On 4/14/09 ActiveRain, under the dark of night, launched it's self-serve, automated network advertising system.
Here's how it works:
Anyone interested in advertising/sponsoring a 125 x 125 tile ad that will run in rotation on all non-blog pages in the ActiveRain network i.e. Login, Search, Groups. Blogs, My Home...may automatically create a campaign using our self serve interface. The ads run site wide, there is no ability to target to geographic region or by member type (for now).
- The cost is $299.00 per slot per month, you may cancel at anytime.
- There are 95 total available slots, each slot will run in even rotation with other sponsored slots.
- Assuming all 95 slots are taken, each slot will deliver a minimum of ~70,000 impressions of your ad per month.
- If all 95 slots are not taken, the exisitng slots will receive the excess traffic. For example, if only 47 slots are taken, each slot will deliver a minimum of ~140,000 impressions per month.
- The lucky first movers will receive a bulk of the 8M+ page impressions.
<--Example Tile Ads on Search Page
How to sign-up
1) Look in the right sidebar of your My Home page or go to http://activerain.com/action/advertising
<--Convenient 'Advertise with AR' Linkage...
The 'Create a new advertising campaign screenshot':
2) Select the number of shares you would like (max 20).
3) Input the url where you would like anyone clicking your ad to land...Ex: http://www.yourlandingpage.com
4) Upload your creative ad. It must be 125 x 125 pixels in size and either be in a .jpg or .gif file format. No animated formats allowed.
5) Enter your credit card information and click Purchase. If you've already bought an ActiveRain product and used a credit card, this area will automatically populate with your billing information. To change your billing information click here.
Despite the fact your ad will appear in front of eyeballs literally hundreds of thousands of times, dont make the mistake of thinking that it's mere presence will equate to click through success. A few points for effective advertising in a 125 x 125 pixel box:
- Keep your message simple and succinct. Your entire business value proposition/plan wont fit here.
- Be compelling in your delivery. Do something remarkable. Give someone a reason to want to 'Learn More'. Think outside that 'box' everyone talks about.
- Direct anyone who clicks your ad to a landing page that directly relates to the ad, preferably one where you can track how many inbound links you receive from the ad.
- If an ad isn't pulling well, dont be afraid to change things up. Small differences in copy and/or layout can make a big difference.
**This advertising interface is intended and best served for Business to Business advertising, not Agent to Consumer advertising.
If you have any questions about advertising on AR, need help setting up a campaign or would otherwise just like to talk to a nice guy, contact Chris Martin: chris at activerain dot com
Yes, its true...this is yet another way in which ActiveRain hopes to monetize 'the site'. Hopefully no one is too repulsed or shocked into never returning to the network :)
It sounds great...but expensive. I would buy something for less if it was in my geographical area.-Dinah Lee
Cool. I may be interested in this when you're able to target regions. I don't need national exposure for what I have in mind.
So about $4.27 CPM, not too bad. Good luck with it guys!
Hi Jeff...This would be very tempting if I was in a large market area. I am not.
Kate
@Dinah, We do have some banner ads I could run for you just call my cell if you would like but this new program is for a full month of exposure. Chris Martin
Hey Jeff!
Sounds awesome, but unfortuantely I'm too poor! :( Have you guys thought about just local ad placement say for just our local states? Maybe a little bit cheaper. Just a thought!
-Lisa
@James Shiner, James that is only if all spots are taken the cpm cost is lower if your first! thanks for the great response. Chris
This is great! I have had numerous inquiries by both members and non members to advertise in these spots. Thanks for getting this setup, the only issue I see is that non-members will have to join to advertise. Guess that's not really an issue at all... I think having the ability to target to geographic regions or by member type would be a great enhancement for the future. :-)
@Chris this is true. I guess I was assuming they'll get filled fast!
Can the ad be switched out mid-month? And, is there a limit to how many times it can be switched out?
Sounds great, what about those banner ads, what is that about?
Lots of Realtors to target. Come get us advertisers.
Thanks Jeff. We'll give this some thougth and discussion today. I like the idea as well as perhaps being able to advertise locally in Phoenix. Is that a possibility?
@James Shiner no they can't be changed out mid month but you can change them monthly, thank for the feedback and yes they are going fast.
@ Mark Menzella feel free to call me about any ads. My cell is on my profile also. 425 830 7845
@ Anna Banana thanks for the inquiry its going to be a while for local stuff, I do know were working on regional first and there is no eta on that just yet! Cheers Chris
Everyone, Thanks for the great responses everybody! For specific questions please email me at chris at activerain dot com. Thanks again for the positive support!
Chris, maybe you can give a little info on how this would benefit a real estate agent. I can see a huge benefit for those that provide service to agents but am trying to figure out how to use it. Maybe I need to log out and look at AR from a consumer stand point. TIA
I saw the new feature and looked at it yesterday...When I saw the $299 I was a bit taken aback. I know AR needs to be a revenue generating beast in order to pay for expenses every company has, but the $299 was a little higher than I was hoping for. I already pay for an outside blog ($19), I pay for two localism towns ($18), I am on board with the Growth Leader test program that may cost hundreds once it's out of beta (but in theory that should be self-supporting), not to mention all the other places where we as Realtors put out our advertising feelers and trickles of funds to generate business...If it was 1/3 the cost, I would have signed up already.
$299.00 to put a few listings in front of a couple million people??? That is AWESOME! Have a landing page with other listings at the company and get your broker and other agents to help subsidize it.
Recruiting????? You can't beat that with a stick!
The possibilities are endless and the value is HUGE!
That's how a real estate agent could use it.
I'm with Christianne Gordon...a little pricey, but a good idea.
This seems like a great new feature. The price seems a little high. I think individual agents would only want to advertise in their own area. It would not do me much good to get a whole bunch of clicks in North Dakota (no offense to North Dakota but it is not my market). This may be a great opportuntity for national franchises - but not so much individuals.
A quick aside: This advertising interface is intended and best served for Business to Business advertising, not Agent to Consumer advertising.
@James: A $4.27 CPM would be the price if all 100 shares were taken...until then the value is much higher. Thx!
This sounds like a very interesting new upgrade. More like title companies advertising to realtors and mortgage guys or inspectors advertising to buyers and agents...
I might be interested Jeff. I just sent a personal message. ;)
Jeff: That sounds great ~ but the price is way to high for my Team. Got anything more affordable?
Interesting, not ready to sign up for something like that. When it becomes localized, it will be much more valuable.
Of course it is business to business. It is people advertising to US...
@Maureen, this can be used for whoever wants to get in front of whoever is on AR. Chris Martin
Sounds interesting....looking forward to see how well it turns out.
@Jessica Wynn Horton, You are absolutely correct! Exposure is the name of the game...good for you!
$299 sounds really steep for the non-blog pages. That just about eliminates any possibility of connecting with consumers, unless they're registered as members. What tools or reports will be provided to advertisers to monitor their results?
@John Novak this might not be for you specifically John but it is a great value for others...thanks for the thought. Chris
I guess I am skeptical because I remember the bad old days of realtor.com when banner ads were featured, and if you clicked them it took you away from the site, and it took 7 clicks just to get to a Realtor. I know this is not the same but it gives me pause. With the number of members I am sure that you will find takers. Still, a site built on bloggers might mean a bit of dog and pony convincing. So if this is business to business and not to consumers I may be missing something in translation. Splane it to me in my foreign language, I speak Oklahoman.
Okay...
I gave this some thought this afternoon. I've concluded I know exactly how to use this to our advantage. Thanks Guys. We appreciate you paving the path in order for us to move forward :)
In light of how I intend to make use of it...The cost will not outweigh the profits. Don't ask me what I'm gonna do, I ain't saying. Yet :)
TLW...ROAR!
Great Idea, Reasonable Price For National Exposure. It Would Be Better If It Could Be Localized. I Would Sign Up In An Instant If I Could Just Target Central Florida. Unfortunately, I Can't Fill Flyer Boxes For Realtors In California, The Gas Prices Would Kill Me!!!
The cost seems way too high and without the ability to target geographically, I guess I don't see the point.
Jeff, with all the eyeballs hitting Active Rain these days paid advertising definitely gets your message out to a very focused real estate audience. The cost of course has to be weighed against the results.
Hey Jeff - This is definitely an advertising plus! We'll have to give it some thought and see how it might fit into our advertising! Thanks!
Mary
Sounds great, I've already forwarded to 3 industry professionals who may be interested!
Sounds like a pretty good idea, except for when someone who is competition for you has an ad that lands next to your blog. That would really irk me!
@Regina Brown Thanks Regina exposure is important to any business and especially AR Agents! Feel free to email me if you need any questions answered!
It is good to be part of a network that is growing so rapidly. Congratulations on the newest development
Don
Come on advertisers you never know when we will buy. Lots of us reading here on the rain
Why not take the "no follow" tag off the adds so that you add additional value to those that sign up? Just a thought:)
Sounds pretty neat to me.
Hope some of the advertisers will offer services to show agents how to improve their blogs.
I hope it is successful with that much exposure it should be.
Very intriguing. I can think of several great angles for this new opportunity from AR - agree with Bill about the no follow for tags :)
It is great... and if I were a broker looking for agents... or ANYONE looking for agents... I think I would be rushing for the sign-up table.
Time to think of a products agents need...reall need!
Wow you guys and gals have great positive comments Jeff gets a big gold star! Again thanks for the support Chris Martin
It's a screaming bargain for those hoping to capture the eyes of real estate folk on a national level. Title, escrow, website, blogsite, vlogsite, franchise and vendors of all who can profit from us should be clamoring to snag these ads. I just have to wonder, though, if goegraphically targeted advertising might yield more productive results for advertisers.
This sounds interesting.. I how ever like Jessica's idea. Then again Brad said it's best for business to business.... Parking for more details.
Sounds great! I will have to check it out and see all the possibilities. Thanks for sharing!
@Roberta thanks for the response, and ideas like yours are much appreciated. Thanks Chris
I'm curious to see what types and categories of advertisers take advantage of this valuable opportunity.
How about a Virtual Open House service for agents?
Where exactly would the ad show?
I have photographers Nationwide.
I am in agreement that it's a bit on the expensive side!
Probably a good deal for those wishing to sell products to the members.
Count me in.
I know it can be canceled at anytime, but the per month fee always makes me nervous.
I really like Google Ads, you only pay each time somebody clicks, anything less than that is a "risk".
@Mark Mackenzie, I am with you on that point and I get it, but that is different type of advertising all together If you set a $300 budget monthly with google your not going to get 70k in page views it just won't happen, however with this you might not get all the clicks you want but your name will be out there a lot and in front of a lot of people. Thanks for your views Mark good insight!
Thanks for the information, and I may be interested in this in the future. I like how AR continues to offer options for the members.
I know you guys need to make money so do what you have to do. My concern is that there is no regional advertising. The other concern is that this will cut into hit router leads and leads of of my blogs that might go straight to me.
wow, nice post! any significance to launching under the dark of night?
those effective ad bullet points seem familiar...
Kelley- Great comment thanks for sharing. Dark of night, Dark Knight...no real significance. I think those bullet points contain some knowledge I OH from some chick, my memory is a little fuzzy tho- :-p
There seems to be a little confusion in the comments about the placement of the ads. These ads will not appear on any blog posts, correct?
AR continues to improve! I would be very interested if I could target a specific state.
attn John they will be all over the network. Chris Please feel free to email me chris at activerain dot com thanks
Great, TLW has found a way to spend more money :)
Yet another great idea I'll have to check out.. Thank you!
Patricia Aulson/Portsmouth NH Real Estate