The Low Down on Media Buys

When it comes to Media Buys, the road to success can take many twists and turns, but should always consist of a strategic plan, proper execution, detailed optimization, scalability, and the testing of new offers.

The planning phase of any media buy should include choosing a traffic source. With new traffic sources popping up ever more frequently, Media Buyers need to rely on resources such as industry newsletters, Magazines, and Forums for inside information. Often times, industry magazines will count down the top advertising networks based on reach and monthly impressions served. While forums make a great place for referrals and obtaining feedback from other online marketers (regarding specific traffic sources), be sure to do your own research. Once the traffic source, whether a advertising network or large website, is locked down, consider setting a daily spend which corresponds to your back end goals. This will later help with the scalability of your campaign. Also, request reporting access, as this will pertain to the optimization of a media buy.

To the experienced media buyers, the execution phase may seem like second nature, however, the steps involved with properly launching a campaign should not be overlooked. Many advertising networks require a minimum purchase of between $5,000- $10,000 for a CPM or CPC media buy. With this type of investment in place, media buyers should be sure their affiliate link is loading correctly, a pixel is placed, and the campaign is tested to ensure tracking. A campaign will see the most traffic during the week. With that said, keep in mind the day of the week of which the campaign is launched. For example, launching a campaign on a Friday evening is dangerous since an issue could occur over the weekend and days may go by with impressions or clicks completely wasted.

Once the campaign is live, the optimization phase of a media buy begins. Having a daily spend in place will allow you to compare apples to apples, regarding the offer’s performance. The daily spend will also allow buyers to spot trends in the reports. Optimization should involve eliminating sites which aren’t converting and setting day parting in place. For example, if reporting shows the most leads between 7am and midnight, day parting can be set so your campaign will only be viewed during those hours. This will help preserve your budget and increase your ROI. The optimization phase also includes “tweaking” the campaign. There are many ways to tweak an offer. If you are using Text Links, changing up the ad copy can increase Click-Through Rates. The same applies for Display ads; the creative can make or break the success of a media buy since it is the first interaction a user has with an offer.

Scaling an offer is the most exciting part of a media buy, in my opinion. It means you have made a campaign successful on the small scale and are ready to see what the inventory is really capable of. The first stage of scaling should be to increase the cap (perhaps double the daily spend). If the offer is still profitable at that level, blow your budget out and wait for the return! At this point, a media buyer may feel like they have achieved success. However, the largest buyers out there are always looking for “the next big thing”. Be sure to test new offers throughout each phase of your media buy. Testing new offers and new traffic sources will provide the diversity necessary for your future success in Media Buying.

Are You Getting The Most Out Of Your Publisher-Affiliate Strategist Relationship?

Whether you join on your own or are directly contacted by a network to partner up, you’ll almost always be paired up with an Affiliate Manager (or in our case, an Affiliate Strategist). The Affiliate Strategist is your ‘eyes and ears’ of the network and is one of your greatest assets and resources when it comes to growing your online business. So how do you get the most out of the Publisher-Affiliate Strategist relationship?

Sharing is Caring

You’ve probably used Twitter to vent about the Celtics losing to the Lakers in Game 7 and updated your Facebook status to inform your friends that you pre-ordered the new iPhone 4G (jealous?). Not to mention the countless emails, IMs, texts, and phone calls you send and receive each day. It is practically unavoidable to share with the world all of the things you are doing and thinking at any given time. This has to translate into the Publisher-Affiliate Strategist relationship as well. Many times Reps are stuck assuming certain details of a publisher’s promotions. No good! You know what they say when you assume: “you make an…” well you know .

When an affiliate is transparent about their promotions, there is no guesswork. This enables your Affiliate Strategist to truly keep you updated on industry trends and changes that can impact your ad campaigns—both positively and negatively. Keep in mind, communication goes both ways! When you openly share information about your promotions with your affiliate strategist, you can guarantee to receive inside knowledge on traffic sources, new verticals and often additional resources and tools which can totally supplement your campaigns.

It doesn’t stop there. Communication isn’t only beneficial at the campaign level, but also in your online business as a whole. Put it out there! What are your long term goals? What is the dollar amount you want to make each month? Expressing where you want to be is the first step to getting there.

Fear of Commitment

“Rule #76: No excuses. Play like a champion!” This is one of my favorite quotes from the movie Wedding Crashers. Yeah, she was a stage 5 clinger, but Owen Wilson’s character had a goal in mind and wasn’t going to let an excuse get in his way of reaching it. In affiliate marketing, we have to make a commitment to the game and play like a champion!

In the Publisher-Affiliate Strategist relationship, it’s easy to make excuses. Especially, if a campaign test doesn’t go the way we want. It’s crucial to stay focused on solutions! Before you test an offer, make a commitment to put your best foot forward. Do your due diligence to research the vertical or offer before you test. After the test, dive into your stats. Examine every variable, placement, bid, keyword, ad copy…etc. Once you have an estimate of how to make the ad campaign better, reach out to your Affiliate Strategist to formulate a game plan. Your Affiliate Strategist can’t carry you, but they can be the most valuable asset to your online marketing plan/strategy.

Commitment, like communication, goes both ways. The relationship between an affiliate and their account Rep depends on each other bringing something to the table. There is no point in blaming one another, the only focus has to be staying committed to the goal and learning from previous experiences.

So to quickly recap, the key ingredients to getting the most out of the Publisher-Affiliate Strategist relationship are communication and commitment. Transparent promotions will open the doors and even windows of opportunities, while commitment to the relationship and putting your best foot forward in each promotion will keep each party accountable. As long as both parties have an open line of communication and a commitment to reaching your goals, you will get the most out of your Publisher-Affiliate Strategist relationship!