brand visibility?

Developing a Successful e-Newsletter Strategy
By now you're probably excited and ready to get started sponsoring e-newsletters. Before you do, make sure your strategy, goals, and expectations are in line. Some pre-planning will go a long way toward helping you achieve success.

Keep these points in mind:

• Clearly define your objectives. If you don't know your objectives, you won't know if you’ve achieved positive results. Are you out to generate leads for a new product, position your company as an industry expert, invite your audience to an event, or maintain brand awareness? All of these are legitimate objectives of e-newsletter sponsorship.

• Integrate e-newsletter sponsorships with other marketing programs. Think of sponsorship as another component of your marketing mix. How will it complement and integrate with other marketing activities?

• Plan and budget for a regular sponsorship schedule. An isolated sponsorship or two may not give you desired results. The reality is that even opt-in recipients don't have time to open and read every e-newsletter they receive. A regular presence in an e-newsletter increases your opportunities to be seen and noticed by a greater number of your target audience. For example, if announcing a new product, you may want to purchase multiple sponsorships at the time of release and space out mentions in future issues to maintain awareness.

• Prepare your Web site. In most cases your sponsorship will include links back to your Web site, which can allow you to link deep into your site, directing interested readers to a page with specific information. Depending on your objectives, you may want to consider building a specific landing page on your Web site that coordinates with your message in the sponsorship. For example, if you are announcing a new product, link readers to a page rich with content on the product, including specifications, data sheets, photographs, white papers — plus a form, e-mail address, and phone number for lead capture.

Consider GlobalSpec e-Newsletter Sponsorships
GlobalSpec regularly publishes dozens of technical e-newsletters read by members of the engineering, technical, and industrial communities — the individuals you want to reach. With a variety of sponsorship levels and options available in both weekly and monthly publications, one is sure to fit your marketing objectives and budget. Find out more about GlobalSpec e-newsletter sponsorship opportunities.