5 Ways Magazine Publishers Can Boost Online Advertising Sales

So you showed up late to the web party and you gave your online ads away for years... the search for the elusive online ad dollar seems to be like a never ending game of cat and mouse, doesn’t it?  So, should publishers just give up on the web and move to new dollars?  Perhaps look harder at mobile or tablet technology?  The answer is a flat out…

Yes and No.

Should publishers just give up on the web and move on to emerging technologies?  Yes, you need to keep your eye on new technology! However, you should still be skeptical of revenue potential: even recent advancements by Google in the mobile advertising space have held little hope of near future revenue.

And No— you should not give up on the web.  The issue is training.  You have trained your clients to undervalue your digital products and your sale staff continues to tell a boooooring story about it.

Here are 5 great yet simple ways you can try to boost online sales this week:

1. Get a quality banner ad delivery system and get under the hood.  Double Click For Publishers or Ad Juggler are 2 affordable options. Bad ad delivery and reporting = advertisers that don’t trust you and frustrated sales people.
2. Run only industry standard sizes of banner ads and go big.  728×90 and 300×250 at a minimum. (Go with 300×600 ads if your web site will handle the size. ) Plus, get access to a quality banner ad designer!
   
3. Duplicate your ad units at the top and bottom of the page to drive up your total ad impressions.
4. Compare your online ad rates to others in the industry and see if you are competitive.  Remember, you may not need to sell by CPM if monthly plans will resonate better with your advertisers.
5. Get a hold of your Google analytics and have each member of your web team craft a “web story”.  This is a simple, tight story about your online user.

These 5 points are most likely considered “old school” by those of us in the internet revenue consulting sector. But most of the above are overlooked in some way each and every day by most publishers.

Have questions about this topic or comments to share with the Niche Magazine Brain Trust? Share with us on Facebook or Twitter.

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