# Newsletter text ad vs dedicated list email: 4x higher cost per lead

- Outcome: Lost
- Page type: Ad (SaaS)
- Elements: Channel, Copy
- Date shared: 2003
- Test run by: [M7 Corporation](https://liftarchive.com/practitioners/m7-corporation/)
- Commentary by: LiftArchive (our analysis, not theirs)
- Original source: https://marketingsherpa.com/article/case-study/classic-3step-email-campaign-generates-more
- Page: https://liftarchive.com/test/m7-newsletter-text-ad-vs-list-email/

A short text ad in a targeted email newsletter cost about four times more per lead than a dedicated email to rented lists, so the ad lost. M7 Corporation, an enterprise software startup, ran this channel test in 2003 for a white paper offer, and it was published as a MarketingSherpa case study. The ad was cheaper to place, but it drew far less response.

## Result

**4x higher cost per lead**

- Cost per lead: the newsletter ad cost about 4x more per lead. This is a loss for the ad.
- The ad's upfront cost was much lower than renting a list, but response was so much weaker that it ended up more expensive.
- Exact response rates and costs were not shared.

## Control

The white paper offer sent as a dedicated email to rented lists of enterprise software prospects.

## Variant

The same white paper offer run as a short text ad inside a targeted email newsletter.

## Why it likely lost (our reading)

- M7's audience responded to long copy, and a short text ad had no room to explain the offer.
- M7 was an unknown brand at the time, so a brief ad gave readers little reason to trust it.
- A dedicated email has the reader's full attention, while a newsletter ad competes with the editorial content around it.

## Caveats

This compares two channels rather than two versions of one page, and it dates from 2003. Exact costs and response numbers were not given.

## How to run this test

- Hypothesis: If we send our content offer as a dedicated email instead of a short newsletter ad, then cost per lead will drop because the offer gets more space and the reader's full attention.
- Primary metric: Cost per qualified lead
- Guardrail: Lead quality or sales acceptance rate
- Guardrail: Total lead volume
- Guardrail: Spend per channel
- Who should test it: B2B SaaS and lead-gen teams buying third-party email placements for gated content. Newsletter ads may still win for well-known brands or simple offers that need little explaining.

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Credit: M7 Corporation ran this test and owns the result. Summary and commentary by LiftArchive (https://liftarchive.com/test/m7-newsletter-text-ad-vs-list-email/).
Usage: Free to use, quote and build on, with credit and a link: name the practitioner or organization that ran the test and link to its LiftArchive page. The results belong to the practitioners who ran and shared them; the summaries and commentary are LiftArchive's.