Hello, 2025. January always feels like a new beginning. For many businesses, it’s also the start of a brand new budget. When deciding where to spend hard-earned dollars, business owners are faced with an increased number of choices. Do you go with a marketing agency? A legacy print publication? A scrappy start-up?
We’re here to help — advertising with 6AM City and our fleet of hyperlocal email newsletters will get your products and services in front of the right people (1.3 million of them across the US).
6AM combines the best parts of many approaches: the creativity and out-of-the-box thinking of a start-up, the white glove service of a marketing agency, and the grounded, community-first focus of a newsroom. Our readers are savvy, engaged, community-minded, and ready to spend. Above all, advertising with us means you’ll be choosing a partner that understands the power of local, the impact of collaboration, and the value of genuine engagement. Call us biased — but we have the data to back it up.
Why newsletters? Newsletters, our model from the very beginning, aren’t as unusual as they once were. But their benefits are still worth shouting out. Especially in the past few years, the newsletter wave has grown, and it shows no sign of cresting as people look for alternatives to legacy print and network news.
Newsletters have made the consumption of media — whether local and global news, updates about products and services, or any other topic under the sun — convenient, efficient, and tailored to the reader, a.k.a. the customer. Unlike a network news program that airs at a certain time and vies for the viewer’s attention, an email newsletter meets the subscriber where they are, at the time they prefer to open it. Once opened, the email receives 100% of the subscriber’s attention while they read.
“We have been invited into our readers’ inboxes,” says CEO Ryan Johnston. “That one-on-one connection allows for seamless brand integration, and a conveyed level of trust that is unmatched.”
Our newsletter is also completely free — and always will be. That ensures that it gets into the most inboxes possible, building a loyal audience with consistent reading habits. By earning readers’ trust, we are able to spotlight the communities we serve, and to connect advertisers with engaged readers ready to spend local dollars.
What sets us apart
For the reasons outlined above, newsletters have grown steadily in popularity. When it comes to choosing which newsletter to spend your advertising budget on, 6AM City comes out above the rest. Our time-tested and mature model, our robust subscriber base, and our stance on covering politics and crime (we don’t) mean that our product is recognized and trusted from coast to coast. Our 41% open rate, well above industry average, speaks for itself.
“The 6AM brand offers partners a unique opportunity to connect with engaged, community-focused audiences at a time when people are increasingly seeking ways to build and strengthen local ties,” says VP of Sales Rachel Sklenar. “Our newsletters deliver positive, impactful stories that highlight what’s happening locally, and offer readers tangible ways to get involved,” keeping readers informed and entertained — and supporting credibility.
When our audience opens our newsletter, they are expecting to be pointed in the right direction to be consumers of their communities,” adds Johnston. “They want to know why they should buy, investing their time, talent or treasure.”
This relationship allows our partners to be seen as aligned with a trusted local resource, reinforcing their reputation as community-focused, reliable, and invested in making a positive impact. “Partnering with 6AM means associating with a brand that cares deeply about its community and shows that your business does too,” says Sklenar.
“6AM City is a proven leader in newsletter design, production, audience development, and monetization,” says COO Ryan Heafy. “We’re leveraging this expertise to consistently unlock revenue opportunities for content creators, brands, and partners alike. That’s what makes us so successful in the Newsletter-as-a-Service (NaaS) space.”
We are also always innovating to grow and improve our offerings, responding with agility to keep blazing trails in the newsletter space. In the past few months as we launched over 30 Locked On NBA newsletters, leveraging our tech stack, AI, training materials, and scalable processes to enhance every facet of our operations so we can deliver an even greater ROI for our partners.
Numbers that speak for themselves
Most local traditional media — from billboards and television to radio and print — have no proof of who their audience is and where and how they engage, making it almost impossible to track effectiveness and follow up meaningfully.
Our newsletters come with rich data. Our team can quickly assess what’s working and what’s not, measuring performance and engagement across a wide swathe of subscribers. That means we can pivot quickly — or double down on our successes, enabling an unparalleled degree of innovation.
6AM City collects thousands of daily data points showing what our readers click on. “Unlike an agency or in-house marketing team, access to performance data for both earned and paid content helps ensure we deliver the best messaging to convert,” says Johnston.
“The 6AM brand offers the perfect blend of reach, relevance, and authenticity,” says Sales Director Fan Hughes. “Our content is crafted by local editors who truly know their cities, building credibility and trust that naturally extends to advertiser messages. We make it easy for advertisers to scale campaigns across multiple cities while maintaining meaningful connections with the communities they care about.”
Sales Director Julie Brown agrees. “Choosing 6AM means choosing a partner that understands the power of local and the value of genuine engagement,” she says. “We don’t just sell ads; we build meaningful connections between your brand and the people who matter most to you. We collaborate to create campaigns that truly resonate and drive results.”
Don’t miss out on elevating your brand with a local powerhouse. Check out our options here.