What is a good open rate for a newsletter?

Industry average is 20–25%. Anything above 35% is excellent and commands pricing premiums with sponsors. Newsletters focused on specific professional niches (developers, founders, marketers) often see 40–60% open rates from their core audience.

How do I find newsletter sponsors?

Direct outreach to companies whose products align with your audience is the most effective approach. Sponsorship marketplaces like Paved, Sponsy, and Newsletter Crew also connect newsletters with brands. Once you have a proven audience, inbound sponsorship inquiries will come naturally.

What is a good open rate for a newsletter?

Industry average is 20–25%. Anything above 35% is excellent and commands pricing premiums with sponsors. Newsletters focused on specific professional niches (developers, founders, marketers) often see 40–60% open rates from their core audience.

How do I find newsletter sponsors?

Direct outreach to companies whose products align with your audience is the most effective approach. Sponsorship marketplaces like Paved, Sponsy, and Newsletter Crew also connect newsletters with brands. Once you have a proven audience, inbound sponsorship inquiries will come naturally.

Newsletter

Newsletter Sponsorship Calculator

Price newsletter sponsorships accurately based on subscriber count, open rate, click rate, and niche. Understand what top newsletters charge and why.

Newsletter Details

Subscribers

Total email list size

Average Open Rate

Industry avg is 20–25%. 35%+ is excellent.

Click Rate

% of openers who click a link

Newsletter Niche

Sends per Month

Sponsors per Issue

Primary + secondary sponsor slots

Newsletter Sponsorship Revenue

Rate per Issue

$381 – $762

Target: $545

Monthly Revenue

$1,525 – $3,049

Annual Revenue

$26.1K

Active Readers (opens)

4.0K

Effective CPM on Openers

$136.13

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How the Formula Works

Formula

Rate per Issue = (Subscribers / 1,000) × CPM × Open Rate Adj × Click Rate Adj Monthly Revenue = Rate × Sends × Sponsors per Issue

Variables

CPMCost Per Mille on subscribers — varies by niche: Finance $65, B2B $55, Tech $45, General $15

Open Rate AdjMultiplier for open rate quality. 35%+ open rate commands a premium over the 20% industry average.

SendsNumber of newsletter issues sent per month

Worked Example

Tech newsletter, 15,000 subscribers, 45% open rate, sent weekly (4/month), 1 sponsor/issue. Rate = (15,000/1,000) × $45 × 1.2 = $810/issue. Monthly = $810 × 4 = $3,240.

Newsletter CPM vs. Social Media CPM

Newsletter advertising commands some of the highest CPMs in digital media because email readers are self-selected and highly engaged. A finance newsletter with 10,000 subscribers and 40% open rate often earns more per sponsor than an Instagram account with 100,000 followers. Direct audience ownership is what makes newsletters financially superior to most social platforms.

Frequently Asked Questions

You can start pitching sponsors with as few as 500–1,000 highly engaged subscribers in a valuable niche. A small B2B newsletter with exceptional open rates can command $200–$500 per issue. Size matters less than open rate and audience quality.