Advertiser Dashboard Guide

A complete playbook for brands and agencies buying newsletter inventory on MailAdx — account setup, campaign structure, targeting, creatives, budgets, measurement, and optimization in Dashboard → Advertiser.

1. Why advertise in newsletters via MailAdx

Newsletter readers opt in to a topic, open on a regular cadence, and consume content in a focused inbox environment — not a scroll feed. MailAdx serves your creative at open time, so you pay for exposure when someone actually reads the issue, not for every address on a send list.

• Open-time delivery — pacing and frequency caps apply at the moment of read, aligned with how newsletter performance should be measured.
• Contextual relevance — target by newsletter topic, geography, and placement type for message-market fit.
• Transparent reporting — impressions, clicks, CTR, and spend with no inflated send-level vanity metrics (see Reporting Overview).
• Multi-format support — image banners, native in-context units, and multi-step Ad Journeys.

2. Account setup, roles, and wallet

1. Sign up as Advertiser or Agency — verify email; accounts activate within 24 hours on business days.
2. Agency multi-client — agency accounts manage separate advertisers under one login with role-based access per client (see Security & RBAC).
3. Prepaid wallet — reload credits before going live; MailAdx deducts spend as impressions deliver. No monthly platform subscription for self-serve advertisers.
4. Low-balance alerts — email when balance drops below $5; campaigns pause at zero until you top up.

Minimum wallet reload is $100 USD when you are ready to serve live traffic. Volume tiers and fee schedules are on the Pricing page and in Billing & Statements.

3. Campaign structure: orders, line items, and creatives

MailAdx follows standard ad-server hierarchy:

• Campaign (order) — top-level container with advertiser, flight dates, and overall budget goal.
• Line item — targeting, bid/fixed CPM, pacing caps, and placement selection for a specific buy.
• Creative — the asset served at open time: image URL, native headline/body/thumbnail, or journey step creative.

Typical self-serve flow:

1. Advertiser → Campaigns → New Campaign — name, dates, total budget
2. Add line item — targeting, CPM bid or fixed rate, daily/total caps
3. Upload or select creative — attach to line item; preview before submit
4. Submit for review — team approves within one business day for new accounts
5. Monitor delivery — real-time dashboard once live

4. Targeting and inventory access

Available targeting depends on deal type and inventory package:

• Geography — country-level filtering from coarse IP/geo signals at open time.
• Newsletter category / topic — align creative with editorial context (B2B SaaS, finance, lifestyle, etc.).
• Publisher whitelist / blacklist — brand safety: run only on approved publications or exclude specific titles.
• Placement type — header banner vs native mid-article vs footer slot.
• Private deals — exclusive access to a publisher's inventory at a negotiated CPM without open auction competition.

Open exchange campaigns compete in the waterfall against other eligible demand; direct and PMP deals receive priority on contracted inventory. Coordinate premium sponsorships with publishers through deal workflows described in the Publisher Portal guide.

5. Creatives: banners, native, and Ad Journeys

Image banners — upload or link a static creative at required dimensions (typically 600×100 or 600×250 leaderboards). MailAdx serves the image through the ad server at decision time; clicks pass through tracked redirect URLs.

Native ads — headline (max 60 chars), body (max 120 chars), thumbnail, sponsored-by label, and click-through URL. The ad server composites a PNG that matches each publisher's layout. Often achieves 3–5× CTR vs standard banners when copy fits the editorial context.

Ad Journeys — sequential 2–5 step campaigns that advance subscribers by hashed email across multiple newsletter sends. Step 2+ reaches readers who received prior steps after a configurable wait. Ideal for consideration → conversion funnels without list uploads or ESP changes. Full setup in Ad Journeys.

6. Budgets, bidding, and pacing

Because MailAdx serves at open time, budgets reflect actual reads — not total list size at send time.

• Daily cap — maximum impressions or spend per calendar day.
• Total cap — campaign-level lifetime limit; line item stops when reached.
• CPM bid vs fixed — auction line items bid against floors; guaranteed deals run at contracted CPM.
• Frequency cap — limit impressions per hashed subscriber per day/week/campaign.

Pacing algorithms spread delivery across the flight window. If a newsletter issue sends Tuesday but most opens happen Wednesday–Thursday, spend follows that curve — you are not charged for dormant inboxes.

7. Reporting, attribution, and optimization

The Advertiser Dashboard shows impressions, clicks, CTR, spend, and pacing status by campaign and line item. Filter Apple MPP prefetch separately when evaluating human engagement (see Tracking Pixels).

• Delivery vs goal — pacing indicator shows ahead/behind schedule.
• Dimensional breakdown — slice by publisher, placement, geography, and date.
• Conversion tracking — HMAC-signed postback for lead and purchase events (Conversion Tracking).
• Reporting API — programmatic export for BI tools (Partner APIs).

Optimization playbook:

1. Launch with 2–3 line items testing different topics or creative angles.
2. After 3–5 days, pause bottom-quartile CTR placements; reallocate budget to winners.
3. Graduate top publishers into direct deals for rate certainty and premium placement.
4. Use Ad Journeys for offers that need multiple touchpoints before conversion.

Related documentation

• Getting Started
• Native Ads
• Ad Journeys
• Reporting Overview
• Conversion Tracking
• Billing & Statements
• Advertising Policy
• Help Center — Advertiser FAQs