Andrew McCarrick
Carbonite Member
How would one go about finding finding advertisers for a web series? What would be the best way to approach someone? Looking to run between 15 and 20 spots in a 1.5 hour episode.
Advertisers for Webseries
- Thread starter Andrew McCarrick
- Start date
Allen Green
Active member
Advertisers are everywhere the hard part is having them justify spending ad $'s on your webisode. They are looking for numbers. The more numbers you can prove you're getting the higher the ad price you can ask. Also you have to sell them on how they fit your show. The obvious is a company that makes products for senior citizens will not buy time on a "my so called 15 yr old life".
Even when you do find a fit it is a sales job. Because ad sales on the internet is still a young industry you have to build numbers first then compete with the Googles, Yahoo's and You Tube's of the business. Say for instance you get your site ramped up and have say 800,000 views in the 4 months that you've been on line . When they can spend money with say 'You Tube' which can produce those numbers in a day or maybe an hr.
Most small operations relies on relationships. Unfortunately hiring someone who is - is usually the solution. Or put in the time to get to know ad buyers.
It's not impossible but be ready for a lot of WORK other than shooting and editing. That part is the easiest -IMHO- you have to be or learn to be a GREAT salesperson.
Good luck
Even when you do find a fit it is a sales job. Because ad sales on the internet is still a young industry you have to build numbers first then compete with the Googles, Yahoo's and You Tube's of the business. Say for instance you get your site ramped up and have say 800,000 views in the 4 months that you've been on line . When they can spend money with say 'You Tube' which can produce those numbers in a day or maybe an hr.
Most small operations relies on relationships. Unfortunately hiring someone who is - is usually the solution. Or put in the time to get to know ad buyers.
It's not impossible but be ready for a lot of WORK other than shooting and editing. That part is the easiest -IMHO- you have to be or learn to be a GREAT salesperson.
Good luck
yeah i've done a bit of research on this.
bottom line: it's doable, but requires hard-work.
so, assuming that your content is decent and watchable:
what might make it easier to find advertisers is to have your content targeted to a niche market. meaning: your content is targeted to specific people, not a free for all (generic). consider also that the more specific and defined your target audience is, thus your content, the more you can (eventually) charge for placing ads on your site. if your content and target audience are very specific and of high value, you can circumvent the ad-supported business model and charge the audience directly for your content.
since we're talking business, take a look at this chart:
how i understand online advertising:
value of content means: the video is worth the time of the viewer (i.e. good entertainment, informational, educational, etc.). most online videos fall into the low potential income area. as the value increases, advertisers are willing to pay more (more income for your venture, rather than a hosting site that doesn't share profit).
i believe that most (ad-revenue receiving) online content productions fall on the line on the lower end of the medium income area. the higher end line of the medium income area is mostly dominated by traditional content providers (TV/cable networks that put their content online, either through their own site, or via the likes of hulu). the reason for this is simple: they have old-established relationships with advertisers.
the current challenge for online-only ad-supported productions is to move from the lower line to the higher line of the medium income area.
lastly, there's the "unlimited" potential income area. productions here are created for the online market, but charge the viewer directly, instead of depending on ads. this can be a subscription-based model, or a media-sale model. I can't remember an example for a subscription-based model, but i think they're out there. an example of media-sale model is every "how i got rich online" book and dvd you've seen being sold online. also, think of every "how to" book and dvd on the market (solely depending on online sales). same thing.
the major difference in the ad-based model and direct-to-viewer model is that the latter must actively spend on advertising and marketing to direct potential customers to their content.
so before answering "how much to charge", you need to answer "what are you making and for who", i think after that you can figure out how much that content is worth to viewers.
this thread might be relevant, too.
cheers.
bottom line: it's doable, but requires hard-work.
so, assuming that your content is decent and watchable:
what might make it easier to find advertisers is to have your content targeted to a niche market. meaning: your content is targeted to specific people, not a free for all (generic). consider also that the more specific and defined your target audience is, thus your content, the more you can (eventually) charge for placing ads on your site. if your content and target audience are very specific and of high value, you can circumvent the ad-supported business model and charge the audience directly for your content.
since we're talking business, take a look at this chart:
how i understand online advertising:
value of content means: the video is worth the time of the viewer (i.e. good entertainment, informational, educational, etc.). most online videos fall into the low potential income area. as the value increases, advertisers are willing to pay more (more income for your venture, rather than a hosting site that doesn't share profit).
i believe that most (ad-revenue receiving) online content productions fall on the line on the lower end of the medium income area. the higher end line of the medium income area is mostly dominated by traditional content providers (TV/cable networks that put their content online, either through their own site, or via the likes of hulu). the reason for this is simple: they have old-established relationships with advertisers.
the current challenge for online-only ad-supported productions is to move from the lower line to the higher line of the medium income area.
lastly, there's the "unlimited" potential income area. productions here are created for the online market, but charge the viewer directly, instead of depending on ads. this can be a subscription-based model, or a media-sale model. I can't remember an example for a subscription-based model, but i think they're out there. an example of media-sale model is every "how i got rich online" book and dvd you've seen being sold online. also, think of every "how to" book and dvd on the market (solely depending on online sales). same thing.
the major difference in the ad-based model and direct-to-viewer model is that the latter must actively spend on advertising and marketing to direct potential customers to their content.
so before answering "how much to charge", you need to answer "what are you making and for who", i think after that you can figure out how much that content is worth to viewers.
this thread might be relevant, too.
cheers.
mainstreetcm
Member
I would encourage you to grossly change your business model. A "web series" with a 1.5 hour episode? Split the episode into smaller pieces and charge advertisers per impression.
Join an ad network and have them fill the slots for you is another option. There are very good networks out there that pay up to $4 CPM. Get 50,000 views a day and you'll be looking at $200 a day from banner advertising alone. Think of the revenue possibilities if you did this AND sold advertising during your eps...
Add a store and sell t-shirts, stickers, posters, or dvd's and your revenue will increase.
Now if you wanted to approach advertisers directly, make up a media packet with your numbers. Advertisers are going to want to see who, what, where, why, and how. They will ask you questions you never even imagined you would be hearing. Then just find products and services that would appeal to your show's audience and start approaching companies.
Does it appeal to men or gamers? Make a phone call to an upstart energy drink company and try to work out a sponsorship deal. Make your characters in the show (if plausible) drink their product for another revenue stream.
When it comes to advertising, the sky is the limit. As long as your have large numbers you should find no problems getting advertising.
Andrew McCarrick
Carbonite Member
The show is going to be airing via Justin.tv/Stickam.com essentially a 2 hour (1.5 hour show - pre-taped, with a 30 minute live post-show) TV channel, with commercial breaks. Then it will go on to be available on-demand. I'm worried about finding advertisers for those commercial breaks, during the initial broadcast.
mainstreetcm
Member
Unfortunately I have no experience working with that platform. Since you are airing it through them, do they have any ways to sell the advertising for you?