How to Sell Ads Online > Simplify The Advertising Process (7/7)
February 2, 2010 – 7:48 pm How to Sell Ads Online > Simplify The Advertising Process (7/7)
This is the seventh and last part of the How to Sell Ads Online series.
This final article builds on the last discussion on providing a self service system.
The concept is simple.
Since human beings take the path of least resistance, if you make it easy for advertisers to get their job done, they'll do it over and over again.
So how do you do it?
1. Standardised ad zones
The most popular ad units on the web are leaderboards, medium rectangles and wide skyscrapers. They work well for banner ads, text ads, and video ads.
There is a high chance that an advertiser will already have portfolio of ads in these sizes. Remember familiarity breeds acceptability.
2. Simple workflow
Your self service system needs to be easy to follow. Don't assume that because you think its intuitive, everyone else will. You'll often be surprised how people interact with web sites.
Test the system with non-technical person that represents your typical advertiser (like your grandma…no, just kidding) . If they can create a campaign in under 10 minutes without your assistance, then it's a winner.
3. Ad templates
These are pre-built ads that allow advertisers to modify colours, text, images etc. Having them on your system makes a new advertiser's job massively easier. Find a system that comes with its own templates and allows you to create new ones that are tailored to your advertisers.
4. Clear actionable reports
Information overload can be overwhelming. Information without clear advice on what to do next can be as useful as no information at all.
Your reports should communicate the most important things – fulfillment (how much of the requested impressions have been delivered), performance (click through and conversion rates) and if your ad server can do conversion tracking, then you should show their Return on Investment.
5. Rock solid customer service
Nothing beats great customer service. It doesn't matter if the advertiser is Universal Studios or Joe the Plumber. Make everyone fill like they are equally important to you. Reply emails quickly and provide online help.
Summary
We wrote this series as free advice to all publishers out there regardless of experience. Hopefully you’ve picked up a tip or two along the way.
If you take one thing away, it should be that
more small business advertisers are coming online and you need to make it easy for them to advertise with you
One tool that can help you is Trafficspaces. Facebook has cracked the code, and so can you. Get started today.
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