Advertising on Offbeat Bride is a little bit different. This FAQ should answer all your questions about how it works…
Who can I reach by advertising with Offbeat Bride?
The traffic on Offbeat Bride (where advertorials and banner ads appear) is growing at a monumental rate. Here are the stats for October 2009:
- 1.2 million pageviews a month
- 200,000 unique visitors a month
- Top 10 city markets are New York, London, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Sydney, Seattle, Melbourne, Portland, Austin.
The traffic on the Offbeat Bride Tribe (the private social network where text ads appear), is smaller but super sticky:
- 11,000+ members, with 10+ new members each day
- 600,000 pageviews a month
- Members are extremely active: the average visitor views 11 pages and spends 13 minutes on the site
If you'd like to see a detailed document about Offbeat Bride demographics, including wedding budget, location, and reader purchasing patterns, please contact us.
"I got 2 inquiries for weddings within 5 hours of the advertorial going up…" -Philadelphia wedding photographer
What's the difference between text/banner ads and advertorials?
Text and banner ads are pretty traditional web advertising: you write/design the ad, and select a duration for it to appear on the site.
Offbeat advertorials, however, are more like a blog-focused public relations campaign than an advertisement. Advertorials are clearly marked as paid content, but they act like blog posts and as such stay on the site forever, in addition to being broadcast via twitter and facebook. Here's how advertorials appear on the homepage.
Can anyone advertise with Offbeat Bride?
No. Unlike many web advertising venues, I actually care about how my advertisers' campaigns do, and I won't accept an advertiser's money unless I truly believe you'll make it back from my readership. I accept less than half the advertising submitted to me.
While I accept the majority of my wedding-relevant text & banner ads, I'm extremely selective about who I feature in offbeat advertorials. This is part of the service I offer to the readers of offbeatbride.com — I act as an editorial filter, which is a benefit for both readers and advertisers. Readers find vendors, products, and services aligned with their values. Advertisers, meanwhile, receive the added credibility of editorial recommendation and don't waste their money on a campaign that isn't going resonate with the readership.
About Text & Banner Ads
Where do banner ads appear?
Banner ads appear in far right side bar on all pages across offbeatbride.com. This includes the homepage, all blog posts, all category pages, and everywhere else — including this page!
Where do text ads appear?
Text ads appear in the sidebar of every single page (all 50,000+ of them!) of Offbeat Bride's social network for brides at Offbeat Bride Tribe. Since it's a private social network, only the homepage is viewable to non-members.
Do text and banner ads use a direct link?
No. Only advertorials feature direct links. My ad platform uses a redirect link for banners and text ads so that it can track click-throughs.
Can I track how my ad is performing?
Yes. You'll receive a link to your statistics via email weekly. These click-through statistics are available to you so you can track how your ad is performing. Here's an example of how the ad stats look:
My ad was accepted and paid for and now I don't see it.
Banner and text ads are automatically pushed live within 20 minutes of payment being received. If you don't see your ad, first make sure you're looking in the right place: banner ads appear on offbeatbride.com, while text ads appear on offbeatbride.ning.com. Text and banner ads rotate, two banners and three text ads per slot, updating every 3 minutes. If you don't see your ad the first time you check, give it a couple minutes and try again!
Can I change the image in my existing banner ad?
Unfortunately no. Banner images are locked for the ad duration you purchased. You're welcome to submit a new ad with a new banner image when your existing ad expires.
About Advertorials
Where exactly do offbeat advertorials appear?
Your advertorial appears as a post on the homepage of offbeatbride.com, in-line with quality editorial content read by an average of 10,000 brides each day. As the advertorial ages, it moves down the homepage like a regular blog post, moving into the paginated archives after approximately two weeks. Offbeat advertisers are also featured on Vendors & Shopping tab of the site.
Your advertorial is also broadcast via Offbeat Bride's RSS feed, Facebook page, and Twitter account, extending your reach to several thousand more readers.
How do you pick which advertorial clients you accept?
I base my decisions on whether or not I feel your business will resonate with my readership, as determined by:
- Specific relevance to nontraditional brides
- Website design
- Price point of product
- Past performance of similar products
- Whether I think there's a full post's worth of editorial story in the product
Are your advertorial rates monthly? How long will my advertorial be on offbeatbride.com?
Rates for advertorial campaigns are for content that stays on offbeatbride.com forever. You'll receive the most clicks during the first two weeks, as your advertorial moves down the homepage. After that time, your advertorial moves onto the second page of the site, but it will remain in the archives forever. Your ad is never deleted from the site, which means brides can always find it and that the SEO value of the link goes on and on. If you're thinking "Huh? SEO?" keep reading.
"Six months after advertising, I still get TONS of traffic from Offbeat Bride — it's so great how my ads stay up forever; I'm still getting new clients from them." -Washington DC photographer
Does an advertorial on offbeatbride.com improve my rank in search engines?
Yes. While standard text ads and banner ads won't bring you SEO value, advertorial ads feature direct links that increase your site's PageRank and will help you show up higher in search engines like Google.
Here's how it works: I link to your company website using your keywords — for instance, Super 8 Wedding Films. Search engines favor sites that have been linked by heavily trafficked blogs, so this means that when people search for "Super 8 Wedding Films," not only will your Offbeat Bride advertorial show up, but your website is more likely to appear higher in the results. (Look how high Layer Cake Films shows up — thanks to Offbeat Bride!) In addition, your offbeatbride.com ad is archived as a link with all the other content on the site, meaning that your one-time ad investment brings you ongoing search engine value.
Ok, I understand SEO. What's your Google PageRank?
Offbeatbride.com (where your ad first appears) has a page rank of 5.
"I'm sitting here speechless. Not only did Ariel manage to capture every single important aspect of our product, she presented it in exactly the easy, relaxed, hip style the collection represents but is so hard to put into words." -Wedding dress designer
Who writes the advertorial?
I do, which is part of the cost of the advertisement. I treat my advertisers like PR clients, and offer my copywriting services as part of the advertising package. I've got almost a decade of experience as an award-winning copywriter and web marketer for industry giants like Amazon.com, Disney, and Microsoft. You give me the keywords you want linked, and tell me what features and benefits of your goods or services you want me to touch on. I then write the post about your product.
Do I get to approve the advertorial before it's posted?
Nope. That's the "editorial" part of advertorial. I promise to hit on all the keywords, features, and benefits you specify, but I do so in my own words, in my own way.
Can you help me figure out a fun offbeat promotion to go with my advertorial?
Sure. I've helped advertisers do everything from promotional offbeat discounts all the way to co-sponsored contests.
Can I do multiple advertorials?
Yep. Although your ad is archived forever on the site, you're welcome to run additional advertorials with updated information, new promotions, etc.
I did an advertorial with you a while back, but things have changed since then. Can you update my old advertorial?
Not unless you advertise again.
I'm doing an ad campaign across several wedding blogs. Can I include yours too?
I view my ads as part of my editorial structure, and so I avoid duplicating products and services that have appeared recently on other advertorial blogs just as I avoid writing posts on subjects recently covered by other bloggers. I like advertorials on Offbeat Bride feature products my readers have never seen before — not something they saw on another blog just last week. I realize this makes me weird — why would I turn down your money just because someone else has accepted it? — but the editorial strength of Offbeat Bride is my top priority.
How much do ads cost?
Check out the rate sheet.
