Can you monetize a SaaS newsletter?
My product's mailing list is quite high with over 100,000 registered users, and considering the traffic of non-registered users as well I feel like if I launched a curated newsletter, meaning one connected to the app's brand, it wouldn't take long to reach >10,000 subscribers.
As I've been looking to create a way to gain revenue from the non-paying users, with display ads out of discussion (the app heavily relies on the visual experience and I won't ruin that), I was considering a newsletter, with sponsorships as the main possible income.
The question is: who would sponsor a SaaS's newsletter? In this specific case, the content would be about productivity with the audience being students and young professionals, but I obviously can't sponsor direct competitors or alternatives.
What do you think? Is it worth putting the effort into curating a weekly issue?
make an advertiser page with some metrics such as open rates list size and frequency of sends and invite marketers from linkedin.
Seems like a no brainer to me. You have a nicely targeted audience that I am sure brands would want to sponsor. Although I don't have any experience in finding / partnering with sponsors, so I am unable to help you there.
On a side note though - have you thought about incorporating sponsors into the artwork of your app? I guess you would need to contact the artist to re-draw the image, but I think you could have like a notice board for example, in the same art style, that has a sponsor on it. I'm imagining a Starbucks sponsorship of the coffee shop lol. Could be cool and wouldnt be nearly as annoying as a google ad banner or something like that.
Only thing is, what brands? I'm imagining other productivity tools might be interested in sponsoring such a newsletter, but I'm obviously not going to advertise a competitor. Maybe a more niche-specific one, but still, most of them are (even not direct) competitors for to-do lists, timers, and such. I'm thinking of a section of the newsletter to feature workspaces/desk setups, which could lead to interest in it for accessories brands (Groovemade, to name one of my favorites). Maybe platforms like SkillShare could have an interest as well, I definitely need to do some more in-depth research.
Incorporating sponsors in the art is something I haven't thought of, it's something I'd consider only in very specific cases where it really doesn't feel forced. Might look more into it in the future thought, thanks for the input :)
In addition to the other suggestions, I think there are lots of companies in the productivity space that you are not competitors with. I'm thinking of note taking and writing apps, e.g., Scrivener or Roam, calendar apps, e.g., Calendly, summary apps, e.g., Blinkist, or grammar apps, e.g., Ludwig. I also think travel and lifestyle product and services companies would be interested in reaching your user base. You've got an awesome product, and I think there are lots and lots of opportunities to pursue - exciting stuff!
Summary apps are an interesting take, I also use Blinkist from time to time. Thank you for the advice and kind words, I'm going to work on the newsletter's concept and post an update either here or on twitter :)
yeah I think learning platforms could work, along with mental health or even meditation type platforms like Calm or Headspace. And yeah 100% agree with accessories brands being a nice idea.
I've read that you do influencer marketing right? Maybe check what other brands have been working with the same influencers as you. As they are targeting the same audience, maybe theyd want to work with you
Yup even though I haven't done any paid marketing since February as I've been focused on improving the platform, definitely will need to get back to it in September. Not a big cold outreach guy to be honest, but I reckon there may be interesting opportunities with this type of things