Muscle Marketing
By Wendy Montes de Oca
About Wendy
Often referred to as the "marketing maven" by industry peers, Wendy Montes de Oca, MBA has nearly 20 years of experience in marketing, media, and publishing with expertise in multichannel, direct response, and Web marketing. Wendy has generated more than $150 million in total revenues for Fortune 500 companies, top publishers, consulting clients, and her own firm, Precision Marketing and Media, LLC. She is the creator of the groundbreaking SONAR Content Distribution Model and author of the best-selling book Content Is Cash: Leveraging Great Content and the Web for Increased Traffic, Sales, Leads and Buzz [Que Publishing, Paperback].Marketing Sustainably
Calling Any Ideas for a Postal Service Future!
Jun 17, 2013I read a review of a recently published biography of President Calvin Coolidge by Amity Schlaes, and it was the...
Yblog
Why Advertisers Need to Think Native
Jun 12, 2013Native advertising is the latest buzzword. Even venerable publishers such as The New York Times, The Atlantic and Forbes, are...
The Integrated Email
5 Things to Do Now to Prepare for the Next Stage of Email Marketing
Jun 10, 2013The email channel is well known for being a low cost high performance marketing machine. Generating revenue requires little more...
Making Social Sell
Stop Measuring Content Marketing
Jun 7, 2013Why are most sales people and small businesses struggling to generate leads online? Because they invest heavily in social media...
Ruthless B-to-B Marketing
5 Essentials for Every B-to-B Website
Jun 6, 2013"If you don't have a website, you don't have a business." By now, this maxim is well understood. But what...
Online Video Marketing Deep Dive
Online Video Advertising for Direct Marketers
Jun 5, 2013If you're among the 182 million or so who watch an online video each month, then you've seen a pre-roll,...
The Power Punch
Packaging: A Conspiracy Among Dentists?
May 31, 2013Regardless of what I buy lately, getting inside the package to the actual product is like breaking into Fort Knox....
Triple Venti Dolce Data...
5 Reasons for ‘Why Now?’
May 29, 2013With the lingering, precarious feelings about the state of the economy, along with plenty of concerns about the business climate...
Think Mobility
3 Questions Before Implementing Any Mobile Solution
May 20, 2013I often get super excited when I see other businesses doing cool and innovative things in mobile. You read an...
Who's Your Data?
Instagram: Does It Matter That It Will Make Money on Your Pics?
Dec 19, 2012Instagram announced the company will soon begin using your content to sell targeted advertising products to the highest bidder. Does...
The Whole Magilla
What Marketers Can Learn From Maine's Political Email Idiocy
Feb 24, 2012It finally happened. Politicians' idiotic email practices had a measurable negative effect. "Maine Republican Party chairman Charlie Webster has admitted...
Denny Hatch's Blog
The Internet Can Make You a Chump—Forever!
Sep 25, 2010Trouble is, the Internet is rife with misinformation and if you get caught advertently or inadvertently propagating this nonsense in...
SEO & Content Marketing Revue
5 Tips for Top Positioning (And Converting) Page Titles
Aug 11, 2010Wondering about a SEO content strategy that offers the biggest impact in the shortest time? Try tweaking your page titles....
Are You Buying ‘Smart Media?’
|
Sadly, with most online advertising experiences, the lagging partner is typically the business owner by no real fault of his or her own … it's simply from sheer lack of industry knowledge and media savoir-faire.
I've been buying online ad space for more than a decade. Here are my personal powerful and money saving tips to buying smart media. These are "must ask" questions that will help you get the most bang for your buck:
1. Competitive analysis—Find out what the typical industry rate is for that particular ad spot and placement in your niche. For instance, if you're interested in running a 300x250 banner ad, do some research. Call some ad networks and find out what that ad unit costs on the home page and '"run of site" within your target niche. What ad units typically get the best clickthrough rates (also known as CTR)? Read some online e-zines or blogs and get an idea on average metrics so you have a benchmark to measure your campaign against.
2. Ad targeting—Find out if the publisher allows day parting (running ad during specific time periods). This can save you money on ad rates, especially using the CPM (cost per thousand) pricing model.
3. Dedicated email—Find out the size of the list you're thinking of renting, the frequency the list goes out, and the average unit sale (AUS) per subscriber. Ask the publisher who's mailing for you if there will there be a lift note (an introduction or implied endorsement). Lift notes help "warm up" the list (subscribers) and boost conversions.
4. Out clause—Ask your account executive if the media agreement has an out clause or termination right. This is important as if your campaign is not working, you don't want to have to ride it out and waste money. You want the ability to end it and cut your losses. Also find out if you can pause your ad during a slow traffic times (i.e. summer, holidays) as not to waste impressions (CPM).
5. Reporting—Ask your account executive if you will be given daily/weekly reporting OR access to the online ad serving system. This will allow you real-time access to clickthrough rates and more to evaluate if creative (banner and landing page) is striking a chord with the target audience.
6. Seasonality—Each industry and niche has its highs and lows. But, generally speaking, it's typical to see drops in website traffic during summer (June to Aug.) and around certain U.S. holidays. Research your industry and use consumer purchase behavior to your advantage. For instance, in some industries, the days around Thanksgiving are slower than usual. If you're running a campaign that falls on this timeframe, ask about getting lower rates or pausing your ad during the slowdown. DoubleClick and ClickZ are great sources of information and often release quarterly consumer Web reports on buying patterns and traffic.
7. Exclusivity—Similar to economies of scale (where the more that's produced, the cheaper the unit price), if your banner ad is sharing space with other advertisers for less "solo" time, you should be paying less. It's important to ask whether your ad will get 100 percent of the rotations or sharing ad exposure. And if sharing, find out what percentage of exposure you are ultimately getting during your ad run. This is known as being "fixed ad placement" or "shared ad placement." If you're told you have shared placement, this is a great bartering tool to get a more competitive rate.
8. Site targeting—You've heard in real estate it's always about location, location, location, right? Well, online real estate is no different. Find out if your ad will be run of site (ROS), run of channel (ROC) or on specific high-traffic pages. Typically, the further you drill down, the more you pay. It's known as "site targeting." Similarly, the higher you go up, the less you pay. ROS is the highest (most broad) level, so it's usually the cheapest ad location. Next is usually ROC, whose ads appear on certain channels or sections of a website. Then there are also specific pages or demographic targeting. Your goals and budget will determine which placement is best for your needs.
9. Remnant space—Often the forgotten about query, remember to ask if remnant space is available. Remnant ads are those ad units that the publisher or ad network is having a difficult time selling for whatever reason. They can also be last-minute specials or units that are now available due to another deal falling through. With more popular, high-traffic websites, you can save a fortune buying remnant media. Just pay close attention to the terms and conditions in the insertion order, as with most special deals, there are usually restrictions and little leeway.
All of these factors will help determine the value of your ad space and, ultimately, the cost you're willing to pay to access that audience. Good luck!Companies Mentioned:
 |
Sections:
|
|
