Online Advertisers Will Pay More For Premium Inventory.

Jupiter Media Metrix reports that 64 percent of online advertising buyers will pay more money for placements they perceive as premium inventory. New research released today at the Jupiter Online Advertising Forum reveals that while publishers are struggling to sell most of their ad space, they must maximize the inventory they can sell by offering advertisers higher-cost premium inventory that will generate a positive return on investment (ROI) for buyers. Jupiter analysts have found that publishers who create premium inventory opportunities that combine premium reach, premium branding and premium targeting will command the greatest return from advertisers.

“Web publishers are struggling to sell their surplus of available inventory and are looking for new opportunities for developing premium inventory. However, most struggle to define and package premium inventory opportunities effectively,” said Patrick Keane, vice president and senior analyst, Jupiter Media Metrix, at the Jupiter Online Advertising Forum. “New creative formats, performance pricing and greater accountability will not turn the market around any time soon. Publishers should focus on selling the 30 percent of their inventory they can sell at a premium.”

Key findings and forward looking analysis from the latest Jupiter online advertising report, “Premium Inventory: Maximizing Revenue in a Soft Market,” include:

* According to a Jupiter Executive Survey, 58 percent of media buyers are willing to pay more for premium inventory while six percent are “very willing.” Jupiter analysts believe that the 36 percent who are not willing to pay more for premium inventory feel they have more power to dictate cost than publishers do in the current economic climate.

* Jupiter analysts have found that advertisers bring a performance mentality to premium inventory. Nearly half (47 percent) of advertising buyers have expectations of higher ROI when utilizing premium positions, according to the Jupiter Executive Survey, while 27 percent seek exposure to a more targeted audience. The ability to capture e-mail addresses and the ability to provide contextual or advertorial content were both identified as priorities by 9 percent of ad buying executives, respectively.

* Data from AdRelevance, Jupiter Media Metrix’ online ad tracking service, indicate that nearly 50 percent of sites support six or more creative ad units. Jupiter analysts assert that premiums should be placed on media, not creative output. Creative opportunities are expanding rapidly and publishers anxious to sell inventory are confronting advertisers with too many choices.

Advertisers must better mine media-driven premium inventory.

“Publishers that ‘supersize’ and combine premium reach, premium branding and premium targeting will be able to exact significant premiums,” Keane said. “However, sellers can’t ignore standard inventory in favor of only selling premium inventory. Publishers need to follow the lead of companies who have successfully developed self-serve solutions for hard-to-move standard and performance-based media.”

Advice for Online Media Publishers

Jupiter analysts offer the following advice for publishers who want to effectively market premium inventory while also selling standard and performance-based placements:

* Create Self-Serve Solutions: Publishers have virtually unlimited inventory in undesirable areas and the challenge is turning this tough-to-sell space into attractive real estate. Jupiter analysts cite solutions that allow prospective advertisers to bid on space as a successful self-serve method.

* Provide Effectiveness Case Studies: Media sellers must offer advertisers clear and quantifiable metrics in all vertical categories. These case studies should also be further delineated by direct response versus branding objective.

* Place Premiums on Media, Not Creative: Splashy creative and fat bandwidth will not solve the industry’s problems. Premium inventory today is largely a function of creative unit size and placement — while only the latter makes sense.

* “Supersize” Premium Inventory: It is not enough to attach a demographic or psychographic audience trend to general run-of-site inventory. Advertisers can afford to be more selective in this marketplace. Jupiter analysts cite premium inventory that combine unique ad delivery, branding value and contextual and database targeting as examples of “supersized” placements.

For more information at http://www.jmm.com