The simple reason that most ads cease to work today is because people stopped paying attention to them. It’s not that ads don’t provide valuable information, they often do. It’s just that most ads simply don’t provide enough valuable information in the right place at the right time.
“When I need something, I will Google it. If I find you, you win. Otherwise, please stay out of my crowded life.”
It’s obvious that both the media and the advertisers need to change. Here is what I propose:
First, what doesn’t work?
- Spam
- pop-up
- toolbar
- banner
- text link
- trickery
- any variation or combination of the above list…you get the picture.
What’s missing?
The missing link here is the audience. Often when an advertiser decides to run an ad on a platform, she fails to ask one simple question: do the people on that platform want me there? or better yet, am I really, absolutely, 100% sure that I deserve their time and attention? Of course, you can’t blame it all on the advertiser. In this case, the media who decided to put the ad up on their platform is just as responsible as the advertisers. After all, it is their platform, their product, their audience.
What might work?
-Permission: Ask for permission! Explain to your readers that you are going to run some ads on your site to generate income. Most of them will understand that you have a mortgage to pay. Take some polls on what types of ads your audiences would like to see. Then go out and talk with vendors and find the best matches. Wouldn’t you agree that your audiences might pay more attention to the ads you had done that?
- Exclusiveness: Once you have your readers’ permission, you need to look into creating value for them. This could be a long and grudge match between you and your advertisers, but it’s worth it. Getting exclusive deals tells the story that you are working hard to getting the best value possible for your readers’ time, attention and possibly money. Plus, wouldn’t you want your readers to brag to their friends about finding the “best” deals on something that’s not available anywhere else?
- Surprises: Every now and then, throw in a little surprises for your readers. Stuff like: first 100 person who clicked on the ad gets an extra 10% off. No announcements; unexpected; no strings attached; just a little extra “nice” for your best customers.
- Free listings + commission: You have to do this! No exceptions. Charge a minimal fee for the ad listing, and get paid through performance, whether it’s based on click-through or conversion rate. This accomplishes two things: a) showing your advertisers that you are serious about helping them sell and b) helping you filter out what’s working and what’s not.
- “Yes” to a few and “No” to the rest: Unfortunately, for everything to work, you need to resist the temptation of saying “yes” to a lot of the advertisers. 50 listings on your site is worthless, 5 might just work great. Stay fresh. Stay current. Pick out the best ones to run. Reject the rest.
There is no guarantee that this would work, but I promise you two things: #1) it can’t be worse than what you are doing now and #2) if I ever sell online advertisements, this is what I will do.
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