Thursday, July 31, 2008

How to Choose the Ad Network For You

For the past year, industry events have been plagued by an over abundance of ad networks trying to “break through the clutter.” However, we’re continually bombarded by the same underwhelming messages of transparency, reach, breadth and quality without any idea of what questions to ask to differentiate all the networks against each other. It’s a well known fact that media planners are far too busy to dedicate the time necessary to research each of the ad networks and determine which one’s will actually add value to their brand’s campaigns. Therefore, how can we expect an under-experienced media planner to know which of the 400 ad networks is the best source to buy from?

The answer to my question is in an amazing whitepaper that Robert Tas (CEO of Sportgenic) wrote last week identifying the major attributes of the ad network environment, and key questions that media planners need to be thinking about when deciding which network to buy from. The whitepaper is a simple to understand, in-depth analysis of ad networks, and how each type of network can add value to a media campaign.

The most intriguing part of the whitepaper is the checklist of questions for the media planner to ask sales reps that come to pitch them. The checklist is designed to help the media planner determine the true value of the ad network pitching them. It’s so incredibly difficult to differentiate between competing ad networks that unless you're a veteran of the digital space, you need this checklist to guide you to what you need to know.

It’s nice to see that Sportgenic, a vertical ad network focused on sport enthusiasts, can step back and write whitepaper that is truly helpful to the media planners that they’re pitching. It’s not every day that you see a company offer a tool like this without a ton of self promotion. Thank you Mr. Tas for your leadership and selfless assistance in understanding this often impossible world of ad networks.

To see the whitepaper click HERE
To read an article of the whitepaper click HERE
To go to Sportgenic's website click HERE