With news that UK digital ad spend has grown 12.6% (IAB 2012), times are certainly exciting for all of those within the online advertising space. Globally, investment specifically in the display space has substantially risen and is expected to account for 41 per cent of all internet advertising by 2014 (ZenithOptimedia, 2012).
For advertisers, against an increasingly fragmented online landscape, the entry of algorithmic and programmatic buying technologies has made the display market more appealing. With the success of web campaigns being largely determined by effective targeting, these automated technology platforms allow advertisers to reach a more specific segment of a publishers’ audience – something difficult to replicate using the manual approach.
Teamed together with sophisticated web analytic tools, advertisers can now ensure they aren’t wasting their budgets being present on irrelevant publisher sites, while also being able to dissect campaigns to see which initiatives create most cut-through.
However, when examining this renewed and lucrative context, a win-win can be engineered for both advertisers and publishers – who also stand to make significant gains provided they offer an attractive enough proposition that advertisers will want to invest in. Publishers can optimise their inventory by taking into account the following considerations:
1. Ensure your content is unique:
The term ‘content is king’ may is a ubiquitous phrase we hear when planning a web strategy, but for publishers this is the single most important message to follow. Competing within an increasingly crowded environment can represent a real challenge, but is an obstacle that can be combated by delivering unique and insightful content.
Advertisers will want to invest in publishers who maintain a loyal online user base, therefore ensuring the content and information hosted on your own site cannot be found elsewhere on competitor sites is essential. This can easily be achieved through the use exclusive stories or interviews, guest blog posts and even promotional offers.
2. Ensure your site encourages user and community participation:
Having a visible and active community can be vital in attracting new members. While not all new users to your site may contribute to the debates or forums, often described as ‘lurkers’, they may still engage in the community content being shared.
The influence of peer recommendations and opinions cannot be underestimated, therefore ensuring there is space on your site which facilitates this interaction is critical – but remember to keep it simple. The easier it is to share and participate on your site, and even allowing for some interaction with non-registered users, should encourage higher rates of contribution and engagement.
3. Provide your users with the tools to maximise their experience:
If the first step for publishers is to ensure they create quality content, the second step is to optimise it. This involves making sure your brand and content can be consumed and easily shared over as many touch points as possible. Having the functionality to quickly connect to major social and professional networks is particularly important and what users will increasingly expect.
4. Embrace your competitors:
Positioning yourself as a publishing authority means showing you’re aware of industry issues and what your competitors are up to. Don’t be afraid to talk about competitors, in fact you might even want to mention them and even add links to their site. Maximising link development will ultimately cultivate your content’s reputation and build your position as an authority in your space.
5. Encourage your users to embrace advertising:
Advertisers will want to be present on your inventory if you can demonstrate that your users show certain degrees of engagement with the advertising on your site. Innovations in the display advertising space has meant the day of standard banner ads has now been supplemented by a wealth of different display ad formats.
Ads can now host rich media content which have been designed to better engage consumers and can also include exclusive promotional offers or content. While most users are aware that advertising is essential to keeping the site going, it’s important you also encourage them to interact with online marketing and take note of what it can offer.
6. Adhere to best practice SEO:
In order to make sure you pick up traffic from the long tail as well as branded keywords, there are basic rules you should follow. This includes investing in rich, unique and compelling content (while ensuring there is no hosting of duplicate content), as well as possessing site architecture which is optimal for search engines.
It is also worth remembering that not all keywords and keyword phrases are equal. It is important to take the time to figure out and establish which keywords you need to focus on which will drive users to your site.
7. Having a long-term growth strategy:
Grouping publisher sites and inventory by thematic verticals will offer a win-win both for advertisers – who get scale, reach and management assistance – and publishers, who gain pricing power and access more ad budgets which require a large scale to deliver an effective online campaign.
Targeting consumers with promotions that are housed in the right content specific environment, i.e., finding end users on those sites relevant to their interests, are found to be most effective – therefore publishers also need to ensure they have enough of the right type of inventory for advertisers to utilise, in order to be commercially attractive. In this light, in terms of a long-term growth strategy, publishers should begin to independently aggregate a larger volume of thematic inventory, which will make them more attractive to advertisers.
