If you have a website and are looking to maximize its revenue, becoming a publisher is a choice you can make. Believe me, you will never regret either fitting this role or opting out of it for your website. Ad inventory selling is nothing new; many publishers are doing it and profiting, but some are struggling because they’re unsure whether to choose CPM or CPC for their ad inventory selling.
When you, as a publisher, sell ad space on your website, you will definitely aim to maximize your earnings, and selecting the best pricing model is crucial for that. Many options are available, but it is essential to consider which one suits your website and which one is ideal for your ad space. However, don’t worry too much about this factor, as we will help you with it.
In this blog, we will look at which one is perfect, whether CPM or CPC, for ad inventory selling. We will help you offer all the insights you have been looking for when looking for the best pricing model for your ad inventory selling.
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Ad Inventory Selling: What You Need to Know?
We know that many of you are already aware of actual inventory selling, but let’s review this concept and help those who are new to it. Selling ad inventory involves a publisher who owns a website, as it offers ad space on their site to businesses looking to run their ad campaign, in exchange for which publishers earn money.
The main objective of ad inventory selling is for publishers to generate revenue by offering advertising space, as publishers provide the best traffic for advertisers’ ads, from which they earn money.
Let Us First Examine What CPM and CPC Represent
Cost Per Mille (CPM)
CPM is a pricing model chosen by advertisers when running their ad campaigns. It signals that advertisers incur costs only when their ad reaches a thousand impressions. Thus, publishers earn revenue whenever they provide 1000 impressions for the ads. If you’re planning to develop on a traffic-selling platform, this pricing model is perfect, as earnings are based solely on impressions, which are relatively easy to generate.
Many publishers favor CPM since it is optimal for selling ad space on your website. This method benefits both advertisers and publishers, as advertisers gain impressions on their ads while publishers earn revenue. Practically implementing strategies, like trialing CPM ad inventory sales, can help you better determine if it’s truly beneficial or just a temporary endeavor.
Cost Per Click (CPC)
It is among the most effective pricing models selected by many advertisers seeking optimal results when executing an ad campaign. CPC, or cost-per-click, is a pricing model where you can sell ad inventory and make the best profit, as CPM involves publishers looking to monetize website impressions, which is not a significant challenge. However, CPC requires users to click on the ad, which is the real task, as many fail at this. If executed correctly, it can greatly enhance your revenue.
CPC is a pricing model that, if you have chosen it for your ad inventory sales, can help you earn significant revenue because the highest bids are always on the CPC side. Every business wants clicks on their ad campaigns to reach their target audience. Thus, while choosing this pricing model can be profitable, achieving results from it can be quite a challenging task.
Which one is Perfect for Publishers, CPM vs CPC?
It is also quite difficult for us because every publisher has its specific needs and capability to manage its ad space through its website. Let’s take a look at the pros and cons of both when the publishers have chosen them for the ad inventory selling.
Pros and Cons of CPM
Let us commence with the;
Pros
Guaranteed Revenue
To be real, many publishers agree that CPM is a method that can help them earn more money because it involves creating impressions, which is straightforward. People view the ads, and each impression counts as income from this effort, which feels like heaven for many.
Flexibility and Optimization
Flexibility is a big thing, as when choosing CPM, you will definitely get it because through CPM, you don’t have to put that much effort as just run the ad campaign, as many of the advertisers don’t even think about the ad quality. After all, they want impressions, which is quite difficult to digest. CPM optimization is also easy for a publisher.
Cons
Unsold Ad Inventory
The biggest drawback of CPM is that if you choose it for your ad inventory, it will never be sold, as this is a fact. CPM is a pricing model that many advertisers don’t like because of its result-driven tendency, as advertisers don’t really look to spend money for the impression, as they want leads and conversions on their platform, so why would they spend on the impression?
Lack of User Engagement
User engagement is quite difficult with CPM because advertisers want engagement with their ads. CPM only provides an impression to them, which is where publishers miss out on potential earnings. If engagement is lacking, why would users choose CPM for ad inventory selling? Forget about this concept of CPM, as it is hard for you.
Pros and Cons of CPC
Let us commence with the;
Pros
Better Ad Run Rates
CPC is a pricing model where the bid goes the highest, as it is the one where a publisher has to put a lot of effort into making people click on the ads, and once they make a click, they make money. Through CPC, you will get the best ads with high bids, where the chances of making money will become easier for you, as you have to focus heavily on how you can make people click on the ads.
Ad Effectiveness Will Increase
The best thing about the CPC is that you will get ads that are high in quality and crafted in a way that captivates users and makes them engage easily. Advertisers choose CPC because they want clicks, as this can only happen when they craft something engaging with this effort. Not only does this help, but also the publishers and the chances of engagement will increase for them, maximizing the clicks.
Cons
No Guaranteed Revenue
CPC is not like CPM, where you are making money from the impression, as you have to make a click to generate the revenue for yourself, which is quite difficult for the publishers, so this is why there is no guaranteed revenue from CPC, as with the effort you have put in, you will make the money.
Time & Effort
There is a lot of effort and time utilization if you choose CPC for your ad inventory selling, as you have to be strategically strong. You have to craft strategies to motivate the user to click on the ads. This thing will take time and effort from you, which may impact your revenue generation strategies, which you will not find in the CPM.
Which one is truly the Best for Selling Ad Inventory?
After all, we have converted a vast side of CPC and CPM and find that if a publisher looks to make less and faster money, CPM is the perfect choice for them. Still, if they are looking for a better and more long-term money-making pricing model or even a high bid on their ad inventory selling, then CPC is the perfect choice for you.
It’s all on the publisher’s side as to what they want to choose because everything depends on what they want from their website. Choose anyone from it all. Lastly, your strategies and your effort will decide the money-making part.
Conclusion
Knowing which pricing model, CPC or CPM, is perfect for ad inventory selling is crucial for a best publisher ad network looking to maximize their revenue. Looking for what ad inventory selling actually is and how publishers are a crucial part of it is important to be aware of. Knowing the pros and cons of the CPM helps you understand which one you have to choose.
