Newsletters, video and lists: Unique sponsorship ideas that work for publishers

There are some very interesting sponsorship opportunities media companies can offer brands that go way beyond ads on section fronts and logos on newsletters.

You can offer advertisers the opportunity to be around content they love, share their message in a way that seamlessly blends in with your products and helps drive leads to their business.

I want to share three sponsorship opportunities that exist today that I think any media company can tap into. These can be sold as standalone products, but they are perfect candidates to be bundled with other services you might be offering.

Here are three that I really love:

1. Sponsor messages in newsletters

This is an example from one of the best local media newsletters out there, RoughDraft Atlanta, that features sponsor messages throughout their newsletters.

I had the fortune to work with their owner Keith Pepper and RoughDraft throughout 2023 and saw firsthand the power of their growing newsletter and how they worked these sponsored messages into their newsletter.

I love this idea because it flows so well with narrative-based newsletters as it provides readers information from advertisers in a reading experience that is similar to the text they are already reading in that newsletter.

Yes, traditional ad units work well in newsletters, but these are even better because they provide room to do everything from promote an event, a product, or a service, in a way that uses the power of words to help a brand promote their message.

2. Featuring advertisers in organic lists

Many publishers are creating summer camp stories right now featuring the best camps to attend in their communities. It’s a huge opportunity to think about how to fold advertisers into those popular stories.

One of my favorite approaches is to organically create those camp guides (and create lots of themes like best art camps, sports camps, etc.) and then give advertisers the chance to be featured at the top of those listings.

It’s important to be very transparent with your audience if you sell a product like this. Simply create a section at the top that lets readers know these camps paid to be in this story and then a section at the bottom that lists other camps that readers may be interested in that are not paid.

I like this approach so much because this is truly how people are going to find the content, via articles that list the best camps or classes or restaurants, or whatever list you have that could be a fit for an advertiser to fit into.

The key is that the advertiser’s entries are written and formatted the same as the organic content and have the same kind of standards and quality applied.

While I know that directories and display ads are a popular thing to offer advertisers for camps, getting the advertiser directly in stories parents are reading when they are trying to make decisions for their families, is simply the most effective vehicle.

3. Every list is a Reels opportunity

When a publisher creates a best list like, the top places to eat for Valentine’s Day, each of the businesses they feature is a sales opportunity.

And I think Reels makes for such a great product to help the advertiser deliver their message.

Once that content is created, it’s an opportunity for your sales team to reach out to that business and congratulate them on being featured and then offer them a sponsorship opportunity through various products you have. But I think Reels are probably the biggest opportunity.

Provide that restaurant or attraction the opportunity to have a Reel created just for them showcasing why they made your list. There are clearly other products you could add on here like sponsored content.

I love this idea because it comes from organic content where your editorial team decided the best of the best in your community and now your sales team has an opportunity to use that content to create opportunities for that business.

Let us help your media company build sponsorship programs like the ones featured here.

Email me today at david@davidarkinconsulting.com or call me at 832-407-0188.