While many webmasters and bloggers prefer to use one or more advertising networks – including the most famous Google AdSense – to manage their website’s advertising inventory, Selling advertising “directly” to advertisers does not remain a great way to make your website or blog profitable...
On the other hand, It allows you to revise upwards the prices and earnings you can expect from your ad banners or your links, to no longer be dependent on an advertising agency and the commissions it charges and to have full control over the management of their advertising strategy and therefore the monetization of their blog or website.
But “live” advertisers also need to be attracted and persuaded the downside of asking for more time in addition to managing the commercial, legal and technical aspects of finding advertisers and setting up advertising campaigns.
It should be noted that by “directly” we mean a campaign managed without the intervention of an intermediary such as an advertising agency or partner platformfor example.
Learn how to increase your website or blog’s advertising revenue by negotiating “live” with brands to advertise on your website.
I. Write a page for advertisers
The first step to attracting advertisers and selling “live” ads on your website, Start by creating a page where they can easily contact you and learn more about your website or blog.
It’s not enough to create a standard blog and contact page and expect advertisers to contact you.
This is usually referred to as the “advertiser side”. You will also find it sometimes referred to as “advertising”, “become an advertiser” or simply “advertisers”.
On the menu of this particular page, some important information that cannot be overlooked and should definitely be included:
- The audience of your website or blog;
- The various advertising opportunities offered on your website;
- The prices of the different advertising formats you offer (optional);
- A link to your media kit if you have one;
- A separate contact email address, such as: [email protected];
- If possible, references from advertisers who have already run advertising campaigns on your site.
We generally find the advertisers’ page at the top or bottom of the websites page, integrated into the links in the secondary menu.
Take the test: 95% of major websites have an advertiser page.
And it will be a very good opportunity for you to discover good examples in this area and get inspiration for your own “Advertising” page.
2. Create a media kit for your blog or website
Often little known and not very common among bloggers and non-professional webmasters, However, the Media Kit is a great tool to more easily convince brands to advertise on their website or blog.
Not only is it a must have in the industry, but it is used by all advertising agencies and professional websites.
It is a document – often in PDF format – whose goal is to enable advertisers to easily find all different media and advertising opportunities that you offer on your website as well as important facts and figures about your website.
In summary, some elements to create a good media kit for your website:
- The target audience and objective: the number of monthly visitors and the number of page views of the website, and the main target audience (Young people, 25-49 years old, CSP+, etc.);
- The history and positioning of the site: creation date, editorial style and target audience, position in its sector, etc.;
- Your offer: the different advertising options offered, the different advertising formats on which advertisers may be present, etc.;
- The technical specifications for advertising on your website: quality level of banners, campaign calendars, etc. (optional);
- The prices of your various offers;
- The references of brands that have already advertised on your website, if possible with illustrated examples of specific cases;
- A separate email address and name of the contact responsible for advertisers on your site;
Not all websites always have a media kit. Others only present it to advertisers after an initial email exchange.
3. Define your website’s ad formats
One of the important and often forgotten steps for webmasters and bloggers to start selling “live” advertising to advertisers is selecting and specifying the different formats, opportunities and ad banners on your website or blog where the advertisers will be present could be.
Clearly what you are going to include in your media offering.
To do this, you must start from your website. Which advertising formats are already integrated:
- banner ads, specified dimensions;
- videos;
- Links ;
- Article ;
- Post on social networks;
- Newsletter;
- …
If those present are not suitable or out of step with market trends, which ones can you easily incorporate?
Let’s get to the event formats, which ones have you already practiced on your website or are you ready to implement them?
As a reminder, there are many premium ad placements including: skins, interstitials, etc.
There are also promotional opportunities that can be specific to your site, such as suggesting a branded highlight on one of your slides if you have a Featured carousel on your site or blog home page.
Think about your website, the placements you can offer and what you are willing to accept.
Finally, there are other advertising options, the presence of which depends on the respective website, such as e-mail dispatch, presence in newsletters or sponsored articles, and which can also be integrated into your website’s media offering for advertisers.
4. Create a compelling offer and set prices
After carefully selecting the different formats and advertising options that you can offer advertisers on your website, It’s time to bring them together in a media offering that hits the mark with brands and allows you to facilitate your “live” negotiations with them.
Don’t forget to set the prices of your different offers.
Let’s start with the design of the media offer, because it will determine the prices you will offer.
Several behaviors are possible. Either you decide to offer each advertising format completely independently and according to one or more types of remuneration (CPM, CPM or CPM).
If this is the case, I advise you to prefer compensation at CPM which is more beneficial for your website or blog in general, especially for general topics.
And in this case, you set the prices for each of your ad formats in CPM (cost per thousand impressions) – if that is the type of compensation.
Also note that if you engage in this type of offer, You must use a tool to manage the distribution of your ad banners and collect statistics (number of impressions, number of clicks, CTR, etc.).
The other option is to create a sponsorship-type media offer. This is especially interesting for sites and blogs with small to medium audiences and/or themes with few advertisers.
The idea is to no longer sell your advertising space per ad (TCP) or per click (KPC), but to offer it as a long-term offer (weekly, monthly, semesterly, etc.). At the same time, the relationship with the advertiser is different.
It becomes the only brand present in this format during the specified period and enters into a sort of “sponsorship” relationship.
If your page or blog has a smaller audience, you can also combine multiple ad formats in the same offer to make it easier for advertisers to engage.
Finally, the final option is to create “tailor-made” media offerings that combine multiple formats and/or advertising opportunities in one offering and at a specific price.
For example, you could launch a “Premium Visibility Pack” that includes 100,000 impressions in mega banner 728*90 px and 75,000 impressions in block 300*250 px, in addition to a promotional email of your newsletter as well as a sponsored article with highlight in “A la Une” carousel on the home page of your website.
And so on, many combinations are possible, but I think you got the principle!
In summary, attracting advertisers and dealing “directly” with them to manage advertising campaigns is a very good solution for monetizing your website or blog.
However, it requires more work and takes care of some important aspects, but generally – if the strategy is effective and well-managed – guarantees ad revenue well above that of ad networks.
And especially if you have not already been to an exclusive classic advertising agency.
And you, are you interested in negotiating “live” with advertisers for your website or blog? Do you already sell all or part of the advertising banners on your site “directly”? What techniques and strategies do you use?