Re: How to Ask for Special Advertising Deals?

From: Cliff Kurtzman <moderator_at_o-a.com>
Date: Wed 12 Nov 2003 09:53:48 -0600

Jeremy Stetson <oa-only_at_mensimageconsultant.com> wrote:

>In the future, I personally will try to explain to dating sites that this
>relatively new business only seeks a short-term experiment and that we
>probably could later make a long-term commitment to normal rates, if the
>target audience proved quite receptive. Beyond that, what can be said to
>make these sites cooperative? Is there any way to take things to whoever
>owns the sites, rather than heads of marketing?

The costs of running this Online Advertising Discussion List are
supported through ad/sponsorship sales, and I also run another
content site that is sponsorship supported. And we also have an
Online Media Buying service that we run in conjunction with this
list. Based on these experiences, here are some ideas of the kind of
things that are likely to get you better deals:

1. The best way to get rates down is to buy in volume. Small, short
term deals require a lot of time and overhead from the publisher, and
the publisher knows that if they make you a special deal on an
initial buy that even if it goes well, you will always expect to get
at least as good a rate in the future. So expect to pay a premium for
a small, short term buy. Expect to receive discounts if you are
buying a large volume or over a longer duration.

If you do your initial buy and find decent response but that the rate
is too high to achieve your targeted ROI, then you are in a position
to go back to the publisher and tell them that based on your
response, you are now ready to buy in larger volume if they can
reduce the cost for you so you can hit your target ROI. But don't
expect them to put the cart before the horse and give you the
discount first--your first exposure to their audience is the exposure
that is most valuable to you and the publisher knows it--giving a big
discount to do an initial small test just makes no sense to the
publisher's point of view.

2. I tend to be generous in offering bonuses and extras... if someone
buys several weeks of list sponsorship, I'm much more inclined to
give them some extra exposure for free (e.g., a free bonus week of
sponsorship) than I am inclined to give them a rate cut on the main
deal.

3. I offer discounts for repetitive behavior as opposed to one time
ad purchases, where I know there will be steady income without having
to renegotiate the deal each time. Make a commitment to buy a
certain amount each month for three months, and I'll cut the rate
10%... commit to doing it for six months and I'll take 25% off, etc.

4. We always sell on a paid in advance only basis except for repeat
clients with an established payment history... but for sites that
don't have that policy, you might ask them if they will give you a
discount if you pay them in advance.

5. Publishers are resistant to making you special deals for things
that are on the rate card, because (among other reasons) they don't
want word to get out that they are being inconsistent between
different customers. But if you go off the rate sheet and ask for
something unusual (such as an ad in a place they aren't already
selling an ad), the publisher will often be much more flexible.

6. Try to get inside the publisher's mind and understand what they
will be the most motivated to sell. With this list for example, we
really value having the resources to do the coverage of industry
conferences, because it allows us to bring the list members
additional educational content. The sponsors like it too because
there is a branding benefit that comes from them being associated
with sponsoring the coverage of the event. So for the sponsors of our
conference coverage, we cut them great deals on exposure that work
out much better than just buying regular weekly list sponsorships off
of our rate sheet. But it becomes a first come first served kind of
thing, because the number of conference coverage slots are limited.
We offer these slots first to those that have been buying them in the
past, and then if there is any inventory left over, we open them up
to new sponsors. For 2004 we are presently planning to expand the
coverage to eight conferences so that we can bring more content to
list members and create additional slots for new sponsors.

--Cliff

Cliff Kurtzman
Moderator
Online Advertising Discussion List
http://www.o-a.com
(281) 480-6300







Received on Wed Nov 12 2003 - 09:53:48 CST