Getting a Positive ROI on Media Buys

Are you getting the maximum ROI you can form your media buys. If you’re not, you’re not only throwing cash out the window and missing out on some giant leaps in media buying technology.
It’s not necessarily a simple a task to get going, but once you’ve take a few basic steps, you’ll be able to quickly identify the kind of media buys that bring in high quality traffic. You’ll also be able to shed a few layers of middle men and start making media buys.
Here are a few tips for realizing a positive ROI on your ad buy dollars.
Know Your Audience
What’s your best converting demographic group in every vertical you serve? If you’re unable to answer this question, you’re not ready to start making quality media buys.
If you’re having trouble nailing down the who’s and what’s of your own traffic, you’ll at least want to research enough to make an educated guess. There’s  no shortage of resources that can tell you who’s playing what game and how well they convert. All you’ll need to do is fill in the blanks.
After all, your job of finding good sources of high quality traffic go through the roof if you can actually go into the process with a good idea of what constitutes, “high quality.”
Finding High Quality Traffic
You don’t have to do a lot of research to know that there’s varying degrees of traffic quality coming out of various ad networks. While sometimes you are actually going to be happy with a shotgun approach that doesn’t differentiate between high and low quality traffic, most of the time it’s quality that you’re after.
We’d suggest sticking with platforms like Engage:BDR that draw their traffic from sites you’re already familiar with like ABC News, Fox News and the Drudge Report. These audiences are comprised of real people and real quality.
You’ll also want to spend some time comparing the back end of various ad buy platforms. Engage, for example, sells itself as an easy-to-learn, do-it-yourself system. While we don’t doubt that’s true, give it a quick demo before really committing.
Offer Value
At the end of the day, all the high quality traffic on the web won’t convert a single player unless you’re offering something of value in return for their business.
High quality traffic, the kind that eventually puts money back in your pockets, requires the best deals you can come up with. If ever there was a time to get with your affiliate manager about coming with a custom deal for your sites, this is that time.