One of the biggest challenges and opportunities in monetizing a website relates to selling ads. The vast majority of Web publishers rely on others to sell their ads–specifically, ad networks that match up buyers with inventory. While that route is by far the easiest to implement–in some cases it can be done in a matter of hours–it’s far from the most lucrative. Selling ads directly to relevant, premium advertisers can result in a significant increase in total revenue for websites with a large audience.
Unfortunately, weaning yourself off of ad networks and into direct relationships is a long, hard process. Below are several tips and resources designed to help out in this process. (For more, be sure to sign up for the free MonetizePros newsletter.)
Making a Media Kit
One of the first things you’ll need to do is create a media kit, a document that conveys information about your site’s content, audience, and advertising opportunities. (MonetizePros members can use our handy Media Kit Generator tool.)
- Review Other Media Kits for Inspiration. There are thousands of existing media kits out there already; take some time to review what others have created, and pick and choose the pieces of those that you like. To get started, check out our profile of Seven Media Kits That Make It Rain.
- Collect Data on Your Audience. If you’re able to demonstrate that your audience is unique and appealing to certain advertisers, the process of selling ads directly gets much, much easier. Spend some time thinking about how best to highlight the appealing attributes; our three data source suggestions are a good place to start.
Finding Advertisers
If you want to maximize your ad revenue and develop relationships for the long term, you don’t want just anyone advertising on your site. Ideally, you’ll forge relationships with those who will get the most value from advertising on your site, because those will be the clients who will be able to pay the most. Here are some tips for finding those potentially elusive ideal advertisers:
- Scour Your Competitors. The ideal advertiser for your site is one that both: 1) has a product or service that is a match for your demographic and 2) is actively advertising online. If you’re familiar with sites that are generally similar to your own, these can be great places to look for potential clients that meet both of these criteria.
- Look No Further Than Your Own Site! If you’re currently using an ad network such as AdSense, it’s likely that the “best fit” advertisers for your site are already there. Keep an eye out for the ads appearing on your site (while, of course, NOT clicking on them) to grow your list of potential advertisers.
- Force Those Advertisers to Go Direct. If there are advertisers appearing on your site with whom you’d like to establish direct relationships, it’s possible to cut off the path to your site forged through ad networks. Doing so forces them to buy directly from you (assuming that they want to be on your site). Simply block them through the ad network(s) you’re using, and then they’ll have to buy from you if they want to continue to appear there. Different ad networks have different processes for doing this; in AdSense, it’s very easy.
Finding Contacts
Once you know which brands you want to target, you’ll need to find the contact information for the appropriate people who make the actual buying decisions. Sometimes, it’s as easy as looking on the website and looking up an email address. But in most cases (particularly with larger brands), finding the right person to contact can be very challenging. Here are a few tips:
- Take Advantage of Free Resources. One of the best free resources out there for uncovering contacts is SellerCrowd, an online forum with thousands of threads full of valuable information (as well as a generally responsive and knowledgeable community).
- Upgrade to LinkedIn Premium. Job descriptions on LinkedIn are a great way to track down the person (or people) with whom you need to get in touch. Paying the monthly fee to upgrade to LinkedIn premium makes it a lot easier to uncover people in your network who may be able to make an introduction, as well as to see more complete data about potentially valuable contacts.
- Seek out Introductions. When it comes to selling ads, a personal introduction is worth a thousand “cold” emails. Search for common contacts in your network who may be able to make personal introductions; it will accelerate your efforts tremendously.
- Buy Detailed Ad Seller Data. If you have a significant budget and want to accelerate the process, there are services out there that will sell you pretty detailed information such as names, phone numbers, and email addresses. Ad Data Express and Redbooks are a couple of the larger solutions out there.
Breaking Through
Once you know who you’re supposed to talk to, your job is still far from complete. Here are a couple tips to help in the outreach process:
- Don’t Be Afraid To Brag. Assuming you have a valuable and targeted audience, don’t be humble about what you’ve built! Share the impressive numbers about how large and how valuable your site is.
- Short = Sweet. There will be a temptation to write lengthy emails highlighting every aspect of your site and audience. Avoid that temptation and keep your emails short and to the point. Throw out a couple numbers that demonstrate how valuable your audience is, and a sentence or two explaining why you know it would be a good fit. Less is more!
Remember, numbers are worth a thousand words when it comes to pitching your site; focus on the statistics, and your work becomes a bit easier.
Bottom Line
Selling display ads directly to advertisers is a tremendously challenging process. But if you’re able to crack the code, it can be very rewarding financially. Among other things, you’ll need to be creative and persistent in this process.