'Net Features : cpm

Corporate Performance Management Growing in the Cloud

Michael Garrity — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 03:00:00 GMT

Cloud corporate performance management (CPM) is a niche subset of traditional CPM that was created when cloud computing began to be a major aspect of the day-to-day business processes of many enterprises. So naturally, it’s an industry that has seen impressive growth over the last year.

Host Analytics, one of the world’s premier cloud CPM companies, recently announced record company and customer growth for the first half of 2012, including revenues from Q2 that were 2.2 times higher than the same period in 2011. The company claims that its growth was spurred by a healthy mix of customer demand, product innovation and global expansion. Of course, it also conceded that a continued market trend toward cloud computing helped a bit.

In the first half of this year, Host Analytics saw a 25 percent increase in customer growth, including notable names such as Casual Male, Splunk, Angie’s List, Zoosk and more. This influx of new customers encouraged the company to expand globally, as well, opening an office in the U.K. and increasing channel sales to include Australia and New Zealand. It even grew internally, adding 12 percent to its employee headcount in just six months.

Most importantly, Host Analytics has brought a lot to the industry in the form of new product innovations. This includes the new Host Analytics Business Analytics toolkit for finance that combines CPM and business intelligence (BI) in a single solution. It also released new features in its CPM suite for dynamic financial reporting, as well as an updated interface that provides more intuitive control.

The success of Host Analytics, in conjunction with its innovative additions of cloud CPM services, seems to point toward big things for this burgeoning industry. Enterprises looking to harness the cloud for their businesses should look into how they can benefit from using a cloud CPM solution.

Monetization Models for Affiliates (Intermediate)

Linc Wonham — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 20:00:00 GMT

WM recently posted an article entitled How to Make Money on Your Website, which was intended to give those new to affiliate marketing a useful overview of the different payout structures available to them through merchants and networks. These monetization models include cost per acquisition (CPA), cost per lead (CPL), cost per click (CPC) and cost per impression (commonly known as CPM).

Novices just starting out in the world of Internet marketing must know the basic differences between each option, but more savvy affiliates will tell you that one size does not fit all. The reason for now exploring these payment structures in more depth is to illustrate the fact that the most successful Web marketers are the ones who – rather than pick and choose – can find the optimal balance between them all.

CPA – Cost Per Acquisition
As the name suggests, the affiliate earns revenue only from actual sales – or acquisitions – made through their website. In most cases, this can require a significant amount of time and effort on the part of affiliates, whether through building a following, persistent communications, creative promotional offers or all of the above. This is the most common payment structure, and also the one that involves the most work and produces the greatest rewards. Choose these campaigns wisely, and then devote the proper amount of available resources to make your investments worthwhile.

CPL – Cost Per Lead
If the CPA model requires a hard sell from affiliates (and it does), the CPL model can be considered a considerably softer sell. The affiliate earns revenue simply by providing leads to the merchant, which can include any number of interactions but does not have to involve an actual sale. Under this structure, the affiliate’s main goal is to get visitors to fill out a registration form, download a whitepaper or join an email list, which is a significantly smaller undertaking than trying to get them to purchase actual product. Again, the most successful affiliates are vigilant in their choices, allotting the most time and energy to the highest-hanging fruit.

CPC – Cost Per Click
Cost-per-click revenues may be the lowest-hanging fruit on the Web marketing tree, but they also demand the least amount of effort on the part of affiliates and generally produce the lowest returns. Whereas CPA models require acquisitions, CPL models require moderate engagement, CPC campaigns require only that visitors click on an ad or a text link for the affiliate partner to receive a percentage of the merchant’s bid price. The downside, of course, is that the commissions on each click can be quite low, and marketers have to be somewhat discretionary about the CPC agreement into which they enter. These campaigns can provide a nice supplement in combination with the other models – and with much less effort – but, again, choose them judiciously based on your overall affiliate strategy.

CPM – Cost Per Thousand Impressions
This payment structure is far better suited for highly trafficked websites and makes little sense for (nor is it available to) those not pulling in a large volume of visitors. But once a site starts to generate a high number of pageviews, CPM campaigns can be an outstanding method for increasing that site’s affiliate revenues without the heavy lifting involved in CPA or even CPL models. This model is also commonly and effectively used for testing new formats that can be implemented in the targeting and segmenting of these larger audiences, once a site reaches that coveted level.

Once marketers have grasped the general concepts behind each payment structure, they can begin to tailor their affiliate campaigns accordingly. A CPA campaign, for instance, may be built around creating a community of followers -- or vice versa. CPL campaigns, on the other hand, may be more aggressive in their immediate calls to action, but less so in terms of building relationships with visitors. The ultimate goal, of course, is to find the right balance and to know which models call for which strategies.

How to Make Money on Your Website - Affiliate

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 05:45:00 GMT

If there's one question asked repeatedly by those starting out in the world of Internet business, it is how to make money on their website. If you're not selling product (whether ebooks or any other tangible goods), then the only option is to become an affiliate (also often called the more innocuous "publisher") of another company.

There are tens of thousands of affiliate/publisher programs out there but understanding which type of program and which model best suits your site and your users is a difficult decision to make. Let's look at the different ways to make money on (or from) a website in order of the most-utilized/common.

CPA - Cost Per Acquisition
If you have ever signed up for an affiliate network you will likely be very familiar with cost per acquisition. CPA is by far the most common payout structure for merchants and in turn affiliate networks and affiliates. In CPA, affiliate websites direct their visitors (through display banner advertisements or sponsored text links) to the merchant's website. When a sale is made, the merchant gives the affiliate the pre-agreed commission.

CPL - Cost Per Lead
Those affiliates/publishers that are performing at an effective rate are those which may also have the luxury of promoting offers on a CPL basis. Cost per lead means that you, as the affiliate, direct website users/visitors to merchants' websites not in the hopes of them purchasing anything (although some programs have a CPA/CPL hybrid offering) but rather providing their information via filling out a form, signing up for a service, requesting information, etc.

CPC - Cost Per Click
Most publishers and affiliates starting out opt for cost-per-click offers. In CPC, affiliates receive a percentage of the advertiser's bid price. The most popular CPC affiliate/publisher program in the history of the 'Net is Google's Adsense program. The challenge for affiliates is in producing content that drives a sufficient amount of traffic so that even the small percentage of clicks which happen on these ads is profitable.

Cost Per Impression
CPM - While not as common as it once was, CPM (cost per thousand impressions) is now typically the reserve of websites with large amounts of traffic and sophisticated targeting and segmentation capabilities. CPM deals are often extended to publishers/affiliates by merchants when the site is established and afforded some authority by its users. For merchants, CPM deals are ideal for branding and awareness campaigns. For affiliates and publishers, CPM provides a low-impact way to generate profit from traffic without much leg-work.

Digital Ad Spend Grows 47% in Q1 & Q2

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 23:25:00 GMT

Advertising technology company the Rubicon Project has released its tenth installment of its Online Advertising Market Report series. According to the study, digital ad spend grew 47 percent in the first half of the year as audience buying, an increase in spend from international marketers and automation drive the growth

At the beginning of Q2, CPMs across the Rubicon 20 Index (a measure of performance across a number of factors including CPM, revenue and traffic volume on twenty of the Web’s most heavily-trafficked properties) have risen by an average of 25 percent vs. Q1 2010. Overall, the Index has grown 47 percent, on a trend line basis, from the start of 2010 to the midpoint of the year.

Additional forecasts and trends identified and addressed can be accessed here. http://www.rubiconproject.com/market-intelligence

“Ad spend and revenue have both been strong and growing in 2010. Given the proliferation of solution providers and industry players to the market, all working to increase the overall flow of revenue from offline to online, this increase is no surprise,” said Kara Weber, Vice President of Marketing at the Rubicon Project. “That said, it’s more important than ever for publishers to define their strategies to compete in a challenging market, taking advantage of new opportunities like RTB while fighting to protect the value they’ve created with high-quality content, well developed audiences and a carefully cultivated advertiser base.”

WM Radio: Discussing PPC, and CPM vs. CPA

Mike Phillips — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 18:54:00 GMT

Pay-per-click marketing is the focus of this episode of Website Magazine Radio, as we talk with specialist Sergio Alvarez, COO of AI Media Group. We talk about the past, present and future of PPC and strategies to help your business profit. Also, we answer our listener question of the week, about the differences between CPM vs. CPA and which option is right for your website.

Listen now, and subcribe to Website Magazine Radio in iTunes!

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If you would like to have your questions answered on Website Magazine Radio, please send email to editors@websitemagazine.com with "WM Radio" in the subject field.

Google Offers Above-the-Fold-Only Ads on Content Network

Mike Phillips — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:43:00 GMT

Google has announced that advertisers now have the option to buy advertising above the fold on Web pages throughout the Google Content Network, by enacting the "below the fold" exclusion option.

"With brand-aware advertisers paying on a CPM basis, they're concerned with making sure their ads are seen by as many users as possible within [the segment] they're targeting," said Brad Bender, director of product management for display ads on the Google Content Network.

Above the fold-only ads can also be placed by direct response and CPC advertisers, but is mostly targeted at brand-conscious advertisers. Ads will be placed according to Google's data about where advertising slots appear on any given Web page, ensuring that advertisers who select the option get those positions that do not require users to scroll. Of course, Google hopes this will lead to increased competition from advertisers and, therefore, higher prices.

Above the fold ads are significant when it comes to advertising on content networks. Unlike search results, where users frequently scroll a page, many websites will not capture a user's attention long enough for a scroll -- but the ad will be front and center. So, while the ads might cost more, the elimination of wasted budgets on non-visible ads should balance it out for most advertisers.

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Facebook Advertising Basics | Social Promotions

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 19 May 2009 19:46:00 GMT

Let's move beyond traditional search engine marketing for a moment and focus on another very viable opportunity in Facebook advertising. It might be the largest social network site ever developed and is ripe with social marketing opportunities, but it also presents an amazing opportunity to advertise. Facebook is an impressive advertising platform that enables Web marketers/online advertisers to target by interest and demographics. Early adopters recognize it and are already leveraging the platform to drive high quality, inexpensive traffic.

The downside is that many advertisers have already caught on to the opportunity present. The result, as is the case with any advertising market, is that both the CPC (cost per click) and CPM (cost per thousand impressions) are increasing. There remain plenty of opportunities, however, in a variety of individual markets. One very pervasive problem that advertisers must accept (and that Facebook must acknowledge) is that users aren't actually looking for products or services when using the service. Instead, they are there to connect with one another and are often far outside of the buying or research mindset. That doesn't mean that we can't market to this group effectively.

Facebook advertising works (or can work) because of the rich data set the company has about users and groups of users. It is the job of advertisers to promote the right product, promote it to the right audience (gender, age, location, etc.) and use compelling ads to do so. But the requirements for advertisers don't stop there. As with any advertising, it is essential to test various ads (including images and text) and ad combinations. It is vital to understand what you are willing to pay. And most importantly, it is imperative that you have a clearly defined objective for ads and campaigns and create or modify landing pages to reflect that purpose. A failure at any point in this process will turn you off from any online advertising. Now that we have a solid understanding of the requirements, let's dig into actually using the Facebook advertising platform.

Say for instance we were promoting a new nightclub in Chicago.

Designing ads in Facebook is about as simple as it gets. Create a 25 character ad title and an ad body (135 characters), upload an image (optional but recommended) and provide a destination URL. Facebook does provide a few guidelines (e.g. not capitalizing every word, not using incorrect grammar and spelling, not including irrelevant or inappropriate images or using deceptive discounts and offers, etc.) that might act a deterrent for a few rogue marketers, but all ads are reviewed to ensure they meet Facebook's content guidelines (a test review took about 90 minutes but that was late at night). Advertisers are able to see the ad they create and make adjustments to text and images should it not appear as intended. While the system does not leave a lot of room for creativity, creating an ad for the most part is a simple and straightforward process.

The next step to getting started with Facebook advertising is the targeting - where the real value in the network resides. Since we're promoting our Pretend Nightclub in Chicago, we're able to narrow down our targeting to the specific location we want. Advertisers essentially start with a pool of 200 million users and refine their choices from there (Country, State/Province, City - and have the option to include cities within a specified distance using IP addresses of users). We'll use Chicago as the location for this particular ad. Facebook also lets advertisers indicate the age and gender of those who will see the ads. Since we're a) serving alcohol, 2) don't want anyone over 30, 3) want folks single and ready to mingle, 4) only want people who can spend some money, and 5) don't care whether those viewing the ad are male and female, we end up with a very respectable audience of 27,460 people. While that might not seem like the millions advertisers might anticipate, remember this is exactly the audience we're looking for. Not a bad start start considering our pretend club has a capacity of zero.

Establishing pricing for the Facebook ad campaign is where most advertisers should invest the most time and thought. New advertisers will first need to create a new campaign. Keep in mind that creating more than one ad in a campaign means you'll be sharing a daily budget and schedule. Advertisers have two options when it comes to the advertising model: either pay for impressions (CPM) or pay for clicks (CPC). Paying for impressions will be appropriate for advertisers interested in gaining brand recognition (when you just want people to see your ad), but since we actually want people to come through the ad to our landing page (where, for example, we might provide them a free drink ticket), CPC is a better option in this scenario. Facebook will ask the advertiser to provide a maximum CPC bid (how much they are willing to pay per click - minimum 0.01 USD) and provides some suggestions based on the targeting that was specified. Advertisers are able to lower the cost per click by removing some of the targeting, but doing so will result in less-targeted ads and even fewer targeted clicks. Since Facebook provides a range for advertisers to bid, play it conservative and place your CPC bid somewhere in the middle of the recommended bid. Our testing revealed that the CPC will gradually lower over the time the ad is running. Do keep in mind that the choice of CPC and CPM does influence the placement of ads; all Facebook ads compete with each other to show for each impression, regardless of how they are bid.

Facebook advertising works and a tremendous opportunity exists for those willing to invest. Have you tried Facebook advertising? Tell us about the results you received and what you might advise others considering Facebook as an advertising opportunity.

AdBrite Launches Cost-Per-Click Auction for Graphical Ads

Pete Prestipino — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 15:46:00 GMT

AdBrite announced today the launch of a cost-per-click (CPC) auction for graphical banner ads. Advertisers can now pay for graphical banner advertising in the same way they pay for search placements and text ads -- paying only when their ad is clicked.

CPC auction pricing is a significant departure from traditional CPM (cost per impression) rates paid by most advertisers for graphical banner ads (display advertising). When advertisers pay for impressions, they are assuming the full risk of impressions that may never convert into clicks or sales. In a CPC banner auction environment such as that offered by AdBrite, display advertisers pay only for clicks. This lowers advertiser risk while increasing performance. In addition to advertiser benefits, CPC pricing rewards AdBrite's high-quality publishers by compensating them for the full benefit of their contributions to each advertiser. Many AdBrite publishers will see a significant increase in revenue.

You may have never heard of AdBrite, but they are the fifth-largest ad network by pageviews according to ComScore (October 2008). "AdBrite is committed to our advertisers' success," said AdBrite CEO Ignacio Fanlo. "Allowing them to pay for performance makes sense. More than 90 million consumers visit AdBrite's sites every month, and our new CPC auction provides an effective and low-risk way for advertisers to engage them."