Ad Sales Misconceptions: ‘I Ran Out of Ad Space’

January 19, 2022

As an experienced online publisher, you know the importance of digital display advertising. You’ve probably sold quite a few sidebar and leaderboard ads, giving your clients exceptional results. 

Selling out inventory is a good problem to have — that’s for sure. Still, not having additional ad placement opportunities for interested businesses is a real problem with real losses in revenue.

What’s the solution? How do you continue generating revenue once your sidebar and leaderboard ad positions are full?

A digital publisher should never really be out of space for digital ad placement. If your sidebar and leaderboard positions are full, but you still have more businesses that would like to advertise with you, you’ve got a few options:

Rotate Multiple Ads Through a Single Position

Rotating multiple ads through a single ad position is the easiest option when you’ve run out of space. Rather than keeping a static ad in the sidebar or leaderboard position 24/7, rotate multiple ads through the space to increase your digital ad placement opportunities.

This solution only works if you haven’t already promised exclusivity to your clients. Set up a schedule within your ad manager to rotate the ads in high-value positions at regular intervals. The idea here is that multiple advertisers get the benefit of digital ad placement in premium positions on your publication’s website.

Of course, rotating multiple ads through a single position does come with its downsides. Like we mentioned, this strategy won’t work if you’ve already promised exclusivity to your clients. It can also decrease click-through rates, which might deter some advertisers from renewing at the end of their terms. If those downsides are dissuading you from choosing this option, then you might consider the next solution.

Out of Page Advertising Formats

What do you know about billboards, sneakers, or pop-ups? These are just a few of the ad formats we refer to as “out of page” formats here at Broadstreet. Unlike traditional digital display advertising, which sits in a static position on your website, out of page ad formats pop off the screen. They can easily be customized to your website’s unique needs, including length of run, frequency, data, and more.

Out of page ad formats generate exceptionally high click-through rates for advertisers, making them easy to sell.

Out of page ad formats do have some downsides, though. If executed poorly, out of page ads can be seen as intrusive by some readers. That issue can be overcome by making sure you’re selecting the right formats, placing them in the correct positions, and checking both mobile and desktop displays. 

Local Spotlight

You’ve probably seen native ads before. They’ve become pretty common on hyperlocal news websites and other community publications. Local spotlight ads are feed-style advertisements that blend in with your website’s look and feel.

With Local Spotlight ads, you can fit as many advertisers into a space as you want, without taking up much of your website’s real estate. At Broadstreet, we’re seeing a growing number of publishers running native advertising in the local spotlight zone to increase capacity. If you’ve run out of space on your website, and you’re looking to add more advertisers to the mix, local spotlight is a great option to consider for digital ad placement.

We recommend publishers charge a lower rate for Local Spotlight placements than for standard banner ads, to include as many advertisers as possible. This model benefits advertisers with limited budgets. With a low entry cost, smaller businesses have the opportunity to start advertising on your website with Local Spotlight. Once they see the ROI, those advertisers will almost certainly ask to upgrade their campaigns to more high-value positions, like the leaderboard or sidebar.

If you’ve got questions about how to maximize the ad space on your site, we’re here to help. Contact Broadstreet Ads today for a custom plan, or join The Intersection, a virtual community of digital publishing professionals and entrepreneurs.