How much is an email newsletter worth?

[DrPaul]

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Beginner question from me.

So, this may be somewhat of a "how long is a piece of string" question but are there any rules of thumb for estimating the advertising value of an as-yet un-monetized email list?

We have a project based on live events that has yielded a bit of a list and we're wondering what other resources to throw at the project's continuation. To help work this out, we're trying to get SOME idea of what possible cash there will be at the end of it all. As yet, we have only used the list to send out the specific news that our subscribers asked for. We haven't run any affiliate or other ads.

List details:
Size: about 2500 and growing roughly 300 per month
Permission: all fully opted-in
Mail frequency: weekly
Open rate: about 50%
Targeting: All subscribers are in Scotland, are mums (or dads, but 95% of subscribers are female) with young families. All subscribers are interested in saving money on the cost of raising kids.


Any ideas?

[accelerator]

Try the E-mail Marketing Reports site and their blog for answers.

Rgds

[ChrisJohnson]

Beginner question from me.

So, this may be somewhat of a "how long is a piece of string" question but are there any rules of thumb for estimating the advertising value of an as-yet un-monetized email list?

We have a project based on live events that has yielded a bit of a list and we're wondering what other resources to throw at the project's continuation. To help work this out, we're trying to get SOME idea of what possible cash there will be at the end of it all. As yet, we have only used the list to send out the specific news that our subscribers asked for. We haven't run any affiliate or other ads.

List details:
Size: about 2500 and growing roughly 300 per month
Permission: all fully opted-in
Mail frequency: weekly
Open rate: about 50%
Targeting: All subscribers are in Scotland, are mums (or dads, but 95% of subscribers are female) with young families. All subscribers are interested in saving money on the cost of raising kids.


Any ideas?

If you're selling space in your mailing list then it'll be a different value compared to whether you're planning to use your own affiliate ads in it. Main reason is you can't estimate affiliate commissions, but you can sell ad-space due to your rather specific demographics.

The fact that it is yet to be monetised in any form could well dampen your open rate when you start 'selling' to your database, a healthy open rate for email marketing would be around the 20-25% mark - see this set of averages from MailChimp by industry.

Depending on what you're 'selling' from an Affiliate Ads perspective you could test the water, offering minor advertisements within your mailshot to the DB, rather than have someone who's bought ad space directly from you and sells a bit too hard!

Once you've tested a bit more you'll have a better idea of how active your mailing list is, and also by trialling different affiliate ads and categories you'll be able to get a further understanding of your list - following which you can then sell your ad-space for more £££'s to advertisers.