Another form of marketing that needs to be considered as an affiliate marketer is the Banner Ad Networks or what is called contextual advertising.
So what is this, in simple terms, it’s a form of targeted marketing for advertisements appearing on websites or other media.
The advertisements themselves are selected and served by automated systems based on the website content displayed to the user networks are by no means the only method available for generating web site revenue.
Using The Banner Ad Networks Is Another Source Of Online Income For Affiliates
Another revenue source to consider is banner ad networks. While the pay-out rates for banner advertising have declined since their peak in the late 90s, they can still be useful if utilised properly and have more options on the creative end of things than ever before.
Joining a banner advertising network rather than taking the road of intensive marketing to individual clients can save a lot of time and provide a steady income stream for you as an affiliate.
How much money you can make will depend on such factors as how many relevant ads are displayed and so forth. Be careful though because placing affiliate banner ads just anywhere on your site can lead to the loss of visitors and a reduction in your online income potential.
The networks provide the clients with the banner ads, all you need to do as the website owner is implement some code in the banner space and the ad will appear on your website. Once you join up with these ad network companies, you will be considered as an “affiliate” or “publisher”.
So What Should You Look For In Suitable Banner Ad Networks
There are some desirable affiliate/publisher features that one should look for before agreeing to “rent” out prime advertising space to an agency. For example, one needs to determine whether the network provide ads that are relevant to the sites subject area and would appeal to its users. Irrelevant ads will not only fail if part of a CPC (cost-per-click) campaign, but they can annoy visitors as well.
A good ad agency will provide a mixture of CPC and CPM (cost-per-thousand impression) ads. CPC ads pay when a visitor to a site clicks on a banner through to an advertisers’ website. CPM advertising is based on being paid a rate per thousand views, or impressions.
Shop around carefully. You should aim to receive on average US$1.00 – $4.00 CPM or at least US$.15 – $.20 CPC. Another variation is CPA (cost-per-acquisition).
How Do The Banner Ad Networks Work
You will effectively earn a commission when a website visitor either clicks on a displayed banner, then passes through to the vendor’s web site and either purchases a product or service (a sale) or expresses interest by completing a form or survey (a lead) in the companies’ products or services.
CPA advertising pays the highest but usually has a much lower conversion ratio.
Another way to benefit financially from a publisher/affiliate association is to be paid a percentage of any referrals of new affiliates or advertisers to the network from ones web site. Again, the commission rates can vary greatly between banner ad networks, but an ongoing rate of 5% is a level that can provide some decent residual income over the long term, especially if you have access to many other affiliates wanting to get involved.
It’s also a good idea to deal with a banner network that pays promptly. A common pay schedule is anything from 15-30 days after the end of each month.
Make Sure You Understand All The Requirements First Before Joining Any Banner Ad Networks
As with any business arrangement, before joining any banner ad networks it’s important to read the TOS (terms and conditions) carefully so that you understand the do’s and dont’s of each ad network. Otherwise one could end up breaking the rules without even knowing it, which usually results in termination of the account and the forfeiture of any money that was made for your efforts.
The banner advertising industry is also well known for having its share of scam artists. Some agencies combat this with strict and rigid rules which give publishers and affiliates very little flexibility. Look for banner ad networks that take fraud seriously, but still provide some room for you to conduct your own style of affiliate marketing.
In the past, i’ve really struggled with CPM networks. They all seem to only be interested in very high traffic sites. A few that i have gotten into had poor CPM rates and didn’t really have ads that targeted my site’s niche. If you have any recommendations for good CPM networks to join, i’ll certainly give them a try, if i haven’t already.
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Hi Josiah
Yes you do need a large amount of traffic to your site to get a good return for your efforts. What I have found also is that most of them are very much the same so I decided to simply use a mix of strategies across my sites such as some have Adsense others have banner ads plus affiliate links and again others will simply be reviewing sites.
The ones I use to review products are of course older sites and have a following which seems to make all advertisements including those of the banner ad networks convert better.
Hello. I’m working on a site with a dramatic traffic increase and now learning the ins and outs of the ad network stuff so I can afford my increasing server costs.
What do you mean here: “the website owner is implement some code in the banner space and the ad will appear on your website. ” ?
Is this javascript? Is javascript the general format that ad networks use to have their ads display on your page? If not, then what is?
Hi Gwen
This is when you are promoting a product and the product vendor you are promoting for supplies you with the banners to place on your site… This can be either html code or if you are using an affiliate network such as Amazon for example it will be javascript.
There is a variety of ways you can place these banner ads on your site and in some cases you will have to download the banner graphic yourself and host it on your server, then add the affiliate link to that banner in the form of html or using a wordpress plugin such as max banner ads (Easiest Option).