Introduction
If you have an email newsletter, finding ways to monetize it is a critical step in becoming financially sustainable. One effective method of monetization is by offering a presenting sponsor advertising opportunity.
This advertising opportunity allows advertisers to target a specific audience and communicate with them directly, bypassing ad blockers and achieving higher engagement compared to traditional display ads.
Note: Only image ads can be served to email zones. Consequently, after building the ad items using native ad templates, we will need to generate an image and serve it as the ad instead of the native ad.
đ Key Takeaways
â It is recommended to have a separate Campaign for Native Ads under each Advertiser. Use native templates to build ads within these Campaigns. Additionally, create separate Campaigns for image ads (or groups of image ads) that can be assigned to zones. Avoid reusing old Campaigns or Zone Assignments.
â Only image ads are compatible with email, so using native templates for email ads involves two steps:
Build the native ad using a template, save it, and generate the creative.
Build an image ad using the generated creative, save it, and assign it to the ad zone.
â There are two options for header recognition:
Named header recognition (550 x 50px)
Logo header recognition (250 x 175px)
â The image in your ad spot should have one of the following aspect ratios:
3:2 | 4:3 | 16:9 |
(960x640)(1,200 x 800 px) | (640 x 480 px) (800 x 600 px) | (1,920 x 1,080 px) (1,280 x 720 px) |
â If an ad item appears squashed or stretched in the preview, it is likely to display the same way in your newsletter or on your website. To fix display issues, check your ad creative and ad size.
â Do not generate ad creative until you have sent screenshot proofs of the ad(s) to your advertisers for approval. It is much easier to make edits during the native ad part.
Part I: Header Recognition
All presenting sponsor advertising opportunities should include an ad spot (outline below) and header recognition. There are two types of header recognition to choose from: named recognition and logo recognition.
Named Header Recognition
Navigate to the relevant advertiser and create a new campaign (or open an existing one)
Click Add Ad Item, the Add Ad Item window will appear
Click Native (Custom Rendering/API)
Enter a name for the ad item
Leave the Destination URL empty
Enter a custom Ad Size of 550 x 50 px
Select the Email: Presenting Sponsor NAMED Header Recognition template, the template variables will appear
Main Brand Color: enter the HEX code for your main brand colour, i.e. #326C88
Sponsor Notation: select from the dropdown, i.e. Brought To You By
Recognition Name: enter the advertiserâs name
At the bottom of the ad item, click Save Ad Item
Navigate back to the relevant Campaign, click the checkbox beside the ad item you just built
Click Preview and the ad item preview window will appear, use this to ensure the header recognition is displaying correctly
Take a screenshot and send it to your advertiser as proof before moving on to part III (generating creative)
Logo Header Recognition
Horizontal rectangle and square logos fit the logo's header recognition zone the best. Tall and narrow logos will not fit properly.
Navigate to the relevant advertiser and create a new campaign (or open an existing one)
Click Add Ad Item, the Add Ad Item window will appear
Click Native (Custom Rendering/API)
Enter a name for the ad item
Leave the Destination URL empty
Enter a custom Ad Size of 250 x 175 px
Select the Email: Presenting Sponsor LOGO Header Recognition template, the template variables will appear
Main Brand Color: enter the HEX code for your main brand colour, i.e. #326C88
Sponsor Notation: select from the dropdown, i.e. Brought To You By
Logo Image: upload the sponsorâs logo here by selecting Library and clicking Browse
At the bottom of the ad item, click Save Ad Item
Navigate back to the relevant Campaign, click the checkbox beside the ad item you just built
Click Preview and the ad item preview window will appear, use this to ensure the header recognition is displaying correctly
Take a screenshot and send it to your advertiser as proof before moving on to part III (generating creative)
Part II: Ad Spot
Now youâre ready to build the ad spot for your presenting sponsor advertising opportunity. This ad spot is done in native style so that it matches the look and feel of your newsletter. Native ads are highly valuable because they are less likely to be skipped over and ignored.
Navigate to the relevant advertiser and create a new campaign (or open an existing one)
Click Add Ad Item, the Add Ad Item window will appear
Click Native (Custom Rendering/API)
Enter a name for the ad item
Leave the Destination URL empty
Enter a custom Ad Size of 550 x 725 px
Select the Email: Presenting Sponsor Ad Spot template, the template variables will appear
Fill in the variables:
Main Brand Color: enter the HEX code for your main brand colour, i.e. #326C88
Ad Spot Image: upload the sponsorâs ad image here, the image should fit one of the following aspect ratios: 3:2, 4:3, or 16:9.
Recognition Name: enter the advertiserâs name in all caps
Headline: up to 16 words max (~105 characters)
Line 1: split the copy into line 1 and line 2
Line 2: split the copy into line 1 and line 2
Call to Action: include a simple action for readers to take, i.e. âClick here to buy your ticketsâ
At the bottom of the ad item, click Save Ad Item
Navigate back to the relevant Campaign, click the checkbox beside the ad item you just built
Click Preview and the ad item preview window will appear, use this to ensure the header recognition is displaying correctly
Take a screenshot and send it to your advertiser as proof before moving on to part III (generating creative)
Note: The ad spot copy (line 1, line 2, and the call to action) should be 50 words max (~295 - 300 characters) in order to fit the available ad space. Depending on the size of the ad image, you will be able to include more or less text. Previewing the ad will show you whether the ad copy fits or if it needs to be edited.
Part III: Generating Creative & Building Image Ads
Tip: Do not generate ad creative until you have sent screenshot proofs of the ad(s) to your advertisers for approval. It is much easier to make edits during the native ad part. |
As mentioned above, only image ads can be served to email ad zones. Once you have finished building the ad units using the native ad templates, you will need to generate creative.
From within the relevant advertiser campaign, click the 3 dots to the right of your ad unit
Select Generate Creative, the Create Image window will appear
Ensure the correct Ad Size is entered into the width and height
Select your publication under the Media Group dropdown
Click Generate
Once the creative has been generated, you are ready to build the image ad that will be assigned to your email zone.
Create a Campaign
Navigate to the relevant advertiser in Indie Ads Manager
Click Add Campaign
Select Standard Campaign from the New Campaign window.
Enter a name for the campaign, we recommend using naming conventions so that it is easier to pull ad reports. i.e., âAd Type - Campaignâ
Click Create Campaign
Build an Image Ad Item
Click on the campaign you just created
Click Add Ad Item
Select Image from the Ad Item Type window.
Give your ad a name. We recommend using naming conventions. i.e., âAd Type - Campaign Name - Sizeâ
Upload the ad creative. Click Library and Upload an image from your computer.
Enter the Destination URL for the ad. This is where readers will be taken if they click on the ad.
Input the ad size; make sure that the dimensions of the Ad Size match the size of the ad zone to which the campaign will be assigned.
Click Save Ad Item. You will be taken back to the campaign section and the ad item you created will be listed.
Part IV: Assigning Ad Items
You have now built out the presenting sponsor advertising opportunity and you are ready to assign it. You must complete these steps for both the header recognition and the ad spot.
Navigate to the advertiser and campaign that contains the image ad items you built out from the creative generated from your native ad templates
Click Assign to Zone, the window for eligible zones will appear
Find the appropriate zone and click the checkmark beside the ad zone name
OPTIONAL: adjust the priority for the ad
Choose your delivery style, in this example, we will use Fixed Delivery, and the rest of the ad assignment options will populate
Choose your delivery pacing, the system will default to âdeliver impressions as quickly as possible
Click the checkbox to Enable Schedule and input start and end dates
OPTIONAL: adjust the weight, add a quota, and determine under-delivery behaviour
Scroll down and click Save
Once you save the assignment, you will see it under the Zone Assignments section of the campaign.
Note: You can also adjust the ad priority, weight, quota, under-delivery behaviour, frequency capping, and targeting options. These are optional settings, you can learn more about them in our knowledge base.
đ¨Build Your Own: Sample Ad Content
Use the following content to build your own native-style presenting sponsor advertisement! Choose between the two header recognition options.