Where to Advertise your Email Newsletter
Email Newsletter Advertising Options
Where to spread your newsletter?
When it comes to advertising your ezine you have many options. Listing your newsletters in the most popular search engines is a great place to start and will help you to develop web traffic as well. Most marketers are going to use the search engines as their number one marketing tool.
There are several search engines on the Internet and there are several that you may have never even heard of, but they tend to have a following as well. Here are some of the most popular search engines today:
• Google
• Yahoo!
• MSN
• AltaVista
• Ask.com (Formerly Ask Jeeves)
• Lycos
• Overture
• Excite
• InfoSeek
• DogPile
• HotBot
• Northern Light
• Lycos
Each search engine will have its own advertisement submission rules and costs, if you choose to do paid advertising such as through Google AdWords.
Joint Ventures
Let's Work Together - It's a Win-Win for all
Joint ventures are very popular in the world of advertising ezines. Not only can you make money on your own ezine by offering advertising space for sale, but you can also advertise on other ezines.
If you are interested in free advertising then you always have the option of offering an advertising swap. For example, you can allow another ezine to advertise on yours if you can advertise on theirs. The same is true for products as well. As long as you’re not competing, this is a great opportunity to not only advertise but make contacts in the email marketing world.
Another joint venture opportunity you may be able to take advantage of is supplying each other with content. This helps to keep your ezine new and exciting. At the same time, you can require that your resource box, with information about your ezine, be included on the ezine you are offering the information to. Trade article and expert interview articles are great to include in these ezines.
Complementary products are also desirable. If you have a report or white paper, you could offer it for free through an advertisement or feature article on your newsletter or another newsletter. Your joint venture partner could do the same with one of their products.
Newsgroups, Discussion Forums and Announcement Lists
Newsgroups are great to target your ezines to focused audiences. There are numerous free newsgroups that cater to individualized niches and you are sure to find one in your area of expertise. You can begin by listing out a few different newsgroups that address your industry or topic. When you are submitting your messages to these groups, however, be sure that you follow their submission rules. You don’t want to get kicked off!
Also, it’s important to respond to any messages that you may receive regarding those. It is very important that you post a clear response to a message from all readers who are showing an interest in your advertisement. This may be somewhat time consuming, but definitely worth it in the long run. You can also post ads in discussion forums. However, they will also have rules and if you get salesy, they won’t like it. Be sure you are offering solid information to the discussion board while trying to push your ezine at the same time. There are also lists that are called announcement lists and they are also a great way to announce your ezine to your targeted audience.
Ezine Directories
Ezine directories are another popular way to advertise. There are tons of directories that offer several types of ezines and categories. All directories will require a description of your ezine and this is something you need to pay a lot of attention to. Be sure to provide eye catching descriptions that highlight the benefits of your ezines. You will also want to have a brief statement of how your ezine can help a reader. Include details of any offers and incentives you may have as well. Study different descriptions to get an idea of what to write before you begin.
Testing Ads with Ad Tracking Software
To ensure that the ad is effective you will want to constantly test and experiment with them. This is the only way that you can ensure you are gathering the right ingredients to be successful. An integral part of advertising is figuring out which ads are attracting visitors. You may have a large variety of ads as well including banner ads, listings, ads in autoresponders and on other websites or ezines. The traffic that these ads are generating need to be tracked in some manner. There are several factors that you will want to know when advertising and determining which ads are the best including:
• Which ads receive the best response rates
• Are free classified sites worth it?
• What other ezines have been the most profitable?
• Has a sponsored newsletter ad done well compared to a standard newsletter ad?
• Are your email ads effective?
• Does the ad at the start of the newsletter do better than those at the end?
An ad tracking software program can help you to find answers to these questions. They can also help you analyze the effectiveness of each ad you use.
Ezine Ad Copy
The basic purpose of your ad is not to sell a product, but to attract people to sign up. Your ezine and website are responsible for selling your products. The key is to have an eye-catching ad that promotes your ezine. You will want a great headline, because that is the first thing that people will see. Your headline should be attractive and easy to read. Don’t use script fonts, but those that are bold and straight, such as Verdana or Arial. The headline needs to be attractive enough that potential subscribers are going to want to respond, and because people only look at the headline as most ads.
Be sure to list out the unique features that your products or service has to offer. Think about how these would benefit your subscribers. Also, examine each of the benefits and determine which ones are the most desirable. The potential customer also needs to know what they will gain from your ezine. A good strategy is to provide your ad in a paragraph form.
Keep on reading your ad over and over and make tweaks and changes where you need to. You also want to gradually reduce the content and get it down to the bare minimum, but without losing your sales edge. You will also want a one line heading that is eye-catching and descriptive. If you are offering an incentive to encourage your readers to sign up on your ezine, you will want to be sure that it is mentioned in your ad.
The size of the description of your ezine is important as well. Each publisher and directory will have their own specifications. You need to follow these while still being creative. It’s also a good idea to have several descriptions of varying lengths.
More ad tips:
• Study the ads of your competitors. What can you do better?
• Space should not be wasted. Do not use words that are unnecessary. Use abbreviations where you can.
o Avoid words such as “the,” “a,” and “an.”
• Do not ridicule your competitors.
• Your ad should target the people who would be interested in your ezine.
• Use language that is personalized and motivated.
• Use a strong call to action such as:
o “Sign up today and get a free eBook.”
o “Register Now and Win.”
Power Words
There are several words in the English language that tend to attract a lot of attention. Here is a list of a few words that tend to attract people and move them to do something.
Once you have your ad copy written, it’s time to test your ads. Experiment with different versions and designs. Testing can greatly improve the chances of your campaign being successful. A detailed analysis of each advertisement will help you to ascertain which ad gets the highest response rate.
Taking It Up a Notch
Throughout this eBook you have learned how to set up your ezine and how to advertise it. These are just the first steps in the process of setting up a successful ezine or newsletter. After a certain point in the success of your ezine, you will want to begin looking for more ways to build your lists even larger as well as how to make more money off of your list. With time you will be able to realize the potential of your ezine. This is when you can begin to take your campaign to the next level.
One of the main things you want to be sure and do is get as much of your newsletter automated as possible. This will provide you with more time to look into who your subscribers are how you can better serve them. You may not need to spend a lot of money, but as your ezine grows you will be able to spend more money to make it even better. Once you have the hang of distributing your ezine you will able to focus on gathering even more information for it and upping your marketing and advertising as well. By this time all of your administrative functions will be fully automated and taking care of things on their own.
