Finding the Right Advertisers
When choosing advertisers, you're looking for a convergence of six things.
Ideally, you'd like to see ALL these things to all come together. That's not always possible, but in an ideal world you want all of these things from a prospective advertising partner:
- Brand
- Topic / Niche Match
- Creative
- Demographic Match
- High Earnings Per Click
- Relationship-Oriented
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Let's look at an example. We'll use VIPRE Antivirus software to see if they check all the boxes for YOUR magazine.
1. Brand
This is an easy one. Have you heard of them before? If you haven't, is it clear someone else has heard of them?
Who is this company you're considering working with?
You've never heard of VIPRE Antivirus like you have Norton or McAfee, but their company has been around for over 25 years. OK, this is a good brand.
Box checked.
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2. Topic / Niche Match
Let's use everyone's favorite magazine, Turtle Walking Today, as the magazine we're matching advertisers to here.
In this case, antivirus software is waaaay outside the topic / niche of Turtle Walking, so this is a miss.
Box NOT checked.
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3. Creative
Do they have lots of readily available creatives in the sizes you need?
(Here we'll pretend we'd actually looked at VIPRE's creative and found there's plenty.)
Box checked.
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4. Demographic Match
If they have a computer, they need antivirus software.
Box checked.
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5. High Earnings per Click
Each network presents this data differently, but it's the same idea: advertisers with high network EPCs will probably be more lucrative to work with.
A high EPC generally means they're doing well converting clicks into sales.
In the case of VIPRE, their EPC in CJ is pretty strong, so we'll say:
Box checked.
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6. Relationship-Oriented
To me this one is the most important.
I'd rather have a personal contact and a relationship rather than just being an affiliate ID to someone.
In the case of VIPRE, they treat their affiliates like kings and queens, so they've earned this one.
Box checked.
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Does VIPRE Pass the Test?
For most of us, the answer is probably, "No." Even though they tick five of the six boxes, they probably don't have the all-important topic/niche match, so you'd want to move on.
Everything else may be great, but you can probably find better for your magazine.
No, you're not assessing EVERY advertiser on each of these parameters; most will fail immediately because they're poor matches to your Topic/Niche and/or Demographic.
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