internet advertising for Magazine?

Cindy Love

Hi there,

I originally posted a message here http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=317622 and received
alot of really helpful information. I work for a small to medium sized magazine and we are looking to focus our efforts on our website. We are a little unsure as to how to approach companys for online advertising as it is something we have felt intimidated by up until now. Effectively we want to work on a business plan that will help cover costs for the site and hopefully in the long run give some additional revenue.

In lay mans terms what do we need to do this effectively? I know this is a broad question so to help narrow it down i should explain that our background in advertising has been in publishing i.e the physical advertising in the magazine but now we want to apply a similar plan to the online version if possible.

Thus, how do we go about approaching advertisers (and what are advetisers looking for from us?) or should we apporach them in the same way.

If anyone could please give any tips on the technical jargon surrounding this medium it would be much appreciated-i am not thorughly computer literate so any help would be great .( click through rate has me a bit confused)

And how would we work out a rate card? Surely flash ads can differ in frequency, placement as well as size....ahhhhh!

Any help appreciated-thank you so much.

:rolleyes:

growler

Cindy, advertisers are looking for exactly the same things from online advertising as they are in print, access to their target audience. If advertisers can see that your webite gives them another proven way to contact their target audiences then you should have little problem in convincng them to part with some additional cash , the added benefit for advertisers being that they can easily monitor the effectiveness of advertising on your website in a way that they rarely can with print ( click thru rates ,CTR, being the number of users to respond to an online ad by clicking on it.

One thing that influences the perceived value for advertisers when comparing online v's print advertising is the "proven buyer" idea, i.e. because someone forks out hard cash to buy your magazine they automatically "prove" their interest in the subject and therefore one can infer a willingness to spend more money on the subject. So if your website is a mix of subscription / free content you probabaly have two categories using the site and advertisers might expect to pay more for advertising in the paid sections.

The easiest way for you to get started would be to get hold of the online rate cards for your competitors and use a similar model to price your advertising. Different pricing for different types of ads is normal but depends a bit on what your tech team can deliver and how your site is structured. Also, bear in mind that in your face flash pop ups with sound and video may not be to your audiences liking.

To start with I'd try a starter package for your existing advertisers, with a reasonable CPM ( cost per thousand... views of their ad by website users). As a learning experience you may wish to offer your preferred advertiser (go for one that you know already has an established online advertising programme, and ideally a well know brand in your market) a free trial to get an idea of what traffic , click thrus, conversion to buyers etc. you are likely to generate and build a case study to make future sales lot easier (assuming your website users respond).

You may find when talking to your advertisers that some of them are less keen on straightforward banner advertising, but you have other options to offer: sponsored features / sections sponsorship of forums etc. which can be good for branding if not direct sales. In many ways this is the great thing about online, you can offer a great deal more to advertisers than print can, if your site has the traffic, your advertisers have the budget and the knowledge of how to maximise their online spend, and you have the sales people to sell it you should be well able to cover your online costs ! :-)

you could also talk to someone like tradedoubler about selling your real estate.

leftofcentre

Its harder than you imagine, there is loads of sites all cashed advertisers.

If the site takes off you can try and get an sales house to represent you. Check out:
www.salesonline.ie
www.generator.ie