FieldTest FAQ Series: What Sites Will My Ads Be On?
Here at FieldTest we’re proud to offer the best and easiest way for brands of every size and shape to promote themselves online with high-performing digital ads. However, many new brands beginning their marketing efforts have some common questions before they start. For this reason, we like to make sure that our clients are equipped not only with the tools they need to build their perfect ads, but the answers to the questions holding them back from starting. With that in mind we’re kicking of our FieldTest FAQ series, which will tackle some of the primary questions we hear from new clients head on and hopefully lend some clarity to issues that might not be the easiest to understand from a beginner’s perspective.
One of the questions we hear the most is also one of the most important: “What sites will my ads be on?” When spending on social media platforms, you already know the answer. Buying on TikTok? Your ads will be on TikTok. Many brands take this simple to understand equation and assume the same will apply to open web ad buying, you’re buying ads online so you should get to hand-pick the publishers your ads are served on, but the reality is just a bit more complicated.
When finding new customers outside of the walled gardens of social platforms, it’s worth explaining more thoroughly. The easiest way to understand the relationship between the customer you are looking to reach and what sites your ads appear on is to think about your own personal experience, both as a consumer and as an internet traveler.
Let’s discuss a practical example
Let’s say that you are looking for a new pair of running shoes. You don’t want just any running shoes; you want a pair that are going to be comfortable, fashionable and made with a quality that ensures they are going to last you. Maybe the time from when you start your research until when you finally make your purchase seven days. Now let’s think about the types of sites you might visit during this week. Chances are good you will be on news sites catching up on current events: CNN, The New York Times, The Daily Beast. Maybe you’ll visit entertainment sites like Rotten Tomatoes or Entertainment Weekly to see what the latest streaming options are. Culture sites like Refinery29, GQ, Vogue, Vanity Fair are also popular daily destinations that you might visit during the week. And let’s say you also find yourself on a niche recipe site looking up a delicious summer dessert to serve over the weekend.
Even though these sites all fit squarely into different content verticals, you will probably notice a few different running shoe brands trying to connect with you as you switch gears in your browsing habits. That’s because the context of the site matters less than the fact that, through using the appropriate audience targeting, these athletic brands have noticed that you have signaled that you are currently “in-market” for athletic gear. The same concept holds true for your brand and the ads you run: getting you in front of the right eyeballs is the most important thing when spending digital ad dollars.
Take an audience-first approach, with an assurance of publisher quality
Now, just because the site is secondary to your audience doesn’t mean that the site isn’t still incredibly important. Before your campaign ever spends its first dollar, we have already blocked any web publishers that are deemed not brand safe. We are also auto blocking any dark web sites as well along with any that show signs of fraudulent ad traffic. You can rest assured knowing that your advertising exists in a safe and positive content environment.
Publishers also take the spotlight during campaign optimizations on our Platform Plus campaigns - if a specific publisher set is driving the bulk of engagement then it makes sense to prioritize those sites over all others. The opposite is true as well- we will often remove a set of publishers from an ad buy after we have determined that your core audience isn’t being easily found there.
Now that you have a better understanding of how audience buying outside of social media relates to what websites your ads appear on, let’s discuss ways in which we can help you get up and running with a fresh FieldTest campaign.