No independent publisher can survive on accolades alone. If you’re building a publication to deliver important news to your community, you need money — and all the awards in the world won’t pay the bills. However, digital advertising, particularly through sponsored content, can.
Sponsored content not only provides a reliable revenue stream but also allows you to align advertisers with your audience’s interests, helping you sustain your publication while delivering value to your community.
Is sponsored content worth it?
“Journalists have to be paid for their work,” says Ramona Wildeman, Sponsorships Manager at Indiegraf. Typically, reader subscriptions aren’t enough to cover salaries, benefits, office space, equipment costs and other expenses on their own. So many indie publishers turn to direct advertising deals and sponsorships.
That includes Tone Madison, a Wisconsin-based arts and politics publication. Since their founding in 2014, they’ve racked up an eclectic list of longstanding sponsors: the University of Wisconsin-Madison (one of the largest employers in town), the Wisconsin Book Festival and a worker-owned taxi company called Union Cab. “It’s not a huge list,” says Scott Gordon, Tone Madison’s publisher, “but they’re folks who have all been consistently very good to work with.”
Wildeman says deals with advertisers and sponsorships can give indie publications some breathing room. Instead of constantly launching fundraising campaigns, publishers can carve out a budget through sponsored content and paid ads. “You’re not constantly chasing that money,” Wildeman says. “That’s the ideal situation.”
Here’s a guide to sales and sponsorships for indie publications of any stripe.
Why sponsors prefer newsletter placements
Indie publishers have all sorts of options to drive digital advertising, from paid ads to sponsored content. But Wildeman says newsletter spots are ideal for advertisers. “That’s where you’ve got a captive and engaged audience,” Wildeman says. “Generally speaking, that’s the best return for the sponsors.”
Advertisers want engaged audiences who are willing to click and convert into paying customers, and regular newsletter readers typically fit the bill.
The relationship between a newsletter and its readers also serves as a far better metric for advertisers than click-through traffic on an ad. “The person who willingly signed up for the newsletter is going to open it, because they’ve got a relationship with the person who’s creating it, and they trust the content that’s being delivered,” Wildeman says.
How do I choose the right sponsor?
It can be tempting, especially in the early days, to take sponsorship opportunities from anyone. One of Tone Madison’s longest-serving advertisers is the Madison Music Foundry, a rehearsal space and recording studio for musicians. While they’ve been great advertisers, Gordon says he’s always been very ambivalent about taking a lot of money from venues or concert promoters.
“I don’t want our coverage to come off as just promotional for venues and promoters,” he says, “even the ones that we like, or that we think well of.” Selling ads to people who might also try and butt into coverage, especially critical coverage, would be a tricky situation for Tone Madison. “It just creates such a mess, and it’s not a good recipe for having a publication that your readers can trust,” says Gordon.
Then there’s the issue of sponsored content. The practice, sometimes seen as controversial for blending the realms of editorial and advertising realms, can be tricky for a small indie publication to pull off without violating editorial independence. “Sponsored content works for some publications,” Wildeman says. “And for some, it’s not good.”
Don’t wait until you have the perfect media kit
In a nutshell, a media kit is the basic package publishers give to advertisers that outlines their value proposition, types of advertising, and — most importantly — their rates. Wildeman says there’s nothing inherently wrong with having one. The act of putting together a media kit, she adds, can be validating for a publisher.
Publishers shouldn’t wait until they have a perfect media kit to start selling ads. “If you’ve got 5,000 subscribers, that’s 5,000 people — you don’t need to have something fancy,” Wildeman says. All you really need is a compelling statement about what you have to offer as a publication, any audience demographics, and the basics of your open rate or click-through traffic for wherever your ads are running on your website or newsletter.
💡PRO TIP: Unlock the potential of your publication by watching our exclusive webinar recording, “How to Get Started Selling Your First Ads.“
Media kits also aren’t a replacement for the sales process. When a prospective advertiser asks for your rates, Wildeman says, you need to use it as an opportunity to build a relationship with them rather than sending over a PDF with your ad prices. “Don’t put your prices in your media kit,” she says. “Then you can have another discussion about the pricing.” After all, the price you charge as a newly-launched publication with 1,500 subscribers isn’t going to be the same as when you have 5,000.
Relationships beat negotiations
For publishers unused to advertising, crafting that initial sales proposal to a small business, event, or community organization can be the toughest part of the process. They might not even know who you are. To Wildeman, putting your publication on the map is your first priority. “The likelihood of them going to advertising if they don’t even have a clue you exist — it’s probably not going to fly,” she says.
Boost your paid sponsorship revenue with expert tips on effective communication! 👉 “How to develop sponsor-centric messaging: An Indiegraf Experts guide”
So start your sales proposal to a potential advertising partner with a quick introduction and a link to your newsletter. Give them a chance to peruse, and really understand what you’re delivering to your audience every day. Alternatively, if you’ve got an individual news story that does well, let your new prospect know. Ultimately, you’re trying to turn a hard sales pitch into an ongoing conversation with a client about what you offer, and how you could be useful to them.
This is an approach Tone Madison is moving toward. “We’ve tried to get a little intentional about following up with long-term sponsors,” Gordon says. “I feel like that’s a better use of our time, on that front, than doing cold outreach and bringing in a bunch of new sponsors.” So far, it seems to be working. In 2023 alone, Tone Madison brought in $30,500 in sponsorship from businesses and nonprofits, according to its latest public financial report.
You can power your news business with Indiegraf Experts. Now you can hire our skilled experts to expand your reach, grow your reader revenue, build a paid sponsorships strategy, and more – on a recurring basis or by project.
