As part of getting our name out there at iThemes, we’ve started to do some significant advertising on blogs out there. After dealing with numerous sites and their respective owners, and trying to finalize ads with them, I thought I’d share a couple of tips for bloggers wanting to offer advertising on their sites. Here goes:
1. Ad positions do matter to advertisers — I simply won’t advertise on sites where our exposure is literally buried. That’s not advertising, that’s called a donation. You have to offer value to your advertisers, and you can offer value to your readers by being discerning in who you allow to advertise. And over the course of a week, I can see real quickly — through click-thru stats — what kind of value I’m getting for my money. For those sites, I’ll become a long-term partner with them.
2. Give out your rates, positions AND traffic stats — I know some sites might be embarrassed to show their traffic stats, but as an advertiser I want to be able to judge if the money is going to be well spent. This is only one of the ways I use to determine whether we’ll spend the money, but it’s still an important one. The way I feel good about comparing traffic stats is using one of the most prolific (and free) statistics programs and that’s Google Analytics. Being vague or showing me some stats program I’ve never heard about doesn’t inspire confidence in me.
3. Targeted audiences are key — If you’re thinking of starting a new blog or site, first, you obviously should do it because you’re passionate about the subject. But second, you need to think in terms of targeted audiences (i.e. prospective customer segment) for your potential advertisers. I have a specific target audience in mind as I look for new advertising opportunities … if it isn’t obvious that a site caters openly to this market, I keep browsing past it.
4. You still have to work to make the sale — I’ve emailed some sites asking for more information (particular traffic stats. See No. 2) and got one-line responses back simply pointing me back to the rates page I’ve already read. Like it or not, even if this is passive income for most sites, you still have to do some work to sell it ESPECIALLY if you want a long-term relationship with your advertisers.
5. Added, unforeseen bonuses are a delight — On a couple of sites, after I’ve purchased advertising, they have thrown in an unexpected bonus, like an extra month of advertising or announcing us in a post or putting us on other blogs they own. Granted, not every site needs to do this, but if you’re looking at inspiring confidence, adding value, and working to establish a long-term relationship — giveaway a bonus!
These are just a couple of insights, or maybe even requests, that I’ve gathered as a blog advertiser … maybe you have a couple more you’d like to offer? Make a comment and let us know.