How much does a local newsletter subscriber cost with Meta ads?

That's from running the same Meta ads playbook for my own newsletters 20-plus times across roughly 20 locations.

The range is wide for real reasons. Cost creeps up over time as you run out of locals who haven't already subscribed. And market matters: the cheapest numbers I've seen come from affluent suburban markets. Not better content. Nobody can judge your content until after they sign up.

Make sure you're measuring subscribers

I talked with an operator who said they were paying 14 to 16 cents a signup. I asked what "signing up" meant. People were clicking through and browsing, not subscribing.

A cheap click is not a cheap subscriber. Set up a custom conversion on the subscribe button itself and track that.

The niche that runs cheaper

My seniors newsletter costs about 30% less per subscriber than my general local newsletters, and engagement runs about double. Seniors are the most underserved audience in local media. Almost nobody is doing digital-first local content for them.

Cost only matters next to value

A legacy local news subscriber is worth $200 to $500 over their lifetime. A subscriber who turns into a $30 realtor lead pays for themselves on day one. Know what a subscriber is worth before you decide what's expensive.