SparkLoop is a tool for growing and monetizing your newsletter, and we recommend it for both use cases. It was purchased by ConvertKit in June of 2023, but it is available for newsletter operators using other platforms. It competes directly with Beehiiv’s Boosts, and we think it’s a better product. SparkLoop is not without its drawbacks which we'll discuss below, but we think its the best of the alternatives.
SparkLoop is a newsletter referral platform to grow and monetize your newsletter.
SparkLoop was founded in 2020 by serial entrepreneurs Manuel Frigerio and Louis Nicholls, who had met at a SaaS conference in London in 2018. Frigerio had previously founded and sold ReferralHero, while Nicholls had co-founded an e-commerce jewelry business and Gymhopper, which was acquired by myClubs. Nicholls was working as a growth consultant when a client asked for help with a newsletter referral program, leading him to contact Frigerio. Together they launched SparkLoop, an email marketing software that makes it easy for newsletter operators to incentivize referrals without needing marketing expertise. SparkLoop partnered with ConvertKit early on, gaining users through their platform. Within 3 years, SparkLoop reached low 7-figure annual revenue before being acquired by ConvertKit in 2023, allowing the founders to stay on and continue growing the business.
SparkLoop is a newsletter referral tool to grow and monetize newsletters. It has options to pay for growth as well as to organically grow with a gamified referral program for your subscribers.
There are two primary use cases for SparkLoop. First, SparkLoop is a great way to monetize your newsletter. Second, SparkLoop is a tool to grow your newsletter. We’ll discuss both use cases below. Essentially SparkLoop creates a two sided marketplace, and you can participate in one or both sides of the marketplace depending on your goals.
Co-registration - Upscribe & the SparkLoop Partner Network
Co-registration is one of the easiest ways to monetize your newsletter. SparkLoop’s Upscribe tool is our recommended software for doing it. How does it work? SparkLoop puts a widget on your newsletter sign up page and every time someone signs up for your newsletter they are shown a popup recommending other newsletters. When someone subscribes to the newsletters through your pop-up, you get paid. Subscribers that you recommend have to meet certain criteria. Oftentimes newsletters will have geographic restrictions and only accept subscribers from certain countries (oftentimes US & Canada) only. For newsletters that receive most of their subscribers from other countries, this might not be a great fit. Additionally, subscribers you recommend must meet an engagement threshold with the other newsletter (e.g., two email opens within 30 days). Typical payouts are around $2 per successful recommendation.
This is a great way to offset the cost of paid acquisition for your newsletter. The math might look something like this: You acquire a subscriber with Meta ads at a cost of $4 per subscriber. You recommend 3 other newsletters paying $2 each for successful subscriber. Your successful subscriber conversion rate is 50%. So for each subscriber to your newsletter, you make back $3 from SparkLoop (50% of $6). This means you can effectively acquire subscribers for closer to $1 ($4 CPA less $3 from SparkLoop).
Magic Links
Additionally, you can monetize your newsletter by adding SparkLoop Magic Links into your newsletter. Similar to Upscribe, you get paid per subscriber you recommend that meets the criteria. The way this is typically executed is a section in your newsletter that goes something like “What else we’re reading” which links out to other newsletters. This is a chance to monetize your subscribers after they’ve signed up for your newsletter. The payment terms are the same as the payment terms through Upscribe (typically ~$2 per successful subscriber).
Partner Network
If you want to grow your newsletter, you can also become a newsletter that other newsletters recommend through the above tools. This way you can pay per successful subscriber to your newsletter. What makes this attractive for newsletter operators is that you can pay for engaged subscribers, whereas when you use a traditional advertising medium like Facebook or Twitter there is no guarantee on engagement. So you might pay $2 per subscriber on Facebook for a subscriber but only 50% of them might be opening your emails (and maybe less). We think the partner network is a great way to grow your newsletter.
Referral Program
You can also use SparkLoop to set up a referral program. This is a way to reward your existing subscribers for sharing and promoting your newsletter. You typically set up reward tiers that your subscriber can earn for their promotion. So a typical program might look like receive a free eBook for referring 2 subscribers, receive a video course for referring 5 subscribers, receive a coffee mug for referring 15 subscribers, and receive a call with you for referring 100 subscribers. This is a great way to gamify your list growth and to encourage your subscribers to promote your newsletters to their friends.
SparkLoop was purchased by ConvertKit in 2023, but it works with many more ESPs (Email Service Providers). You can see a full up to date list of the ESPs SparkLoop works with here, but here’s the current list as of this publishing:
If you are using SparkLoop to monetize your newsletter, there are some potential negatives you should consider. The first is your referral acceptance rate. Many newsletters will only accept subscribers from the US, UK, and Canada so if your newsletter gets a lot of subscribers from other countries then this might not be the best way to monetize your newsletter. The second consideration is that you will be potentially clogging your new subscribers inbox with emails from other newsletters by recommending them after they subscribe to yours.
SparkLoop’s partner network (getting paid to recommend other newsletters) is free to sign up for. Sparkloop will take a 20% fee on any commissions that you earn (in addition to 3.5% payment processing fees). This is a slightly higher fee than Beehiiv charges for boosts (20% flat fee including payment processing).
It’s also free to use Sparkloop to promote your newsletter. You will just need to pay per qualified subscriber that is sent through SparkLoop (at the rate you set when signing up).
In order to use SparkLoop’s referral program (setting up a rewards program for your own subscribers to promote your newsletter), you will need to pay. Pricing starts at $99 per month (for up to 100k subscribers) and scales to $299 a month for larger lists (up to 250k subscribers).
What is SparkLoop?
SparkLoop is a newsletter referral tool that can be used to either grow or monetize your newsletter (or both).
How to make money with SparkLoop?
You can make money with SparkLoop by recommending other newsletters and getting paid per successful signup you drive. You can either recommend other newsletters after someone signs up for your newsletter (Upscribe) or any time afterwards (in emails, social etc.) and get paid per successful referral.
Can you use SparkLoop with Beehiiv?
Yes, even though SparkLoop was purchased by ConvertKit, they work with many different ESPs including Beehiiv.
What is SparkLoop Upscribe?
SpakLoop Upscribe is a widget that you put on your newsletter signup page which displays a popup after someone signs up for your newsletter which recommends other newsletters. You get paid for each successful subscriber you recommend to other newsletters.
What are the drawbacks to using SparkLoop?
If you are using SparkLoop to monetize your newsletter, there are some potential negatives you should consider. The first is your referral acceptance rate. Many newsletters will only accept subscribers from the US, UK, and Canada so if your newsletter gets a lot of subscribers from other countries then this might not be the best way to monetize your newsletter. The second consideration is that you will be potentially clogging your new subscribers inbox with emails from other newsletters by recommending them after they subscribe to yours.
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