Check out this recent posting that takes a funny look at online display advertising. The posting is called 'If Banner Ads Were Forced To Be Truthful...' and highlights some of the many banner ads you have probably seen if you visited most of the high traffic, lower quality sites out there. Though this is an amusing look at banner advertising, it is actually a reminder that the perception of the term Ad Networks and Banner Ads has a negative connotation because of the proliferation of these types of ads.
Vertical Ad Networks are focused on quality and moving away from the high volume traffic and lower quality mass audiences, and looking for more precision providing a safe avenue for tv brand dollars to flow online. It is important as you build out your vertical advertising network, or what you should call your vertical publisher community or media network, that you consider quality throughout the process.
Of course the websites and blogs that associates with your brand and sign on for multi-year agreements have to be the premium content within your category. Of course you want to ensure you are establishing a strong publisher relationship with the top of the pyramid of the long tail sites. It is common sense that you will spend the majority of your time engaging with your member sites and vetting the thousands of potential affiliates to narrow down to the elite few.
But don't forget the other side of the coin. Quality has to continue through your business and present itself in the marketer and brand relationships you establish. It is easy to go out and strike a deal with LowerMyBills.com or Classmates.com and ensure a .50 CPM. It is simple to strike a quick backend deal with ValueClick or Burst to get into some of the low CPM, high volume buys. But remember that not only are the sites representing your brand, but more importantly are the advertisers that you are bringing to the table going to represent you and your network.
Banner ads and ad networks have a bad connotation in the market. It is up to the Vertical Media Networks to fix this and continue to facilitate the growth of high dollar and premium marketing campaigns online. It is fine to laugh at these funny examples of really bad ad creative, but it is also a good wake-up call to remember to stay away from the drudges of online and focus on where you can bring real value to the table.
Leave the bottom dwelling to the experts, you know who you are!
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