What is an Ad network and how to effectively use it

No matter the goal — you may offer cleaning services or monetizing your blog — you can profit from professional help.. Some prefer to contact a partner individually, as in direct advertising, but it is only a partial solution. Direct advertising is unlikely to help you to sell all the inventory you have or cover all your audience with just a few websites.

Online advertising platforms are designed to boost efficiency and profit. They work as an intermediary between the two key players. To onlookers it appears that all you should do is to sign up with a system, state your role, define target audience, choose a pricing model and start. And that’s really how it works. Many ad networks are very fast in their acceptance, but before making any long term commitments make sure you understand what you’re getting into.

There are some common sense guidelines for choosing an online advertising network for publishers and advertisers.

First of all, remember all that glitters is not internet gold. Do some due diligence first.

You may wish to start with Google Adsense as the most well-known option. Their interface is user-friendly.. But you may wish to change them after a while and that is not a problem as there are many other options.

Applying to the biggest networks is not always a good idea. If you know for a fact that Nestle runs its campaigns with a huge network ABC – they may not want to take your small account. Advertising budgets for business sharks are enormous and if you own a family-run company you may burn up all your profits in advertising costs. The idea that you will attract a big slice of the pie is also very doubtful here. New publishers, in their turn, may not meet the requirements to enter that kind of network. Better to start small, so you can grow big.

Study what your competitors use for ad campaigns. The more information you get from them the better ideas you get for your own use.

Try to learn as much as possible about the networks you are thinking about hiring. Not only official information posted on the website, but other users’ feedbacks. If you can’t find such information on the Internet look at the clients the network mentions and try to contact them and ask about pros and cons of the place you have chosen.

Check how many pricing models are available. The more, the better: it means that you will have a chance to run several ad campaigns with different goals.

Your niche should be priority number one. Different networks may offer very tempting conditions, but does it make  sense if they work with mobile audiences (for example, in-app advertising), while you have no application at the moment and mainly focused on a desktop audience?

After you choose.

The most useful advice for you here will be that you can audition several ad networks at the same time. They are all different, but together they cover all your bases –  so why miss such an opportunity?

Of course there is always a chance for something to go wrong. First impressions may spoil your further interaction and relationship with a network, but if it is not really serious, give it a second chance. If the situation doesn’t improve, it’s time to part company.

Take your time in finding the ad network that you feel comfortable with, especially when it comes to pricing and interactions with staff. Building profitable business relationships takes time and effort, but the results mean money in the bank.

Adam Hansen
 

Adam is a part time journalist, entrepreneur, investor and father.