Ad Swap

Ad swaps are a valuable way to increase the size of an email newsletter mailing list. Consistently adding to the number of e-newsletter recipients is key to maximizing an online marketing campaign. Many businesses often collaborate in this way to reach a new or extended audience. In a standard ad swap, two businesses or organizations will send out a message using their partner’s list. This message, to all of their opt-in recipients, usually recommends their partner and a link to the partner’s free opt-in page. No payment is exchanged because both parties expect the benefit of adding more people who are interested in their products, services, or issue.

To begin an ad swap, an email marketer should have four elements in place: 1) a partner with a strong mailing list relevant to their needs; 2) an opt-in page where the other partner will send traffic; 3) hosting for the opt-in page; and 4) an auto-responder service to verify the new subscriber and/or welcome them as a new user. The specifics of these elements will change depending on each marketer’s needs.

The success, and equality of ad swaps depends on a number of factors. The first and most obvious factor is list size. If one partner’s list is substantially larger than the other, the trade-off may not be equitable. To make up for this disparity, the partner with the smaller list may send multiple messages on behalf of the other marketer to their recipients, or target their audience through other digital channels.

Success is also dependent on how well the subscribers respond. If a partner’s subscribers know, like and trust the sender, outside marketing messages may be welcomed and acted upon. If subscribers do not often trust or engage in messages, success is unlikely for one or both participants in an ad swap. Of course, the relevancy of the campaign to the new audience is key. For the best results, email marketers should look for partners whose audience will be largely interested in their message. Though some recipients may opt-in from the ad swap campaign, the greatest benefit will be recruiting list members who will engage in future campaign messages.