What kinds of advertising options should a new internet startup offer its customers and how should they be priced?

July 29, 2009 3:46 PM

What kinds of advertising options should a new internet startup offer its customers and how should they be priced?

I'm starting an online service targeted at beer enthusiasts, and we're considering offering advertising to the industry.

I'm trying to build some revenue model scenarios based on advertising options and rates. Specifically, I'm looking for help deciding what advertising options to offer and how much to charge for each, likely on a CPM basis.

What advertising options are typical, and what are typical CPMs for a site targeted at a fairly niche audience like ours?

posted by tnoetz01 to Work & Money (2 answers total)

I would definitely do AdSense. If you lay out your targeted placement information with good detail, you'll naturally get some good ads that way. I'd also make some occasional "sponsorship" posts highlighting a product or service (specific brewing equipment brands would be a great one). You'll gain traffic by people searching for that specific product as a side benefit.
posted by chrisfromthelc at 9:24 AM on August 5, 2009

Some ideas:

Check out the IAB for an overview of the different types of advertising; they might have some info about pricing/trends:
- sponsorship
- CPM/display/banner ads
- CPC/AdSense
- CPA/affiliate (for affiliate pricing, check out the Affiliate Window website)

Try to find out what similar sites charge - check out some other food/wine blogs/sites and see what they're doing, give them a call to get some intelligence.
posted by goalie at 7:17 AM on August 12, 2009