How to Attract Advertisers to Your Blog
June 17, 2008 by
Steven
Filed under
Making Money
If you’re a blogger who is trying to make money by selling ad space, chances are you have read some tips from others about how to attract and retain advertisers. I currently have two blogs. One is about a year old and the other is about four months old. One always takes priority over the other. One has no problem keeping ad slots filled, and even generates more interest than I can accommodate. The other has struggled to attract advertisers.
Rather than just writing generic advice about selling ad space, I thought I would share some of the things I’ve learned through my own blogging experience. Because the two blogs are run much differently and because the results are about as opposite as they can be, I think it’s a great learning experience of what sells ad space in real world scenarios.
First to keep things from being confusing throughout the article I’ll give a brief intro to the blogs that will be referenced throughout this post. First, my primary blog that was started about a year ago is Vandelay Website Design. That blog had no advertising for about the first six months, and has sold out all ads spots for the past six months. Traffikd was launched in February with some affiliate ads, but has drawn very little interest from paid advertisers.
1. Earn Respect in Your Niche/Industry
One of the biggest differences between my two blogs is that Vandelay is fairly well-established in its niche, while Traffikd is still a relative unknown. Advertisers are most likely familiar with the top blogs in the industry that they target, but they’re not going to know the smaller ones. Advertisers make an effort to attach themselves to blogs that have earned the respect of their readers and are seen as leaders in the niche.
It sounds somewhat obvious that being a respected source of information will lead advertisers towards your blog, but it’s often kind of an afterthought when you’re reading advice about selling ads. From my experience, this is one of the major factors. Advertisers are willing to pay to be seen on leading blogs, but they’re unlikely to want to spend the time to set up an ad campaign with a smaller blog, even at a low price.
At Vandelay I’ve put in the effort to earn some respect, and the result is ads that sell. On the other hand, Traffikd has only gotten a smaller amount of time invested in it, and the result is that most people still don’t know about it, and ads that are harder to sell.
2. Get Visitors
Advertisers are drawn to those blogs that have impressive stats. I get asked about traffic levels all the time from advertisers. It’s usually the first thing they want to know, even before price. As the number of visitors to Vandelay has increased each month, the ad prices have also increased, and advertisers have continued to come in steadily.
Traffikd on the other hand is currently drawing around 8,000 unique visitors per month, which is not enough to bring consideration from many advertisers. Sure, some individual bloggers and small companies may be interested in advertising to an audience of this size, but other companies that do a lot of advertising online simply won’t feel that it’s worth their time.
From my experience, even low pricing does not make up for a lack of impressive stats. I know from my experience trying to sell ads at Traffikd and from seeing countless other bloggers running huge discounts and special on ads that attract only meager interest. Dropping prices can often show advertisers that something’s not right or you wouldn’t have to drop the price.
If you want to be able to sell ad space and charge a premium, do what it takes to build up some stats that will generate serious interest from potential advertisers.
3. Be Proactive
Selling ads isn’t all about putting up a page with your stats and prices and watching the inquiries and sales as they come flooding in. At first it’s likely that you’ll need to reach out to some potential advertisers to see if they have an interest. The first few months that I sold ads on Vandelay I generated about 40% of the ad sales from proactively contacting those that I thought might be interested. All I did was visit some other blogs in my niche with about the same size audience, click-through on their ads and found some contact information. At first I thought this might not produce results, but about half of those I contacted wound up buying an ad.
The key is to have reasonable prices (not necessarily bargain basement prices) and give them the details of your audience. If it’s a goof fit, there’s a chance they’ll buy. If I had sat back and waited only for advertisers who contact me, I would have had some empty ad spots for a few months.
With Traffikd, I’ve hardly been proactive at all. I haven’t had the time to contact advertisers (even though it only takes a few minutes) and I think the results are there to be seen. When you’re approaching potential advertisers keep your email very brief, but be sure to give relevant details. Quickly explain your audience, list some stats, and give them your various ad options with prices and payment information. I’ve never had anyone object to being approached for this reason.
Those who are running advertising campaigns are frequently searching around the internet for good places to advertisers, so you could actually be saving them some time. Also, be professional. A respectable company will not want to attach themselves to someone who is not professional.
4. Have an Identifiable Market
If you haven’t launched your blog yet, give some consideration to your target audience. If you have already started your blog but you’re having problems selling ads, you may be able to make some small adjustments to your approach that can help you to have a more distinct and discernable audience.
Advertisers want to know who they are reaching. They’re rarely interested in putting up an ad without knowing that the people seeing their ad will be well-targeted. The Vandelay blog has an audience that potential advertisers can easily identify, and they know who they’ll be reaching. This is critical.
5. Choose an Audience that has Potential Advertisers
If you hope to sell ad space on that blog that has a targeted audience, there better be some potential advertisers looking to reach that market, or you’ll struggle to sell any ad space. With Vandelay, I have an almost unlimited number of potential advertisers that are interested in reaching web designers and website owners. Even if ads aren’t selling well, there’s always plenty of people that I can proactively approach, and if I’m willing to put in some time the ads should sell.
At Traffikd I write mostly about social media, and there are fewer advertisers looking to reach this audience, although there are more than there would be in some other niches. This is fine with me, I anticipated that going in, and selling ad space wasn’t my primary motivation for starting the blog. If it was, I probably would have leaned towards a slightly different target audience.
If you’re not sure if a potential niche has willing advertisers, visit some other blogs on the niche and see who is advertising. If all you’re seeing is the same affiliate ads on each blog, it may be a sign that it’s difficult to sell direct ads in that market.
6. Post Relevant Details on an Advertising Page
If you’re serious about selling ads you should have a page set up specifically to address those who may be interested in purchasing an ad. Many bloggers will mention some of the details of their target audience as well as all the relevant stats, the different advertising options, and maybe the price. Some bloggers don’t like to publish the prices. At Vandelay I have a page set up that does list the price, and I just edit this page whenever I increase the rates. Some people don’t pay attention to this page and email me with basic questions that can be answered here, but I think it still saves me from some unnecessary emails.
On Traffikd I haven’t taken the time to set up an advertising page, and I know that is hurting my chances of selling ads. Obviously potential advertisers want to know some relevant details and stats, and some won’t make the effort to contact you if they’re not posted.
7. Respond Promptly to Inquires
When you get an email about advertising, that is coming from someone who wants to work with you. By responding promptly and answering all their questions you can show them that working with you will be a positive experience. Show them good customer service and they’ll be more likely to buy that ad spot that they’re inquiring about.
8. Be Consistent with Posting
Blog advertisers are somewhat putting themselves at your mercy. If you decide not to post very often throughout the time that they are advertising, their ad will be seen by less people than it could be otherwise. Sporadic posting patterns may concern advertisers. On the other hand, consistent posting will assure them that you’ll continue to post on a regular basis, and that means that their ad will be seen.
9. Follow Up with Current and Past Advertisers
Before your current advertisers have the ad expire, make an effort to reach out to them, thank them for being an advertiser, and ask if they would be interested in renewing the ad. Just because they don’t contact you on their own doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be interested in renewing.
Also, keep a list or database of your past advertisers. If you need to sell a spot at some point in the future you’ll have a list of potentials that are familiar with you and know what your blog can deliver. If they had a positive experience they may be interested in advertising again down the road. Also, if you launch another blog with a similar audience you could have some warm leads for advertisers right away.
What’s Your Experience?
Do you sell ads on your blog? What have you found to be the most important factors?
This post was written by Steven Snell.
I think the niche also plays a part. From my web surfing across different kind of sites, I do find that advertisers in the “internet” business are more willing to invest than those who are not. I guess it still takes time for companies who are not online-savvy to get into online advertising (especially from my part of the world).
There are a lot of ways to make money on a site. Affiliate marketing has been VERY successful for me in the past
Pablo,
Yes, I agree. That’s where I was going with number 5. In a lot of niches I’m sure it is difficult to find advertisers unless the blog has a huge audience.
Unsure as I am just starting to look into the whole monetizing of sites but found your post extremely valueable. Thanks
Rich Muir
http://www.companiesnow.com.au
making registering your company easy
I think knowing your target market is super huge and having that show clearly is big to potential advertisers.
I have people getting in touch with me several times a month looking to buy links or ad space. They know the people they want to reach and if your site is clear on who it’s targeting then the work of finding advertisers sort of takes care of itself.
Although I am curious to see what the reaction will be once I start researching and approaching them myself.
I’m definitely hoping to get advertisers to my blog in the near future, but right now it’s only about 2 months old and my traffic levels are pretty low. Thanks mostly to StumbleUpon, I’m getting about 5,000 unique visitors per month and building slowly every month.
Just started getting some good organic traffic from Google, which has been very motivating.
What do you think is a good traffic level to start seeking out advertisers? I know it depends greatly on the niche you are in, but is there some sort of general guideline? 20,000 unique visitors/month?
Kristy,
I think if you approach the right people the reaction will be positive. Obviously not all of them will be interested, but they will be able to appreciate your email if your blog is a really good fit for their product or service.
Tony,
I don’t really have an answer for that. Some people think you should never sell ads for the first few months, and others think you should show ads from the start. I’m not sold on either approach. On my primary blog I waited over 6 months and at that point I had around 100,000 visitors per month. At that point it was obviously easier to start selling ads, but I had also missed out on some money that I could have been making up to that point. My advice is to start selling ads when you don’t have to waste time finding advertisers. If you can sell banners for $20 a month but you have to spend lots of hours looking for buyers, it’s not worth it. On the other hand, if you can sell them for $10 a month with no time investment it may be a good idea. At least it would cover hosting costs and that sort of thing.
I have a blog about dog training and I never thought on selling ads until I received an email from a compagny who was asking me for the advertising rates on my blog.
So some times you also need some luck to get ads on your blog
Daniel
I was wondering how you got the Banner Ad Purchase Form and how that works? Is it a wordpress plugin?
I’m trying to figure out the best way to collect payment from potential advertisers as well as the easiest way for them to complete the purchase. Thanks!
There are many proven ways to make money from blogs and websites. Every single way to make money boils down to the traffic you get on your blog/site. The rest follows! Traffic is the key to online success and I’m still trying to increase the traffic
[...] so let’s see what interesting things were written in the blogosphere. [...]
I have started to earn money from my blog and I’m interested to earn from private ad sales. Before I get one, I have to do a lot of work and have to show them some great status.
I’m working hard in my blog and posting regularly. I’m sure I will succeed.
@Niksan, it’s not just about traffic, though. It’s also about the quality of the traffic, especially if you are relying on a high click through rate to earn you money. Organic search engine traffic is infinitely better than StumbleUpon traffic as far as CTR is concerned. However, if you just need the page impressions to get advertisers, then it becomes less about the quality and more about the quantity of traffic.
@ Tony
I totally agree with you. I’ve seen studies about the traffic from StumbleUpon and Digg. You can get a lot of traffic from those sites but they are “bad” visitors concerned on CTR.
Daniel
Steven,
I thought this was an excellent post. It is really important for bloggers to get ad space that way then can make some money. One way to get advertisers to your blog is to create a unique and interesting headline, you can do this by using a tool called glyphius, I know that I use it to improve my score. I hope this information is helpful and keep up the good work!
Thanks for this post! I’m developing a new blog, and I hope to have enough traffic to get advertisers one day. When that day comes, I’ll definitely reference this post again!
I had never tried selling advertising space on my blog, there are sometime a bit advertiser interested and contact me that they would advertise on my blog. I never create an ‘advertise page’ because I guess my blog is not enough decent traffic to sell private ad space.
These are some excellent tips! Thanks.
As i have noticed having a tc list and responding to your audience attracts viewership.
Does PR, Alexa and the rest play a part in an advertisers decision to choose a particular site or blog to advertise with?
Related and helpful content which attracts visitors to ur blog also brings advertisers too.
very well explained post … with pointwise should follow them to get the best.
Steven,
IMO the most determining thing is website traffic and how targeted the site visitors.
Cheers!
Cool ideas - this should help me with my own blog!
I started my blog a couple months ago and haven’t really started advertising other than google adsense, which has garnered me a whopping $11.44 so far. My current focus is increasing traffic and writing a good blog. I think money will eventually come but first thing’s first!
hey frd … wer hv u disappeared … waiting for more useful tips by u out here
Thanks for the tips. I’ve been trying to find sport advertisers for my blog for sometime now. I think these tips should help me out a lot.
This is pretty elaborate article, would help many upcoming bloggers. I actually follow up with existing and past advertisers and have seen good results as well.
I signed upto an affiliate marketing company and placed selected ads on my site. This has worked very well for me.
I follow these tips..
but still not receiving any advertisers…
I am unlucky ??
Excellent tips mentioned in the post. As a new blogger this information will be particularly important to me when I feel that my traffic levels are high enough to sell ads.
All the above points are important. But, in my view earning respect in an appropriate niche is most crucial for getting good advertisers. Thanks.
Is just an email address link enough to get advertisers to find you and begin negotiations? I do this on some of my sites but I don’t get a lot of emails about advertising.
Let me ad the presentation and design of the blog. It should be easy to the eyes too:)
Targetted traffic is the key to attract the advertisers. Once you have traffic and readers you automatically become popular.
Am I missing something? I understand that this comment involves direct, paid advertising on blogs. But why wouldn’t you use Google adsense or something similar to get the ball rolling? Better yet, you could join the Amazon affiliates program and get paid a commission whenever your readers clicked through and bought something. This has worked for me.
I think the “consistent posting” comment above is priceless. Never understesimate the power of posting like clockwork every day to ensure your readers keep on coming back for more.
Great outline for getting blog visitors! I think many of these same tips can apply to getting visitors to an affiliate site as well (or any other site that is not a blog).
Im relatively new in the internet marketing world, so far ive found this blog an invaluable source of rich information.
What im interested in is how do you come up with your prices for advertising, I mean i cant just say a figure as advertisers may laugh at me, or just under cut me…Any advice would be great.
Thanks for this info! Ive got a few blogs lying around just not seem to have taken off.
I’ve been think about this for a while now, what impact could Page Rank, Alexa ranking score and the rest play a part in an advertisers decision to choose a particular site or blog to advertise with? Obviously the more traffic the better?
Many of these tips will not only get you more advertisers, but also more traffic. It makes sense that the two correlate well with each other.
Great tips! How I wish I could find more advertisers in my blog which I’ve been building for the past 6 months increasing its quality articles and traffic.
I watched that video in Darren Rowse’s Problogger.
I enjoyed reading and now to the practice. Thanks for the tips!
Interesting article. I have several websites, and while one of them is starting to gain some traction, my traffic levels don’t appear to be anywhere close to the point of making much money off of advertising by your numbers. I do believe that I am the leader in a very niche market, so that could work to my advantage even with smaller traffic stats.
I had some interest some time back about advertising, and I’m thinking about proactively seeking it out, but your suggested amount of traffic is much greater then I currently have, so that is a little discouraging.
All we can do is see what happens.