Morning Brew is a newsletter company founded in 2015 by Alex Lieberman and Austin Rief while they were students at the University of Michigan.

It started as a daily newsletter focused on business and finance, but things escalated quickly and they have now grown to over 2 million subscribers and have recently been acquired by Insider Inc. with a rumored valuation of $75M.

Sounds crazy right?

But that’s not all. If you think you can’t really make money from a newsletter - think again, because Morning Brew will teach you a thing or two about monetisation that you probably didn’t think of.

100% of their revenue is derived through advertising, sponsorships, and partnerships. They offer various ad placement options with pricing estimates ranging from $15k to $75k, depending on the level of visibility and bundle deals with long-term brand partners.

Let’s dig into their numbers

• Total subscribers: 2,700,000.

• Unique openers: 1,100,000 giving them a 40% open rate.

• Advertising price: $15~$75k for primary sponsorship placement

• CTOR: 1.36% or an estimated 15,000 unique clicks.

These are pretty good numbers wouldn’t you say, but how can we make them better.

The Teardown

#1 - Stay above the fold

It is important to make sure all elements are easily visible above the fold on all devices as much as reasonably possible. Having all form elements above the fold on mobile can significantly increase conversion rates for lead generation, as much as 30% or 50% since on average 80% of traffic are on mobile.

#2 - Remove distractions

Removing distractions from a webpage can help increase conversions by making it easier for visitors to focus on the intended call-to-action and reducing the chances of them getting sidetracked by unrelated content. This is especially important for first fold since we want people to sign up for the newsletter without getting distracted.

#3 - Help users find what they need

The widget at the bottom of the page, which allows users to explore various topics based on their interests, should be moved higher up on the page. This would help make better recommendations, rather than showing visitors random articles that may not align with their interests or intent.

#4 - Personalise as much as possible

It’s always a good idea to collect more information about your users so you can personalise their experience and deliver better value but in this case, it looks like they’re only collecting this data for their advertisers instead of thinking about my user experience.

#5 - Make your call to action stand out

Each newsletter from Morning Brew includes many paid placements, but they are presented in a subtle manner that may go unnoticed by some readers. Given that 81% of readers tend to skim, it's possible that many subscribers may miss out on the offers in the newsletter.

To improve CTOR on their offers and gain repeat business from advertisers, Morning Brew should do three things

1. Create buttons with links to the offer. Adding buttons to emails will increase click-through rates (CTR), as much as 28%.

2. Reframe the inclusion of paid placements as a benefit for subscribers, highlighting that as part of the benefit of being a subscriber they are entitled to many offers and discounts from partners and sponsors

3. Additionally, they could create an offer wall featuring deals for the week to make it easier for subscribers to find and take advantage of discounts. This could then become an SEO strategy to help people discover the newsletter.

#6 - Incentivise referrals

Morning Brew's referral program is effective by utilising it in emails with visual rewards.

However their rewards aren’t compelling enough. When selecting rewards, consider offering personal and tailored rewards by surveying readers to understand what they find most appealing.

They could give out devices or conference tickets (and they could user their sponsors to get these rewards).

According to Tyler Denk, an ex-Senior Product Lead at Morning Brew, the email sent 7 days after someone subscribed is the most effective at generating referrals.

So it’s a good idea for them to regularly change the prizes to incentivise people to refer later on in their subscription.

#7 - The big idea or hook

It’s great that Morning Brew is using various placements from stories to reels in their FB advertising initiative, but most of the ads are focused on the angle of “4 million subscribers.”

While this is great social proof, the ads need “a big idea” or “hook” related to the consumers pain. For example, “Get 1% Smarter Everyday” or “Get The Most Important News in under 5 Mins”.

#8 - SEO is a powerful tool

Morning Brew is missing out by not focusing on SEO. Brands like Mot Fooley who also produce content in the finance and investment space are powered by SEO and they traffic volume is an indication of what is possible for Morning Brew.

If you find these ideas interesting, do share this article so more businesses can learn these subtle techniques.