FEATURE
✨ Preview Ads Instantly, Deliver in One Click

If you’re juggling different advertisers every day, you know how tedious (and risky 💸) it can be to manually adapt and paste links and assets into clunky HTML snippets. It’s easy to make mistakes, and it eats up your time.

Wouldn’t it be easier to just copy the final ad HTML directly from Sponsy into your favorite ESP? Even better: what if your advertisers could see exactly how their ad will look, live, as soon as they upload their assets?

Maybe something like this?

Well, you’re in the right place. Sponsy’s new Ad Block feature lets you define custom HTML that we’ll use to generate the final ad markup and live previews, both for you and for your advertisers.

How to Get Started

1. Create your Ad Block

Head to Sponsy, open your publication settings and create a new ad block.

You’ll choose which placement it’s for, then define the HTML content. This is the same HTML snippet you’re usually adapting in your ESP. Just use the corresponding variables for your placement fields.

Sound a bit technical? No worries, we’re happy to do it for you. Just forward your newsletter with the ad to [email protected], and we’ll take care of it.

2. That’s it! Preview away :)

Once your ad block is set, go to the Content tab of any ad that has assets. Click “Preview” to see the final result. You’ll also be able to copy the ready-to-go HTML straight into your clipboard and paste it into your ESP.

Pretty cool, right?

Bonus: Show the Preview to Advertisers Too

Want your advertisers to see how their ad will look while submitting assets? Easy.

When creating your ad block, just toggle on “Use in Portal.”

Once that’s enabled, the live preview will show up right next to the asset upload form in the advertiser portal. This tiny change makes a big difference—now your advertisers can visualize their ad exactly as it’ll appear in your newsletter before it hits inboxes.

What are you waiting for? Go try it now (and don’t hesitate to reach out, we’re always here to help you set things up!).

Big thanks to Elio from Tsüri, Manu from Stacked Marketer, and everyone who helped us bring this to life ❤️

QUICK BITES
From the community

🤝 Stop selling ads. Build partnerships - link

🎙️ What I learned at The Newsletter Conference this year - link

🚂 The Ad Sales Cheat Sheet - link

🤩 Share beautiful and professional ad reports for FREE - link

EVENT
⏪ Notes from The Newsletter Conference

On May 2nd, the best newsletter operators from around the world gathered in NYC for the second edition of The Newsletter Conference—proudly sponsored by Sponsy this year!

We knew many of you would be there, so we couldn’t miss it. We packed our bags and flew 9 hours from Europe to be part of the action.

You can find the full list of panels and shared resources here. But what really stuck with us?

First: The newsletter community is awesome.

There’s genuine enthusiasm, friendliness, a strong desire to learn and improve, and a willingness to share what’s working (and what’s not!). We’re definitely on the lookout for more IRL events—and who knows, maybe a Sponsy conference one day? 😄

Second: The smartest folks in the room are driven by data.

Don't get us wrong. Writing what you’re passionate about and hitting "send" is always the first step. But to grow beyond that, data is everything.

How do you know if your advertisers are truly engaged? Adam Ryan from Workweek emphasized that while owning your audience is important, building resonance with them is even more critical. Here are a few key metrics to keep an eye on:

1. Total opens / unique opens ratio – A measure of virality. If it’s over 1, you’re golden.

2. Advertiser CTR – Don’t fake it. Focus on better ad creative and content that actually connects.

3. Churn rate over time – Let your audience self-select. A higher early churn is fine—as long as the audience that sticks around keeps reading.

💡 Shameless plug: These 3 metrics are available effortlessly in Sponsy 😉

Sean Griffey, former CEO of Industry Dive, drove home the point: don’t wait too long to think about data. That’s how they nailed “niche at scale”. Using data strategically, TLDR grew from 1 to 12 publications in under two years.

So, how do you get started?

You probably already know. 😬 As Sean put it, the trick is simply: begin.

Here’s a simple list of things you can do today:

• Add more questions to your signup form (or ask progressively after signup)

• Use one-click surveys

• Track opens and clicks, and tag subscribers based on behavior

• Use lead magnets to signal interest and gather data—what someone downloads tells you a lot, and you can ask for more info in return

One last talk worth mentioning:

“5 Trends to Watch in Newsletters” by Dan from Inbox Collective. It was packed with real data and super actionable tips to make sure your newsletter actually lands in inboxes. Here’s the full slide deck.

See you next year? ✈️📬

CASE STUDY
Overstory Media Group

WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS ARE SAYING
Rough Draft Atlanta