Latest / The CMO Podcast with Fexingo: Marketing Leadership, Budgets, and Executive Strategy / How CMOs Are Using Branded Newsletters to Drive Revenue
Transcript
- Lucas: So Morning Brew sold to Business Insider back in 2020 for about seventy-five million dollars. At the time, a lot of people called it a media company. But really, it was a newsletter that happened to grow into a media business. And now, in 2026, that model has become a core channel for CMOs who want owned audience, not rented audience. Luna: Owned audience being the key phrase. You don't control your reach on Instagram or LinkedIn anymore. The algorithm decides who sees your post. But an email list? That's yours. Lucas: Exactly. And that's why we're seeing more marketing leaders build branded newsletters as a primary channel. Not just media companies, but software firms, consultancies, even consumer brands. HubSpot has a suite of newsletters now. The Hustle was acquired by HubSpot in 2021 for a reported twenty-seven million. That was a newsletter-first business. Luna: And the audience numbers are real. Morning Brew had over four million subscribers at its peak. The Hustle had around one point five million. These are not tiny niche lists. Lucas: Right. But the interesting shift is that CMOs are now treating newsletters less as a top of funnel awareness play and more as a direct revenue channel. The economics work. A well-done B2B newsletter can generate anywhere from fifty cents to three dollars per subscriber per year in sponsorship revenue. Plus, you own the relationship. Luna: Let's talk about the metrics that matter. Open rates for branded newsletters average between twenty-five and forty percent for top performers. The industry average for B2B email marketing is around seventeen percent. So it's a significant lift. But why such a gap? Lucas: It comes down to two things: voice and consistency. Morning Brew succeeded because it didn't sound like a corporate newsletter. It sounded like a smart friend who drank too much coffee. Readers felt like they were getting a scoop, not a sales pitch. And consistency — they published every single weekday at the same time. That builds a habit. Luna: You see that with Lenny's Newsletter too. Lenny Rachitsky built a massive B2B audience just by being genuinely helpful to product people. He's not a brand, but he's branded. And now he sells sponsorships for thousands of dollars per issue. Lucas: Lenny's a great example. He started on Substack, built trust, and now his newsletter is a must-read in product management. CMOs are looking at that and asking, 'Why can't we do that for our brand?' And the answer is, they can. But they have to commit to the editorial voice, not the marketing voice. Luna: So what's the typical structure? You see a lot of brands doing a weekly roundup of industry news with their own take. Or a deep-dive original piece. Some are experimenting with audio versions or mini-podcasts embedded in the email. Lucas: The most successful ones follow a pattern: a strong subject line that feels personal, a short personal note from the author, then the main content — which is usually curated news with original analysis — and a clear call to action. The CTA might be a link to a webinar, a product demo, or just a 'reply to this email' prompt that starts a conversation. Luna: That reply prompt is underused. When a subscriber replies, you now have a direct channel to a potential buyer. Some brands train their team to respond within an hour. That's a sales opportunity, not just a marketing touch. Lucas: And speaking of sales, the monetization models are maturing. You have sponsorship ads — charging other companies to be in your newsletter. You have affiliate links — earning a commission when someone clicks and buys. You have premium tiers — charging subscribers for exclusive content. And you have product-led growth — using the newsletter to drive signups for your own software or service. Luna: Which one are most CMOs betting on right now? I'm seeing a lot of sponsorship models because it creates a separate revenue stream. But it also requires an audience that's big enough to attract sponsors. Lucas: If these marketing conversations have sparked something you've actually used — a tactic, a framework, a way of thinking — that's exactly why we do this show. We deliberately don't run ads on these episodes. If you want to support that choice, the link is buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it's a small way to keep the conversation independent. And it means we can talk about whatever we think is genuinely useful, without worrying about a sponsor's agenda. Lucas: Exactly. So back to newsletters. The sponsorship model works, but you need critical mass. A good rule of thumb is at least ten thousand engaged subscribers before you can charge meaningful rates. For a B2B newsletter, sponsors will pay based on the quality of the audience, not just the size. A list of five thousand VPs of marketing is worth more than fifty thousand general consumers. Luna: And there's a risk of over-monetization. I've seen newsletters that start with three ads per issue, and open rates plummet. The audience doesn't want to feel like a product. The trust is fragile. Lucas: That's the tension. The CMO has to balance revenue pressure with editorial integrity. The best approach is to limit ads to one or two per issue, keep them native — meaning they match the tone of the newsletter — and clearly label them. Readers actually appreciate transparency. 'This section is sponsored by X, but we only recommend products we use ourselves.' That builds trust. Luna: Let's talk about the operational side. Building a newsletter takes a dedicated team. You need a writer, an editor, a designer, a data person to track opens and clicks. Some CMOs try to do it themselves, but it's hard to maintain quality at scale. Lucas: You need at least one full-time person focused on the newsletter. Morning Brew had a team of writers. Lenny does it mostly himself with some help. The commitment is non-trivial. But the ROI can be massive when you consider that you're building an asset that compounds. Every new subscriber increases your reach permanently. Luna: And the data is a goldmine. You learn what topics your audience cares about, what language resonates, what time of day they read. That informs every other marketing channel. Lucas: Let me give you a specific example. A SaaS company I know launched a weekly newsletter for their ICP — ideal customer profile — which is mid-market HR leaders. They started with zero list, used LinkedIn ads and content upgrades to grow to fifteen thousand subscribers in six months. Their open rates hover around thirty-five percent. They now generate about two hundred thousand dollars per year in sponsorship revenue, and their product demo requests increased by forty percent from newsletter-driven traffic. Luna: That's a compelling case. But what about the brands that fail? I've seen newsletters that launch with a burst of energy, then fade after three months because the team runs out of ideas or the CMO loses interest. Lucas: Consistency is the hardest part. You have to publish on a regular cadence, no excuses. And the content has to be genuinely valuable, not just repurposed blog posts. The newsletters that survive are the ones where the author has a real point of view. They're opinionated. They share failures as well as successes. That's what builds a loyal readership. Luna: I think that's the core lesson for any CMO considering this channel. You have to be willing to invest in a real editorial product, not just another marketing touchpoint. And you have to give it time. A newsletter doesn't become a revenue driver overnight. Lucas: It's a long-term play, but one that's increasingly essential as digital advertising gets more expensive and less effective. The inbox is one of the last places where you can have a direct, unmediated conversation with your customer. And that's worth building for. Luna: So what's the takeaway for our listeners? If you're a marketing leader thinking about starting a branded newsletter, what's the first step? Lucas: Start with a clear value proposition. What will your subscriber get every week that they can't get anywhere else? Then pick a platform — Substack, ConvertKit, Mailchimp — and commit to a schedule. Write the first ten issues before you even launch. That way you have a buffer. And then promote it everywhere: your website, your social channels, your email signature. The first thousand subscribers are the hardest. Luna: And for those who already have a newsletter, what's one thing they can improve today? Lucas: Look at your subject lines. Test them. A/B test every week. The subject line is the single biggest driver of open rates. And make sure your welcome sequence is strong. That first impression sets the tone for the entire relationship. Luna: Good advice. I'll be testing that on my own newsletter this week. Lucas: And we'll be back next episode with another tool for the CMO toolkit. Until then, keep building those audiences.