Selling Ad Space in Digital Magazines

Written by : Rashmi Singh

The digital world has proven to be beneficial for magazine publishers. There are umpteen monetization methods that publishers can use. That being said, advertisement is still the most prevalent and one of the easiest methods to generate revenue for magazine publishers. 

Selling ad space in digital magazines slightly differs from selling in print magazines. Unlike print ads, digital ads can be edited and changed. This flexibility benefits both advertisers and publishers. For magazine publishers who want to monetize their website, down below is a beginner-friendly guide on selling digital ad space

Digital ads can be broadly differentiated into two models on the basis of how much automation and control you want over your ads. The two models are programmatic advertising and direct-sold ads.

Here’s how you can implement either of these two ad models:

1. Programmatic Ads
   

Programmatic ads are the types of advertisements in which digital publishers use automated platforms to get and show ads. Instead of buying blocks of advertisements, advertisers bid in real-time for individual ads in programmatic ads. 

Most big digital publishers prefer to choose this model because it comes with zero hassle of finding advertisers, negotiating prices, and running ads. On top of that, it also benefits publishers by giving them real market value for their digital ad placements and helping them earn more. 

Most big advertisers also prefer programmatic ads because it allows them to run and manage their ads from a single dashboard instead of dealing with every individual publisher. The budget of big advertisers such as multinational corporations goes as high as tens of millions of dollars for programmatic ads. 

1. Direct-sold Ads
   

Direct-sold ads are the types of advertisements in which digital publishers sell their ads directly to advertisers. Any intermediary such as an ad network is not required by the publisher in this model. 

Some advertisers and publishers chose this model over programmatic ads because they want more control over their ads. In programmatic ads, you have comparatively lesser control over the types of brands that you work with. 

Another benefit of choosing direct-sold ads is that advertisers and publishers can form a direct and long-term relationship with each other. And since there is a direct partnership, there is no intermediary fee to facilitate ad displays. 

What ad model is best for you depends on various factors such as your audience size, niche, and the level of manual work you want to do. Programmatic ads are best for you if you have a large audience and you publish work that is not limited to one niche. On the other hand, direct-sold ads work best for magazines with a relatively small and niche audience. 

Selling ad space in digital magazines is quite easy given that there are multiple ad networks that take an intermediary fee and in return, help publishers run programmatic ads. However, magazine publishers can also choose to work directly with advertisers to gain more control over revenue and the types of ads that run on their websites.

While choosing an ad model, digital magazine publishers should keep various things in mind such as scalability, the number of advertisers available in their niche, and whether they want to work directly with advertisers or not. 

If you publish a digital magazine and are looking for ways to generate more revenue, Quintype can help you.