NONE: Re: ONLINE-ADS>> selling ad space
Re: ONLINE-ADS>> selling ad space
MEMEX Press (cbol_at_balt.mindspring.com)
Wed, 01 Oct 1997 16:29:12 -0400
sandy fleischer wrote:
>What will companies that I solicit ads from need to know before they can
>make a decision as to whether they want to advertise or not.
Sandy, one issue I can address (from the perspective of a smallish, eager
online publisher) that can't be found in any books is this:
You mentioned that your "...5,000 page views per day...[are viewed by]...
a highly desirable target group." As publisher of a site
targeted to a highly desirable demographic (prospective college students
and their parents), and at half-a-million page views per month only
modestly bigger than yours (though still microscopic by Yahoo!
standards), I suspect that you'll be dealing (or attempting to deal)
with two sorts of potential customers:
(1) The big kids, who are savvy regarding Web advertising but who
simply don't have the time to deal with anyone who can't deliver millions
of impressions, and
(2) The little kids, for whom your size, price and demographics may be
just the ticket, but who probably know next to nothing about Web
advertising and suspect in their heart-of-hearts that it's probably a
scam.
Convinced (as we still are) that our audience was an extremely attractive
one for college recruiters, we set to work courting them, only to find
that those potential customers were rather unaware of the Web
and its advertising potential--so much so that we couldn't afford to
mount the sort of educational campaign it would take to win them over.
Suffice it to say that the customers we are now selling to (mostly
through an ad rep) are major national consumer brands -- the big boys,
who recognize the quality of the eyeballs we bring them and who are
happy to deal with us because we're part of a network that brings
millions of 'em. The moral of the story is: unless you're rather
sophisticated regarding the online advertising world, don't become too
fond of your notion of which advertisers you're perfect for. Alas, being
perfect and closing deals are two very different things. Smallish niche
publishers in search of ad revenues need to have a Plan B (and even
C, D and E) in mind, and be ready to turn on a dime.
Bill Busa
MEMEX Press
Publishers of "Critical Comparisons of American Colleges and Universities"
www.memex-press.com/cc
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