The online space presents a unique opportunity for publishers. In most cases, it’s a free realm to express ideas, advertise a product or share information. In addition to publishing content for free or cheap, digital publishers can cash in through a number of methods. The most well-known method is advertising.
Since the digital realm is open to just about everyone, earning money from advertisements appeals to large and small companies. This article will explore the various ways that digital publishers can start making money from advertising. It will also discuss increasing advertising revenue.
First Thing’s First, Build a Base
Website traffic should be sufficient to ensure decent ad revenue. There are several kinds of advertisements. The most important ads will be explored in this article. The vast majority of them, however, require a fair amount of website traffic and a target audience.
Advertisers want to reach and market to as large an audience as possible. Therefore, making quality content that others want to read and share is essential to ensure that advertisers reach more people. The more visitors a publisher can attract, the greater the chance content on their social media platforms.
Cost-Per-Mille (CPM) ads are particularly beneficial for websites with a lot of traffic. Since they pay per website view, visitors aren’t required to click any links or purchase products. However, virtually any kind of advertising campaign is responsive to decent website traffic. Publishers who create an audience and find their online niche are much better off.
Start Somewhere
Once website traffic has reached an appropriate level, publishers can set up basic ad software for free. The most well known of these programs may be Google AdSense. Publishers can download AdSense for free to receive a code to paste into any of their websites. Google runs ads to help publishers make money. It also collects and displays important analytical data, like page views and website traffic. It offers this information without any input or skills required from publishers.
Form Partnerships
Another benefit of developing a strong online presence is that publishers can take advantage of affiliate marketing opportunities. Publishers who have their own YouTube channel are likely familiar with this kind of advertising. It has become more popular in the wake of YouTube’s “Adpocolypse.”
Affiliate marketing is when publishers and other content creators form partnerships with brands and businesses to market products and services. The publisher features these products and services on their website. Typically the publisher drops the name of a particular business, product or service. Afterward, they may provide a special code or link to whatever they’re marketing. Once users click the link and purchase a product, publishers receive money and the user generally receives some kind of discount.
This form of advertising is particularly beneficial for digital publishers once they have already built a strong base. For instance, publishers who primarily create food-related content are more likely to have a strong base of “foodies,” chefs and restaurateurs. This base is a lot more likely to respond to special deals on cooking products and food items.
Publishers looking to take their ad revenue to the next level can sign up with an affiliate ad network. Ad networks are an alternative to signing up for a partnership with just one company. In these networks, publishers sign up with multiple affiliates all in one place. This allows publishers to maximize profit, test the popularity of different affiliates and form partnerships with more than one affiliate at a time.
Sponsored Content
Any modern publisher should be aware of the income possibility behind sponsored content. This is especially important for publishers who are worried that too many ads will clutter their websites or ruin their aesthetic. Sponsored content, including sponsored ads, is also another way that publishers can adapt to modern users. Most people run ad blocking software or outright ignore ads. Many publishers write sponsored articles suggesting a brand, product or service. This avoids ad loss, even if users are running ad-blocking programs.
This also goes back to identifying a niche and building a strong base. Having an idea of who is consuming content and what they like makes it easier for publishers to decide which sponsored content to run.
Go to the Professionals
By now it should become apparent that, while advertising is a huge asset to publishers, making serious money is about more than ads. It involves creating an advertising strategy and doing research on potential customers and advertisers. For this reason, many publishers are choosing to go with programmatic agencies. Programmatic advertising is the new way of online advertising and it’s helping major and minor publishers cash in. Programmatic ad buying is different than traditional processes of purchasing digital advertising. It uses software to purchase ads instead of salespeople. This is more effective because salespeople are less reliable and more expensive than using software programs. People are still important in perfecting ad campaigns and creating advertising strategies. However, machines do a better job of purchasing ads. Therefore, publishers save more time and money to invest elsewhere.
Various programmatic agencies have taken up this new form of advertising to help publishers get ahead. One such agency is Manesta. Manesta is a cutting-edge programmatic agency that creates custom advertising campaigns. They work for publishers and others hoping to optimize their advertising strategies. Manesta offers customized digital advertising solutions. They also help publishers create targeted campaigns across their digital platforms. In this way, publishers can reach their audience better by finding out what makes them tick.
Knowing and understanding the publisher’s audience or “base” is important. Manesta takes it a step further by analyzing the publisher’s channel to ensure that they are on the best digital channels to reach their audience. In the end, this streamlines the advertising process. It also ensures that publishers don’t waste time and money on platforms that are less profitable for them. Publishers hoping to really cash in through advertising should work on developing a smart marketing strategy with a programmatic agency. Why not try Manesta today?
