You may feel like ads are the bane of your existence. You open your social media app, and there they are again: Ads.
Everywhere you look, there’s an ad trying to sell you something. For marketers, ads are a great way to get their product in front of potential customers while driving sales simultaneously.
But how to make money posting ads? And what strategies and methods can you use?
How to make money posting ads
There are many different ways to make money with advertising.
You can sell ad space on your website, blog, or social media profiles. Or, you can become an affiliate and promote advertiser products through links or ads.
It’s also possible to combine both methods by creating sponsored content posts on your blog. There you write about a similar topic to the products you’re promoting without directly pitching them to your readers.
Regardless of these approaches, the end goal is generating revenue from ads and getting advertisers interested in working with you again in the future.
Here are some tips for how to make money posting ads.
Strategies for making money from ads
There are many different ways to make money from ads. Some are direct, while others are indirect.
Here are some strategies you can try:
Selling ad space on your website: If you have a website or blog, you can make money from ads by selling ad space. For example, if you’re running an adventure travel blog, you can sell ad space to travel companies.
There are many ad networks online that specialize in website ads.
You can sign up with these platforms, input some information about your site and ad space, and then start selling ad spots to interested advertisers. You’ll get paid when the ads get clicked on.
This method is fairly straightforward, but it’s important to be selective with your ad placements. You don’t want to ruin your user experience by cluttering your site with too many ads.
Sell exclusive ad space: If you own a large enough website or blog, you can sell exclusive ad space. Exclusive ad deals are generally sold on a cost-per-click basis. So, if an advertiser pays $5 per click and you have 100,000 monthly visitors, you’ll make $500 per ad.
Sell ad space on social media profiles: If you have a large enough following on social media, you can sell ad space on your profiles. This is generally done through Influencer marketing, which can be targeted based on factors like age, gender, geography, and interests.
Becoming an affiliate for advertisers: This is when you introduce your readers to products or services and earn a commission once they make a purchase.
You can do this on your own site or your social media profiles. To get started, you’ll want to sign up with an affiliate network, which will help match you with relevant advertisers.
Some networks specialize in specific products or industries, while others are more general. This is a great option if you want to promote products that you’re genuinely interested in.
Creating sponsored content posts: This is when you write posts that directly reference specific products or services but don’t directly pitch them to your readers.
You could, for example, write a post about how to grow your social media following that includes references to a certain social media management app.
You can then let the app’s company know that you’ve written the post, and they might want to pay you to include a link to their tool in your post. This is a subtle way to earn money from ads, but it can be very effective if done right.
Ads for your own product or service: You can also create ad campaigns to promote your product or service to earn money.
Tips for monetizing your blog with ads
If you’re new to making money from ads, remember that finding advertisers and earning a steady income from your ad space can take time.
The good news is that there are ways to speed up the process. Here are a few tips for maximizing the revenue you generate from ads on your website:
Only sell ad space that is relevant to your readers. If you’re only selling ad space for products or services that have nothing to do with your blog’s content, you’ll likely lose readers quickly. Make sure that the ads you’re selling are relevant to the content on your site.
Narrow your focus: If you’re trying to make money from ads on many different types of blogs, you have a hard time finding advertisers and a consistent source of revenue. Start with one blog and one ad format, such as banner ads or native ads.
Don’t skimp on ad placement. While it’s important to choose ads that are relevant to your readers, it’s also important to place those ads in high-traffic areas of your site. If you place ads in obscure places on your site, you’ll have a harder time earning revenue from those ads.
Keep ads relevant to your content. This may sound similar to the first tip, but it’s important enough to be listed twice. If your readers see ads that are irrelevant to your content, they’ll likely click away from your site. You don’t want that to happen.
Identify your audience: When you’re looking for advertisers, you’ll want to attract advertisers who can offer products that relate to your audience. For example, if you’re running a food blog for kids, you’ll want to find advertisers who sell food products, like snacks and drinks.
Create an ad inventory: Ad inventory is how long your ads run and the frequency of their appearance on your blog.
Ad inventory is measured in seconds, so an ad inventory of 10 seconds means that each ad appears for 10 seconds before rotating out. In comparison, an ad inventory of 60 seconds means that each ad appears for 60 seconds before rotating out.
How to make money with native advertising
If you’re not sure which type of ads you’d like to sell on your site, native advertising may be a good option.
Native advertising is when you create content that subtly references products or services but doesn’t directly sell them to your readers. An example of this would be writing a post about the best coffee shops in your city but including references to an app like Shopify, which helps coffee shop owners set up their online storefronts.
The Shopify app would likely pay you to include that in your post since it’s not an obvious sales pitch. There are many different ways to create native ads for your site, but here are a few common ones:
Sponsored content. Sponsored content is when you write posts that reference products or services but don’t directly pitch them to your readers. You can write sponsored posts on your website or social media profiles.
Native advertising widgets. If you have a blog, you can install a native advertising widget that lets you add products to your sidebar without writing a full post about them.
Native ads within images. Some advertisers will pay you to include their products within the images you post on social media.
Accepting high-quality ad campaigns
One mistake many new bloggers make is accepting any and all advertisers interested in working with them. When you first start monetizing your blog with ads, this may make sense, but as you grow in popularity, you’ll want to be more selective with the advertisers you work with.
One way to do this is to create a minimum ad rate. This is the minimum amount you’re willing to accept for each ad campaign. For example, you may decide to only work with advertisers who pay $5 per ad click or more.
You can also use ad exclusivity to find out low-quality advertisers. This is when you only accept one ad campaign per advertiser per month.
Other ways to make money with ads
Besides selling ad space and creating sponsored content posts, it’s important to try new things to maximize the revenue generated from ads. Here are a few other ideas to consider:
Run paid surveys. Some survey sites will pay you per completed survey. You can also create your own survey and pay respondents using a service like Mechanical Turk.
Offer online courses. You can create online courses and sell them through your website if you have expertise in a certain industry or topic.
Sell your digital assets. If you have a popular blog or social media profile with a lot of followers, you can sell your digital assets, like email lists, website traffic, and social media followers.
Other ways to make money with advertising are through site-wide ads, ad exchange programs, and ad networks. Site-wide ads run across the entire website, often in the header or footer area.
Ad exchange programs are when a website or blog exchanges ad space for ad space on other websites.
Ad networks are a way to connect with multiple advertisers through a single account. You can also use ad management software to streamline the ad management process.
Plan out your ad strategy
Before you start accepting ads on your blog or website, you’ll want to plan out an ad strategy. This includes deciding which ad types you’ll accept, what ad rates you’ll charge, and how many ads you’ll accept per month.
If you want to make a significant amount of money from ads on your site, you’ll want to create a detailed plan for what types of ads you want to sell and how often you want to post them. It’s a good idea to start off slowly with a few ads and work your way up as you get more comfortable with the process.
You’ll also want to ensure that you’re meeting your readers’ expectations with the ads on your site. Here are a few things to consider when creating your ad strategy:
Decide how often you want to post ads. Since ads are meant to be jarring to draw your readers’ attention, you’ll likely want to post them fairly frequently. You don’t want to overwhelm your readers, so you’ll want to post ads at reasonable intervals.
Select the types of ads you want to sell. This will depend on your audience and what types of products and services they would be interested in.
Create a payment plan. If you’re partnering with an ad network, you’ll likely have to pay a certain amount upfront to start selling ads. You’ll also likely have to pay a commission on each ad sold.
Choose the right platform(s)
To make money from ads, you’ll need to sign up with a paid ad platform. The best ad platforms vary depending on your niche and what types of ads you plan to run.
Here are a few things to keep in mind when selecting an ad network:
Look for networks that specialize in the type of content on your site. A network specializing in your niche is more likely to have ads relevant to your readers.
Consider the size of the networks you select. Larger networks have more potential buyers and will likely give you more freedom with the types of ads you can sell. Smaller networks can be a good option, though, as they may be more willing to work with you if you’re just starting out and don’t have a large following.
Research the networks you’re considering. Look at the types of ads each network offers and read reviews from other users. You can also reach out to the networks directly to ask questions.
For example, if you plan to sell ad space on your website, you’ll want to use an ad platform specializing in website ads, such as Google AdSense.
If you plan to sell ad space on your social media profiles, you’ll want to use an ad platform that specializes in social media ads, such as Instagram marketing. You can also use multiple ad platforms at once.
For instance, you can use Google AdSense on your website while running Instagram ads. This will allow you to diversify your earnings and open yourself up to more advertising options.
Establish credibility and trust
Being the new kid on the block can make it hard to get advertisers interested in working with you. One way to get established advertisers interested in your ad space is to create a quality blog with content your readers love.
You want to make sure that your readers trust the ads on your site and feel like they’re authentic. One way to do this is to include a disclosure on your site that details which ads you’re selling and for what products or services.
You can also try to find a balance between the ads you sell and your content. If you sell a lot of ads, readers may start to feel like they’re being spammed. It’s important to find a balance that makes readers comfortable and keeps them coming back to your site.
It’s also important to establish your credibility. If you’re just starting out and don’t have a large following, you may have a harder time finding advertisers willing to work with you. You can combat this by joining online communities relevant to your niche.
As you grow your readership, you’ll start to build credibility and trust, which you can use to get more lucrative advertisers. To grow credibility and trust, you can join industry-specific groups and connect with other bloggers in your niche.
You can also create a media kit highlighting your blogging experience, ad rates, and other information prospective advertisers are likely interested in.
Diversify your portfolio
As you gain more experience in advertising, you’ll start to get a feel for what works best for your blog. Once this happens, you may want to consider diversifying your ad portfolio.
This means accepting ads for different ad types, such as site-wide ads, product placements, sponsored content, and more. The more types of ads you accept, the more options you’ll have when it comes to making money from ads.
This will help you weather slow periods, such as during holidays when fewer ads are purchased or if an individual advertiser has trouble making payments.
Don’t stop selling once you’ve found what works
Once you find something that works, don’t stop selling it. Instead, continue to promote it and find ways to improve the ad type so that you can earn more money from it each month.
You can do this by trying out new ad creatives, like using different images or types of media. Or adjusting ad placement to see if you can earn more per click without scaring advertisers or readers away.
You can also try out different ad networks and platforms to see which works best for you.
But remember always to keep your audience in mind. You don´t want to lose readers because you post too many ads or the wrong type for your audience.
It is necessary you work on building trust and keeping credibility if you want to earn long-term with ads.
