1.
@lorenbaker

2.
@lorenbaker
About You
1.Your current role
2.Areas of expertise
3.Other interesting info

3.
Poll 1
What % of your ad
revenue comes from
traditional banners?
• ~25%
• 50%
• 75%
• 100%

4.
@lorenbaker
What You’re Going to Learn Today
• How a 13 Years Old w/ No Direct Ad
Sales 4x’d Those Sales in One Year
• How you can learn from SEJ’s story
• How you can defend your ad revenue
from AdBlockers

5.
@lorenbaker
In the Year 2014
• SEJ’s Income was based on Google AdSense and Ad
Exchanges
• Passive Income from Ad Formats was dependable
but relatively low
• We had goals of scaling quality content and editorial.
• Started to explore direct advertising sales and
launching new media channels

6.
@lorenbaker
Challenges
• Sales – We had no real sales process and
working with external salespeople had led to
negative experiences
• Accounting - Proposal, I/O, Invoicing &
Collections system.

7.
@lorenbaker
Challenges
• User Experience – We did not want to
pollute the user experience with obtrusive
advertising or emails.
• Integrity - Implementing Advertorial while
keeping division of Church/State

8.
@lorenbaker
Enter the Adblocker

9.
@lorenbaker
Enter the Adblocker

10.
@lorenbaker
Age of the Decline of Display
• How Publishers can prepare for this decline
and set yourselves up for success
• Going to run through what we’ve done at SEJ
and how you can learn / implement
• Google safe advertorial and focus on quality

11.
@lorenbaker
Bad UX Example

12.
@lorenbaker
Bad UX Example

13.
@lorenbaker
SEJ Takeover

14.
@lorenbaker
• Replaces Leaderboard Ad Format
• Shown on All Pages of Site
• Clickable Call to Action
• Typically Aligned with an Informational
Content Offering
• Too Much ATF?
SEJ Takeover

15.
@lorenbaker
• Started with SEJ WrapUp on Fridays
• Expanded to Bi-Weekly Ad Blasts
• Based on Demand and Competitive
Research, Expanded to Weekly
• Added Event Email on Thursdays
and “Post of the Week” on
Wednesdays
Email Expansion

16.
@lorenbaker
• Cleansing the List
• Vetting Advertisers (email is intimate)
• Not about numbers, about people who open,
read & exist
• Ongoing communication with Aweber
• Switch from txt email to HTML
List Upkeep

17.
@lorenbaker
Category Sponsorships

18.
@lorenbaker
Category Sponsorships
• Low Upkeep – Somewhat Passive
• Monthly or Quarterly Updated Message
• Great Branding
• Sold in 3/6/12 month batches
• These are a great way to get started
• Make sure links are no followed :)

19.
@lorenbaker
Lead Gen / Demand Gen
• Started Webinars based on demand from
sponsors for leads
• Relatively easy entry point given brand
strength and active list
• 1 Sponsored and 1 Internal per Month
• Supports Conferences, Site, Content, Etc.

20.
@lorenbaker
Cross Channel Content Approach

21.
@lorenbaker
AdNouncements

22.
@lorenbaker
AdNouncements
• Transparent Sponsorships
• UTM Tracking (Incredibly important on SSL)
• Instant Sale / Quick Turnaround
• Developed Reservation Platform
• Expands Advertiser Base

23.
@lorenbaker
AdNouncement Overview

24.
@lorenbaker
Great Advertorial

25.
@lorenbaker
Native Advertising
Marketplaces
• Izea – All Kinds of Sponsored Content
• Cooperatize – CPM Native Posts
• Sta Media – Banner to Email / Text
• StackAdapt – Programmatic Content
• BuySellAds – Getting into Native

26.
@lorenbaker
Content Discovery Marketplaces

27.
Poll 2
Have you tried
Native Advertising
on your website?
1. Yes
2. No

28.
@lorenbaker
Loren Baker
Founder, Search Engine Journal
@lorenbaker

29.
Founder, Search Engine Journal