@lorenbaker

@lorenbaker

About You1.Your current role2.Areas of expertise3.Other interesting info

Poll 1What % of your ad revenue comes from traditional banners?

• ~25%• 50%• 75%• 100%

@lorenbaker

What You’re Going to Learn Today• How a 13 Years Old w/ No Direct Ad

Sales 4x’d Those Sales in One Year• How you can learn from SEJ’s story• How you can defend your ad revenue

from AdBlockers

@lorenbaker

In the Year 2014• SEJ’s Income was based on Google AdSense and Ad

Exchanges

• Passive Income from Ad Formats was dependable but relatively low

• We had goals of scaling quality content and editorial.

• Started to explore direct advertising sales and launching new media channels

@lorenbaker

Challenges• Sales – We had no real sales process and

working with external salespeople had led to negative experiences

• Accounting - Proposal, I/O, Invoicing & Collections system.

@lorenbaker

Challenges• User Experience – We did not want to

pollute the user experience with obtrusive advertising or emails.

• Integrity - Implementing Advertorial while keeping division of Church/State

@lorenbaker

Enter the Adblocker

@lorenbaker

Enter the Adblocker

@lorenbaker

Age of the Decline of Display• How Publishers can prepare for this decline

and set yourselves up for success

• Going to run through what we’ve done at SEJ and how you can learn / implement

• Google safe advertorial and focus on quality

@lorenbaker

Bad UX Example

@lorenbaker

Bad UX Example

@lorenbaker

SEJ Takeover

@lorenbaker

• Replaces Leaderboard Ad Format• Shown on All Pages of Site• Clickable Call to Action• Typically Aligned with an Informational

Content Offering• Too Much ATF?

SEJ Takeover

@lorenbaker

• Started with SEJ WrapUp on Fridays• Expanded to Bi-Weekly Ad Blasts• Based on Demand and Competitive

Research, Expanded to Weekly• Added Event Email on Thursdays

and “Post of the Week” on Wednesdays

Email Expansion

@lorenbaker

• Cleansing the List • Vetting Advertisers (email is intimate)• Not about numbers, about people who open,

read & exist• Ongoing communication with Aweber• Switch from txt email to HTML

List Upkeep

@lorenbaker

Category Sponsorships

@lorenbaker

Category Sponsorships• Low Upkeep – Somewhat Passive • Monthly or Quarterly Updated Message• Great Branding• Sold in 3/6/12 month batches• These are a great way to get started• Make sure links are no followed :)

@lorenbaker

Lead Gen / Demand Gen• Started Webinars based on demand from

sponsors for leads• Relatively easy entry point given brand

strength and active list• 1 Sponsored and 1 Internal per Month• Supports Conferences, Site, Content, Etc.

@lorenbaker

Cross Channel Content Approach

@lorenbaker

AdNouncements

@lorenbaker

AdNouncements• Transparent Sponsorships • UTM Tracking (Incredibly important on SSL)• Instant Sale / Quick Turnaround• Developed Reservation Platform• Expands Advertiser Base

@lorenbaker

AdNouncement Overview

@lorenbaker

Great Advertorial

@lorenbaker

Native Advertising Marketplaces

• Izea – All Kinds of Sponsored Content• Cooperatize – CPM Native Posts• Sta Media – Banner to Email / Text• StackAdapt – Programmatic Content • BuySellAds – Getting into Native

@lorenbaker

Content Discovery Marketplaces

Poll 2Have you tried Native Advertising on your website? 1. Yes2. No

@lorenbaker

Loren BakerFounder, Search Engine Journal

@lorenbaker

Founder, Search Engine Journal