How To Properly Use Ezine Advertising - Conclusion
By Joe Bingham
Posted Saturday, January 15, 2005
Up until this point, we discussed the two methods of using ezine advertising, playing the numbers, and targeting. Then, we focused on targeting by discussing how to select ezines based on content and audience, and how to analyze those selected for the best advertising value.
Now, finally, we come down to the actual cost of purchased advertising. How much is affordable and what is too much?
As I said in part three of this series, it just depends. I don't mean to give a misleading answer with that statement, nor do I mean to skirt around the subject. It's just that price is a subjective item that revolves around the product or opportunity you are promoting and the ezine you are promoting in.
So, while I cannot give you a simple rule to follow, I can give you a way to analyze the cost. However, there are still a BUNCH of other factors that I'll bring up afterward.
First, let's use the term 'ad hits' to describe the number of people that view your ad in an ezine and then answer it by either going to the site you want them to or emailing to you or your auto responder.
Now, look at the following formula:
(# subscribers) x (% response) = Expected Ad Hits
Example:
1000 subscribers x 3% = 30
>From there, naturally, it depends on how many sales you get from the ad hits you receive and how much money you make per sale. Getting 1 sale out of 30 hits is a 3.33% sales ratio.
Now, if you can do at least that, consider how much you make per sale as opposed to how much the ad cost you. If you make $10 per sale and the ad to 1000 subscribers only cost you $5, then there's your profit of $5.
So essentially the equation you need to use is this one:
Income for the ad =
(# subs) x (% response from ezine) x (sales % from site) x ($ made per sale)
If that number is of greater value than the cost of the ad, then it's good. Of course, all of this is assuming you have an ad tracking system in place so you can see the results of your advertising in different ezines. If you don't, then either you advertise in only one ezine at a time so you can track your results, or you make groups based on ezines that are similar and you track your results as you go through different groups. This may be done by counting hits at your site, or merely by seeing what results in sales.
Obviously, ad tracking can give you more data to work with as far as seeing which ezines are getting you results. However, that can be another expense you must figure into the cost of your advertising.
So, that's it as far as figuring out whether or not advertising is worth the cost a particular ezine is asking, right?
Not hardly. Here's the deal.
In all my reading, I've seen most writers say you can expect .5% to 3% response from an ezine, and occasionally get up to 5% or higher even depending on certain factors. I have no problem with those numbers.
What we have talked about before now becomes vitally important. If you've done your job right and selected the best ezines based on appropriate content and audience, and analyzed them to determine the best ones to advertise in, then you should have no problem getting the 3% response rate. Plus, repeat advertising in the same ezine can get you a higher overall response rate as the ad keeps drawing hits from different people each time it's seen. Naturally, then, you have to compare the cost of the repeated ad to the number of additional hits it creates. However, often ezines have package deals that reduce the cost per issue if you buy an ad for multiple issues.
>From here, you also have other questions to answer.
Is targeting ezines worth my time or should I just play the numbers and buy bulk ads?
Is my ad going to be effective and pull the responses I am seeking?
Is my sales site going to get the sales I expect after I get visitors there?
Does what I make from sales over the cost of my ads also cover the other expenses of my business so that I make a profit overall?
This series focused solely on how to use ezine advertising. However, as you can see there are other factors to be considered. My goal with this series was not to provide you with all the answers on how to do everything. I can't do that anyway. I do hope, however, that I've enlightened you to the choices you do have and started you to thinking about what is going to work best for you.
It's not always simple, but there are things you can do to improve you chances at success. I hope you've learned some of those things with these articles.
About the Author
Joe Bingham, Editor of the NetPlay Newsletters Subscribe to 1 of 3 Quality NetPlay Ezines, See which one fits you at: (http://www.netplaynewsletters.com) Need To Publish Your Own Ezine? I'll Write It For You and Show You How to Make It Successful! (http://www.netplaynewsletters.com/publisher.html)
