In our first installment, we tackled the horrors and pitfalls of working with ad networks. But the news on ad networks isn't all bad -- far from it. So here are some of the reasons why buyers turn to ad networks day in and day out for their media needs.
ROI
There are a lot of ways to improve your ROI in a media buy, but one of the best ways to bring home the bacon for less is to use the right ad network, says Guy Schueller, media director for Organic.
"We have used ad networks mostly to add a strong targeting and efficiency layer to digital media plans," Schueller explains. "The numerous targeting options (i.e., reach, behavioral, demographic, geographic, etc.), combined with the lower in-going cost have typically provided strong performance and ROI. This has proven to be valuable in the present climate when clients are demanding more efficiency and better results."
Marrying search with display
Search may get a lot of the glory, and display might get a lot of the ink, but if you ask a seasoned marketer, putting them both together is a big part of most winning campaigns. The trouble is, there aren't that many routes toward marrying search with display that don't go through an ad network. But according to Jose Manuel Montenegro of the Sensis agency, Yahoo typically delivers what he's looking for.
"Yahoo has a great product that allows you to re-target users based on their searches throughout the Yahoo Network, allowing agencies to combine the impact of display advertising with the cost-efficiency of search," Montenegro explains.
That's a pretty effective one-two punch, and it's one that you would only get directly from a publisher if you were willing to take a fraction of the reach and a bigger hit to your budget.
Champagne at beer prices
Publishers cringe at this, but ad networks do give budget-conscious buyers access to the best of the web. Cruise on over to The New York Times, and you'll see it in action. While a premium advertiser might occupy the top slot, the front page is within reach of the little guy, if he's willing to sit at the bottom.
"For agencies and clients with smaller budgets, self-service platforms like AdReady give clients access to premium inventory like The New York Times, Yahoo, and Univision, even with minimal budgets," Montenegro explains.
While that might be bad news for the future of newspapers -- time will tell on that one -- it's certainly good news for smaller advertisers that want to stretch their media dollar into the premium arena. And that's a fact that no buyer should discount when it comes to thinking about ad networks.
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