Ready to explode your newsletter revenue with paid recommendations? SparkLoop is the most powerful paid recommendations platform in the newsletter space. Users report 2-5x more earnings with SparkLoop’s paid recommendations than any other recommendations platforms.
And the best part? You get to make paid recommendations for niche newsletters, major publications (think Morning Brew and The Hustle), top creators, and everything in between. Our open, ESP agnostic network powers paid recommendations for the world’s best newsletters.
We’ve powered newsletter operators earning $millions of dollars in payouts, and we’re here to teach you how to maximize your earnings.
Simply follow the steps below, and you’ll be on your way to earning.
1. Customize your Upscribe widget
We highly recommend using the Upscribe widget rather than a hosted page. Conversion rates are generally much higher with our widget.
After enabling the widget, the first step is to make your Upscribe widget your own. The best newsletter operators keep their Upscribe widget “on-brand” with their publication. This means customizing the copy in your Upscribe widget. You are able to customize the header, subheader, button, and skip link to your liking.
To make these adjustments, go to your Upscribe editor under “Look&Feel”. Change the copy and colors to align with the brand and voice of your newsletter.
Stacked Marketer does a great job of optimizing their widget for performance. Their widget is on-brand, and utilizes the power of personalization. See their Upscribe widget below:
Note: Make sure you have 5 recommendations showing so that you can maximize your earnings.
2. Turn on auto-pilot
Auto-pilot is our signature feature that finds the right publications to recommend to your audience at the right time so that you can maximize your earnings. Our SRO algorithm (smart recommendations optimization) gets to know your readers. It then finds the best-fit sponsors for your Upscribe widget.
Those who use auto-pilot tend to earn significantly more than those who manually customize their widget.
To utilize this powerful feature, simply toggle auto-pilot on, and let it run. It’ll cycle through paid recommendations to find the best-fit publications for your audience so that you can earn as much as possible.
Note: Auto-pilot also understands the remaining budgets of sponsors. This means you don’t have to worry about budgets running out. You’ll only be showing recommendations that will pay you out.
3. Manually add good-fit paid recommendations
Even with auto-pilot turned on, we recommend adding more paid recommendations to your arsenal.
Our auto-pilot feature will start with pre-approved recommendations, so to add more good-fit paid recommendations, add some in manually. This will help you maximize your earnings, rather than just relying on pre-approved publications.
To add more paid recommendations, simply go to the Upscribe tab and select “+Add Paid Recommendation”.
If there’s another newsletter you’d like to recommend, but isn’t on SparkLoop, email us at support@sparkloop.app. Once this newsletter joins SparkLoop, you’ll even earn an affiliate commission for successfully referring them.
4. Use in-email recommendations
While the Upscribe widget will likely drive most of your referrals, you’ll be leaving money on the table if you’re not making in-email recommendations.
There are two types of in-email recommendations you need to take advantage of:
1. Magic Links
Magic links are 1-click subscribe links you can include in your emails. They’re an ultra-powerful way to drive paid recommendations for your existing readers.
We strongly recommend using magic links when available as you’ll earn significantly more than Partner Links.
2. Partner Links
Partner links take the reader to the landing page of the recommended publication.
You can find both magic links and partner links in the “paid recommendations tab” and then by clicking into individual publications.
So where should you put your in-email recommendations?
A few key places:
In your welcome sequence
In featured sections of your broadcast emails
Peppered into the news & cool finds section of your newsletter
TIP: When using magic links and/or partner links, it’s helpful to include some context as to why the reader should subscribe to that publication. A personal endorsement can go a long way!
BONUS STEP:
Want to double the conversion rate of your recommendations? Customize the copy of the recommendations you’re making to make it more applicable to your specific audience. Tell your readers why they’ll love your recommendations!
And just like that, you’ll be on your way to maximzing your earnings with SparkLoop. What’s most important is that you’re continuing to earn. It’s less important to pay attention to the number of rejected or confirmed referrals. So be sure to measure what matters most - your weekly payouts.
By following these steps, you’ll allow SparkLoop to optimize your performance and you’ll be on your way to utilizing the most powerful paid recommendations network in the industry.