11 tips on Media Buying
Native traffic has been around for a long time.
If you have tried it, you know how quick it can be to burn money on CPC models!
Some good news however…...
There are vast, unmined opportunities across channels with cheaper and less crowded inventory than incumbents such as Facebook, Google, Taboola and Outbrain.
Here are my top 11 tips to help you become an expert in Native Media buying, save money and scale your business.
1) Find a market and own it.
Target a macro that is likely to grow in the coming years, with a consumer that requires some information to consider prior to a purchase. Personal Finance is a good starting point (but very competitive because of this).
Drill down and become a niche expert in one or two products.
Use your learnings across multiple campaigns.
2) Cashflow
The old business mantra still holds true today:
“Cash is King, Margins are magic, communication is key!”
Many native platforms work on a CPC. You will find that you are spending money before you have been paid by your clients. Either negotiate upfront payment or look at funding options.
Cashflow might be the single biggest problem you may have to solve
3) Think in funnels!
Native should educate, inform and guide a user to a landing page where they complete an action (like a lead generation form). Think of this user flow as a funnel. Track everything at the top, middle and bottom of that funnel. How can you get more earnings per click? Where are the drop off points? Is it landing pages or is it lead closure from clients? Ruthlessly and relentlessly optimise each and every stage.
4) Test, test and test again!
And again. Use your tracking platform to do this automatically. Experiment with every stage of the funnel. Tiny changes can have profound effects on CTR, Conversion and quality.
Did I mention to keep on testing?
5) Consistency to user experience is key
Consistency is key. Use the same font, colour palette etc. You want to show that this is an advertorial but keep it native to the final landing page. Anything that is jarring will cause users to drop off in the funnel.
6) Get their attention!
Use people in your creatives and videos that look like your target consumer.
Have them holding or engaging with the product on service in some way. Try not to use “Stock looking photos”. Authentic looking photos or videos work best rather than something taken from Shutterstock.
7) Your ideal clients
Find advertisers that can work on a Cost per lead basis (CPL) so they take the risk with you. Find out their ability to take scale.
Can they handle 25 leads a day? How quickly will they contact the lead? What CRM do they use? Do they track their funnels as well.
A client that doesn’t work the lead is not going to be a long term client.
8) Your tracking platform
Use Direct linking as third party cookies are going away. Use companies like Everflow for automated campaign management, anti fraud tools, cpc costs into the platform, day time parting, First and last touch attribution
9) Innovate and diversify as your competitors will copy you
Diversification is vital as Native is so visible, your competitors will copy you.
Don’t be afraid to borrow ideas from your competitors or ads you see scaling. Borrowing ideas is fine, don’t make enemies by stealing. No one voluntarily wants to do business with a thief…..
10) Think outside the big platforms
Content is not just Facebook, Taboola, Google and OutbrainThere are a host of other platforms: Redirect.com, Adyoulike, Buzzfeed, RevContent etc etc. Tik Tok, Snap, Instagram and other social media, can form the top end of your funnel.
11) Beyond being a broker
The end goal should be to own the customer. This can mean building your own products or passing the user to a choice of advertisers. Lead Management tools can help with this.