Marketing · Monthly report
Marketing Campaign Performance
May 2026
Growth is driven by owned channels. Email delivered 87% of conversions at 3.35x ROAS, while paid channels need optimization to become truly profitable.
Starts & Stops
Subscriber starts vs. stops
Month-over-month view of starts, stops, and net movement across News and Stream.
| Month | News starts | News stops | News net | Stream starts | Stream stops | Stream net | Stops % of starts (News) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2026current | 5,292 | 5,636 | -344 | 1,882 | 1,213 | 669 | 107% |
Website Paywall Actions
Starts by Website Paywall Action
Direct to Checkout dominates at 74% of all paywall starts.
Starts by paywall action (all markets)
Total Marketing Asset Conversions
602
Across all channels
Ad ROAS (blended)
2.49x
$12,456 spend → 602 conv.
Subscription ROAS
2.6x
LTV-based · $54 per sub
News net starts
−344
5,292 starts · 5,636 stops
Subscription ROAS
Subscription ROAS: 2.6x
Paid media is generating a 2.6x return on subscription revenue (LTV-based), driven primarily by email.
Total subscribers
602
525 email · 74 social · 3 display
Total revenue (LTV)
$32,508
602 × $54 LTV
Total spend
$12,456
$8,456 email + $4,000 social
LTV : CAC
2.6 : 1
CAC $20.68 · LTV $54
Email drives profitability
The owned audience is where subscription revenue compounds.
Social is breaking even
CAC ≈ LTV at this audience width. Profitable scale needs tighter targeting.
Program is profitable
Overall 2.6x ROAS — paid media is a net contributor, not a cost center.
Our paid media is generating a 2.6x return on subscription revenue, driven primarily by email performance.
01 — Channels
Channel performance (Ad ROAS)
ROAS assumes $54 LTV per conversion.
Conversions by channel
| Channel | Conv. | Spend | CAC | ROAS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 525 | $8,456 | $16 | 3.35x | |
| Social | 74 | $4,000 | $54 | 1.00x |
| Display | 3 | $0 | — | N/A |
Growth lever — best CAC, highest ROAS.
Social
Break-even — CAC equals LTV. Not losing money, not scaling profitably.
Display
Awareness / assist channel. Likely under-attributed.
02 — Tactics
Tactic performance
Newsletter is the runaway #1 converter.
Newsletter — #1 converter
Highest intent audience, highest trust environment.
Promo sends working
Strong secondary driver behind the newsletter.
Facebook ads — mid-tier
70 conversions total. Not bad, but not dominant. Targeting & creative are the levers.
Lifecycle flows underutilized
Only 39 conversions. Significant opportunity area.
03 — Top drivers
Top conversion drivers
The individual sends and campaigns that delivered the most conversions.
| Session source | Session medium | Session campaign | Conversions |
|---|---|---|---|
| newsletter | dailyam | 158 | |
| newsletter | dailypm | 41 | |
| paidsocial | facebook_ad | 2for6may_fbad_getfullstory | 36 |
| newsletter | subscribenewsletterad_generic | 36 | |
| newsletter | breaking | 29 | |
| paidsocial | facebook_ad | sd_baseball_tourney | 28 |
| promo_send | 2for6may_send5a_coveringbreakingnews | 20 | |
| newsletter | obituaries | 16 | |
| newsletter | weeklyam | 15 | |
| promo_send | 2for6may_send2_understandmore | 14 | |
| promo_send | expansionmarketformersubscriber_send2_redeploy_may | 11 | |
| promo_send | 2for6may_send1_moretothestory | 9 | |
| promo_send | 2for6may_send3b_newsyoucantrust | 9 | |
| lifecycle_flow | abandoncart | 9 |
Daily AM newsletter — 158 conv
Daily cadence into the highest-intent, highest-trust owned audience. Conversions compound because the audience is already self-selected.
2for6may_fbad_getfullstory — 36 conv
The single paid winner. Offer-led creative against a proven price point — the offer is doing the heavy lifting.
subscribenewsletterad_generic — 36 conv
Paid acquisition feeding the email engine. Reinforces the "paid feeds owned" thesis — best ROI from social is list growth, not direct conversion.
abandoncart flow — 9 conv
Small volume, but a clear signal that lifecycle is under-built. One flow at low investment is already producing — expansion has real upside.
Creatives
Top-performing creatives
The actual ads and emails behind the top conversion drivers in May.
Facebook ad · Version A
2for6may_fbad_getfullstory
36 conversions
Top paid winner. Offer-led creative against a proven price point.
Newsletter ad · Generic
subscribenewsletterad_generic
36 conversions
"Try us for 6 months. Only $2." Paid acquisition creative feeding the email engine — reinforces the paid-feeds-owned thesis.
Email 5A · Promo send
2for6may_send5a_coveringbreakingnews
19 conversions · 0.23% CTR
Subject: "IT'S BACK: $2 for 6 months." Preview: "Covering breaking news AND the full story." Strongest email in the entire May series.
Email 2A · Promo send
2for6may_send2_understandmore
14 conversions · 0.15% CTR
Subject: "Know the details for just $2." Beat its B counterpart 14 to 3 conversions.
Email 1A · Promo send
2for6may_send1_moretothestory
9 conversions · 0.21% CTR
Subject: "Get the full story for just $2." Best CTR of the series; tight tie with B on conversions.
A/B test
$2 for 6 — A vs. B results
Six email pairs sent across the May promo series. Version A wins overall on every headline metric.
Total sends
A
38,574
B
38,631
Total conversions
A
50
B
37
Avg unique CTR
A
0.154%
B
0.130%
Conversion rate
A
0.130%
B
0.096%
| Pair | A subject / hook | B subject / hook | A conv. | B conv. | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Email 1 | Get the full story for just $2 | Local news built on research for just $2 | 9 | 8 | Tie / slight A |
| Email 2 | Know the details for just $2 | Reporting built on research just $2 | 14 | 3 | Strong A win |
| Email 3 | Don't miss this deal! $2 for 6 months | Don't miss this deal! $2 for 6 months | 5 | 10 | Slight B conv. edge |
| Email 4 | Back by popular demand: $2 for 6 months | Our most popular offer: $2 for 6 months | 9 | 8 | Mixed result |
| Email 5 | IT'S BACK: $2 for 6 months | BEST OFFER: $2 for 6 months | 19 | 8 | Very strong A win |
| Email 6 | Not to be missed: $2 for 6 months | Don't miss this: $2 for 6 months | 6 | 4 | A win |
Version A is the directional winner
A took 4 of 6 pairs outright, won total conversions 50 to 37, and led on CTR and conversion rate at equal send volume.
Use A-style copy as the next baseline
Specific, curiosity-driven subject lines ("Know the details", "IT'S BACK") outperformed generic "research" and "best offer" framings. Build the next test off A.
04 — Why
Why May performed the way it did
Result → why it happened → what it means. The analysis behind the numbers above.
Email is the engine — 525 conv, 3.35x ROAS, $16 CAC
Why it happened
Newsletter and promo sends hit the highest-intent, highest-trust audience we own. The 2-for-$6 offer is already proven across multiple sends and creatives, so each touch converts efficiently.
What it means
The owned audience is the strongest converter. Growth compounds when we invest in list quality, not just send volume.
Social is break-even, not broken — 74 conv, $54 CAC = $54 LTV, ~1.0x ROAS
Why it happened
Clicks and conversions are coming through, but CAC equals LTV. That's the classic signal of targeting that's too broad — not a bad offer and not a bad channel.
What it means
The lever is audience + hook + creative + LP alignment, not more spend. That's exactly what the experiment below tests.
Display is under-attributed — 3 conv, $0 tracked spend
Why it happened
Very low last-click conversions and no spend recorded suggests it's running as top-of-funnel / assist, with credit landing on email and direct visits instead.
What it means
Treat it as an awareness/assist channel. Don't judge it on last-click ROAS — and don't kill it without a proper incrementality read.
05 — Summary
Takeaways
What's working
- Email is highly profitable — 3.35x ROAS at $16 CAC.
- Newsletter is the strongest individual conversion driver.
- The 2-for-$6 offer is proven across multiple sends and creatives.
What needs improvement
- Social is only break-even — CAC equals LTV.
- Lifecycle flows are underutilized (39 conversions).
- Display attribution is unclear — likely top-of-funnel only.
06 — Next
Where to focus next
01
Scale what works
- Email list growth & newsletter optimization
- Boost article experiment to BC segments
- 10k markets catalog FB campaign → newsletter sign-up
- Continue BC list newsletter sign-up sends
- Optimize newsletter ads based on generic best performer
- Implement promo send learnings into next campaign
02
Improve social efficiency
- Narrow targeting: site visitors, engagers, lookalikes of converters
- Stronger seasonal hooks (per SND recommendation)
- Clearer CTAs (Alaina in progress)
- Match ad creative to landing page messaging
03
Build lifecycle strategy
- Expand conversion nurturing flows
- Flows are reviewed on a regular basis — let's do an overarching strategy review on the flows themselves: are we missing anything?
- Review top performing flows for any additional improvements
- Should we shed any low performers?
07 — Experiment
FB ads ROAS experiment
We'll run an experiment to see if we can increase our ROAS from Facebook ads.
Hypothesis: Social is break-even because of targeting, hook, and creative — not the offer. Tightening all three should lift ROAS above 1.0x without increasing spend.
Levers we'll test
- Targeting: narrow to site visitors (30–90d), FB/IG engagers, email list uploads, and lookalikes of converters.
- Hook: tension-based openers before introducing the 2-for-$6 offer.
- Creative: short vertical video (5–15s), headline in the first 2 seconds, real local visuals.
- Ad → LP alignment: match landing page headline and messaging to the ad.
How we'll measure
- Primary: ROAS vs. May baseline (1.00x).
- Secondary: CAC, CTR, and landing page conversion rate.
- Diagnostic rule: low CTR → creative/hook; good CTR + low conv → LP/offer alignment; high CAC → targeting.
- Success: ROAS > 1.5x at equal or lower spend.
Diagnostic reference — what each signal points to
| Signal | Most likely cause | Where to act |
|---|---|---|
| Low CTR | Creative or hook isn't earning the click | Rework the first 2s, headline, and visual |
| Good CTR + low conv | Landing page or offer doesn't match the ad | Align LP headline, offer, and CTA to the ad |
| High CAC | Audience is too broad or low-intent | Tighten targeting — site visitors, engagers, lookalikes |