Paved, the leading newsletter advertising platform, has published its 2026 Newsletter Ad Performance Report, detailing how newsletter advertising has evolved into a core, performance-driven channel. The report, based on millions in ad spend across thousands of campaigns, shows brands shifting budgets to high-engagement, first-party audiences amid macroeconomic pressures and scrutiny on every dollar spent.
Quick Intel
The report underscores newsletter advertising's unique accountability outside walled gardens, where performance directly ties to measurable business outcomes. This clarity, combined with tighter media budgets, has accelerated its transition from experimental to essential in the media mix.
"Newsletter advertising is one of the few channels outside the walled gardens where performance maps cleanly back to outcomes," said John McLaughlin, CEO & Founder of Paved. "That accountability, combined with macroeconomic pressures pushing marketers to scrutinize every dollar, has accelerated newsletters' shift from an experimental channel to a core part of the media mix."
Top-performing ads share clear traits: concise, scannable copy with bullet points and bolding for short attention spans; immediate value propositions in the opening line to drive higher ROI; and native integration that aligns with the newsletter's editorial tone rather than disruptive formats.
Paved powers this growth by connecting brands with 253 million subscribers across 3,000+ publishers, including Washington Post, NBC, AdWeek, Morning Brew, MSNBC, Bloomberg, and TechCrunch. Major advertisers like Uber, DoorDash, Salesforce, and Marriott leverage Paved for scalable, frictionless newsletter sponsorships.
As marketers navigate signal loss, declining referral traffic from LLMs, rising acquisition costs, and increased budget scrutiny, the report positions newsletter advertising as a scalable, brand-safe alternative delivering engaged, first-party audiences and reliable results.
About Paved
Paved is a leading platform for newsletter sponsorships and native advertising, reaching 253 million newsletter subscribers across 3,000+ publishers, including Fortune, Bloomberg, and TechCrunch. By connecting over 8,000 newsletter creators with brands, Paved powers mutually beneficial sponsorship campaigns with unprecedented targeting capabilities. As a global, fully distributed team, Paved remains dedicated to developing tools that support and drive the growth of content creators worldwide. Paved was acquired by Redbrick in March 2025.
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