Do you publish a website, blog or any kind of digital platform?  Have you considered monetising or attracting revenue through advertising?  Here is some background to the changing advertising market and some points to consider…..

One of the market segments MediaScope highlights to advertising buyers is often referred to as the ‘long tail’.

The ‘long tail’, is a term first applied by Chris Anderson of Wired magazine and is defined as a ‘colloquial name for a long-known feature of statistical distributions’ – basically meaning the sum of many smaller niches equals or is greater than the larger few. You can read this famous article (which then became a book) here

This long tail concept can be applied to most industries including the media and advertising industry.  It is this phenomenon which has fundamentally shifted media, advertising, marketing and publishing in the past 10, or so years. 

Prior to the internet consumers received their news and information mostly through large traditional publishers and providers.  The internet introduced an additional content channel where consumers could easily access their news, information, products and services outside traditional providers often in smaller more targeted niche environments. 

Costs for content and service providers to enter this new online channel is relatively minimal compared to traditional media with their expensive to produce and often highly regulated print, tv and radio platforms – all resulting in a very active and evolving media ‘long tail’.

As audiences flow to these long tail media providers advertising becomes a potential revenue stream.  Any online brand, product or service which attracts an audience can potentially attract advertising – you do not need to be a traditional publisher or media business.

If you have an online or digital business, of any kind, could you monetise through advertising?

- Google Adsense has made mini moguls of us all – and is a highly effective entry level option.  Easy to set up – but keep your expectations low.  You can see further information and some great tutorials explaining Google Adsense here  

- A range of affiliate, commission and lead generation advertising is also available where you receive a % of any sales or traffic generated directly through your site. 

Moving beyond Google Adsense and affiliate advertising generally involves a more structured sales strategy.  Here are some initial issues to consider:

Your Market – What market do you operate in and what is your position in it?  Who are your competitors, both on and offline – are they attracting advertising? What is your point of difference in your competitive set – can you develop or do you own a niche where you can offer unique reach?  Can you attract and sustain critical audience levels in your market?

Your Platform – What advertising placements can you offer advertisers – can you meet some industry standards?  How will you serve or display advertising – and then monitor and measure results?

The Sales Process – Who will manage the sales process for you?  There are many third party sales representation businesses who have various audience threshold levels and criteria for sites which they represent to advertisers or do you have in-house sales expertise.

See MediaScope's Guide to Online Sales Representation

A lot of points to consider – there are more – and they are constantly changing! 

Selling advertising on your website, blog or digital platform is not suitable for all businesses, can sometimes require changes to the structure and layout of your site and requires a special skill set for maximum results.  However, while you may not become the next big media baron, you may have the ability to build an ongoing incremental or additional revenue stream. 

MediaScope offers a one-on-one consultancy service helping businesses develop their advertising sales strategy.  See here for more details or get in touch for a chat.

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