Why Clever Zebo Agency Added Newsletter Ads to Its B2B Playbook

There’s no question that paid social advertising is a great way to reach new audiences for your clients. However, it isn’t always the most budget-friendly solution for agencies.

After all, LinkedIn’s cost-per-click averages hover around $8-$11 per click, which can add up quickly. Fortunately, there’s a more cost-effective channel for boosting brand awareness and winning leads for your clients.

In this guide, we’ll explore a new digital ad channel for agencies: newsletter sponsorships. Then, we’ll examine how a top digital agency runs sponsorships through Paved to win qualified leads for its clients.

What are newsletter sponsorships?

Newsletter sponsorships are paid ads in email newsletters that target engaged audiences. They blend in with the surrounding content, much like YouTube or podcast partnerships. In contrast to email marketing, newsletter advertising borrows the trust and credibility of an existing publication.

Like other types of digital content, newsletters inform, educate, and provide entertainment. However, unlike oversaturated advertising platforms such as Facebook Ads, Google Ads, and LinkedIn, newsletter audiences have a higher level of engagement.

While other forms of online advertising grapple with issues like privacy concerns, fraudulent accounts, algorithmic challenges, and ad fatigue, newsletter advertising effectively bypasses these obstacles.

Why should agencies try newsletter sponsorships?

Newsletter sponsorships are an excellent way for agencies to help clients reach their marketing goals. Here are some reasons why:

• •Engaged and loyal audience
  Readers already trust the newsletter publisher and are interested in the topic. This can increase your brand awareness, traffic, and conversions. Plus, email tends to beat other channels in engagement and ROI, with some studies estimating an average return of $36 for every $1 spent on email.
• •Targeted and relevant ads in your client’s niche
  A Mantis Research survey found that 60% of adults subscribe to at least one email newsletter. By sponsoring a relevant and reputable newsletter, brands can increase credibility and authority in their niche. You can choose newsletters that match your client’s industry, product, or service, and reach potential customers looking for solutions.
• •Cost-effective and scalable.
  With newsletter sponsorships, you can set your own budget and frequency, and measure the performance of your campaigns using metrics like open rate, click-through rate, and conversions.
• •Future-proof and privacy-friendly content
  Unlike social media ads, newsletter sponsorships are not affected by ad blockers, algorithm changes, or data privacy regulations. You can deliver your message directly to the subscriber’s inbox without any barriers.

Introduction to newsletter advertising through Paved

Digital advertising platforms like Paved curate thousands of high-quality publishers in one central place so you don’t have to spend time finding perfect advertising partners for clients.

Our sponsorship Marketplace serves advertisers and agencies of all sizes, from big brands to startups. We also run the Paved Ad Network, where you can book hyper-targeted programmatic ad campaigns in relevant email newsletters.

The benefits of Paved for agencies

Newsletter sponsorships on Paved can save time and increase efficiency for agencies in several ways:

• •Affordability
  For traditional sponsorships, most publications work out between $1 and $5 CPC (cost per click), but the cost can vary depending on factors like list size and audience engagement. CPC typically averages around $1.10-$6 per click for programmatic newsletter ads. In contrast to other types of advertisements like LinkedIn, Paved offers significant savings.
• •Less manual research and testing
  With verified newsletter reviews and AI-backed audience matching, Paved removes the guesswork from advertising partnerships. Agencies can use Paved to find and book verified email publications that match their clients’ goals, ideal customer profiles, and budgets.
• •Automated ad delivery and tracking
  With Paved, agencies don’t have to worry about setting up ad servers, managing ad inventory, or dealing with technical issues. The platform handles ad placement, payment, distribution, and reporting so the agencies can focus on the strategy and results. Paved also provides analytics and reporting tools to measure the performance and ROI of each campaign.

Testing Paved for agencies: a case study with Clever Zebo

Recently, we chatted with the team at Clever Zebo, a premier digital marketing agency, to talk about their experiments with advertising in newsletters. Read on to find out how they used Paved to win new leads at a fraction of the cost of other platforms like LinkedIn.

About Clever Zebo

Clever Zebo is a boutique digital marketing agency specializing in paid ads, lead generation, and A/B testing.

They primarily work with growing B2B software companies, and they’re renowned for their hands-on approach and results-driven strategies. The agency specializes in direct response advertising platforms like Google Ads, Facebook ads, and LinkedIn ads.

Finding a new paid advertising channel

Clever Zebo needed a more cost-effective way to capture new leads for their B2B clients. Although LinkedIn ads worked well for many of their clients, the team decided to try something different.

A client introduced them to the Paved Ad Network, a programmatic advertising platform for newsletters. Unlike traditional in-feed ads, Paved’s ads appear in trusted newsletters like Newser, Mozilla Pocket Hits, Fortune, MSNBC Daily, and more.

The Challenge

• •Reach professional audiences for B2B clients
• •Generate highly qualified leads at a reasonable cost per acquisition (CPA)

The Solution

• •Launch newsletter ads with the Paved Ad Network
• •Re-use creatives from successful LinkedIn Ads
• •Target ads based on job function, seniority, and company size

Why Paved?

• •Powerful professional targeting options
• •Robust audience segments in multiple industries
• •Easy A/B testing and optimization for creative
• •Low-cost solution with no spending commitments

The Results

• •LinkedIn-level results for less budget, including great MQLs at a low CPA.

Testing B2B lead generation on Paved

To begin, Clever Zebo replicated their top-performing LinkedIn ads and ran them on the Paved Ad Network. Using similar audience targeting —like VPs at startups, for example—the agency pursued professional leads with gated content and tailored landing pages. Their landing pages were optimized for lead generation, featuring lead capture forms.

On the Paved platform, they explored two different types of targeting:

• •Predefined audiences:
  This option helped the team target specific groups. For example, let's say you want to target “startup VPs in the US." Or “startups that just received funding”. Paved has a library of predefined audiences exactly like that. You can also request your own custom audience builds.
• •Contextual targeting:
  Targeting people who’ve shown an interest in a specific website, learned professional skills, or engaged with online content.

The agency monitored campaign success using metrics like CTRs (Click-Through Rates), conversion rate, CPA (Cost per Acquisition), and tracked engagement metrics in Google Analytics. They also looked at MQLs (marketing qualified leads) and opportunities reported by their CRM.

Tips for advertising success on Paved

• •Use photos of people (lifestyle images) in your creative rather than your logo for better CTRs.

• •Try ad creatives from other platforms. In fact, Paved will automatically scan the web for previous Google and FB ads and place them into your Ad Library for easy re-use.
• •When advertising gated content, drive clicks with a compelling offer like a free webinar, an e-book, or promotional items.
• •Make sure you A/B test at least 2-3 different versions of your creative. For example, you can test two different ad headlines to see what your target audience clicks the most.

See more ad creative tips in our guide: Best Practices for Paved Ad Network Creative

The results from Paved

After running campaigns with Paved, the Clever Zebo team was thrilled with the results. They said, “During our first month, our results closely matched what we achieved from LinkedIn Ads (in regards to CPA and MQL rates). Paved is more cost-effective on CPC and has similar targeting capabilities.”

Paved's Ad Network allowed Clever Zebo to test newsletter sponsorships with a low-cost solution and no spending commitments. They found the targeting capabilities surprising and effective, enabling them to reach specific audiences based on job title, company size, and industry.

Overall, the Paved Ad Network helped the Clever Zebo agency effectively reach its target audience and achieve its lead generation goals for its B2B clients. Clever Zebo plans to roll it out to more clients, considering it a valuable channel for lead generation.

“Paved is a must-test channel for every B2B marketer looking to scale up their lead generation efforts,” they said. “Their robust targeting caught us by surprise, with the ability to target by job title, company size, and industry.”

Start your email advertising journey on Paved

Email ads are a powerful way to reach engaged audiences, promote your content, and drive valuable actions—whether that’s signups, event registrations, or brand awareness. By choosing the right newsletters, matching your ad’s voice to the publication, and continuously testing and optimizing, you can create campaigns that truly resonate with your target audience.

Ready to see how email advertising can elevate your agency's strategy? With Paved, you can easily find the best newsletters to reach your ideal audience, access custom media plans for bulk booking, and run effective campaigns that deliver results. Explore Paved’s Marketplace today and connect with top publications that align with your brand.