How do you know which publisher is right to advertise your product? While the guidelines below are hardly comprehensive, they'll still provide a good starting point as you plan your next online marketing campaign.
Start by classifying publishers according to three criteria:
- Size
- Demographic relative to your target audience
- Traffic and Revenue they bring to your site
Items two and three (above) will largely depend upon your business model and industry. However, you can make some general assumptions regarding size:
Small
Typically local businesses that have very low levels of traffic (less than 5,000 unique visitors per month).
Advertise on small business websites when…
- You have a pre-established relationship with the business, and so placing your advertisement requires little to no time investment
- Your success depends on local traffic
Medium
Big enough to qualify as either a “destination site” or portal, medium size websites supply the bulk of information on the Internet. However, these sites are often devoted to one topic or activity, and so don’t enjoy the high levels of traffic driven to large sites.
Advertise on medium websites when…
- You’re attempting to drive suitably large numbers of customers to your website at budget prices
- Your budget exceeds $2,000 dollars
Large
These publishers are easy to identify because their names are synonymous with the Internet. Millions of unique visitors per month (if not per day).
Advertise on large websites when…
- You can handle large volumes of traffic. Be prepared for thousands of unique visitors simultaneously pounding your servers.
- Your budget exceeds $10,000
