Digital advertising works fine for regional key accounts and large national advertisers with an agency but for the long tail of small and medium-sized businesses (SMB), it is still too complex.
Solutions for SMBs have to be intuitive, low-touch for the publisher and profitable from the first ad.
Drawing from Smartico’s experience with over 300 local news publishers in Europe and the US, here are five strategies to efficiently engage small advertisers while ensuring quality and profitability:
1. Segment your customers
Tailor your approach based on the unique needs of small advertisers. Simplify the process with a single bundle, pricing structure, and intuitive upsell opportunities. Provide limited options for your small advertisers and if that is not enough for some of them – good for you: this is an excellent chance to sell more features and options at higher prices.
2. Control creatives and landing pages
Ensure high-quality ad creatives and clear, effective landing pages. The latter can’t be the “digital business card” that the advertiser did in 2015 and has not updated since. Landing pages need to have a clear call-to-action and the latest info.
Using a service that produces tailored banners and landing pages at scale can significantly enhance the success of local campaigns, fostering advertiser trust in your digital possibilities. And it also delights your users, keeping them longer on your page.
3. Move away from the click as a metric
Educate advertisers on metrics beyond clicks. Highlight the importance of attention metrics such as time spent on landing pages, ad visibility, and engagement rates rather than focusing solely on click-through rates. Good providers of banners and landing pages will deliver visual dashboards for these metrics out-of-the-box.
4. Win back customers from social media
Reclaim customers disillusioned by social media drawbacks like bad brand neighbourhood, low view times (on average, less than a second per ad) and being stuck in the same social bubble. Offer better viewability, a safer brand environment, and access to new regional audiences. And full-service compared to the high maintenance of social media management.
5. Merge display ads with SEO
Combine the benefits of display ads with improved Google visibility. Create landing pages for advertisers under your publication’s URL, aiding their Google ranking. This provides tangible value to advertisers and ensures recurring revenues as the search engine ranking disappears when the campaign goes offline for more than one month.
About us
Smartico’s ‘Smart Ads’ offer a solution by generating high-performing digital carousel ads and landing pages using AI and human expertise. With a client base of over 300 news publishers, including industry giants like Iliffe, Irish Times, Mediahuis, and Axel Springer and many independent regional champions, Smartico drives substantial and sustainable growth, delivering reliable bottom-line profits.
