Nearly two-thirds (64%) of online media buyers are willing to pay more for premium inventory, said a new study by Jupiter Media Metrix, released yesterday at the Jupiter Online Advertising Forum in New York.
In spite of the soft advertising environment, Web site publishers must maximize the inventory they can sell by offering advertisers higher-cost premium inventory that will generate a positive return on investment for buyers, Jupiter analysts said. "New creative formats, performance pricing and greater accountability will not turn the market around any time soon," said Patrick Keane, vice president and senior analyst, in a statement. "Publishers should focus on selling the 30% of their inventory they can sell at a premium."
The analysts believe that the 36% of media buyers 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.
Advertisers bring a performance mentality to premium inventory, said the analysts. Nearly half (47%) of advertising buyers have expectations of higher ROI when using premium positions, and 27% 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% of ad buying executives, respectively.
Jupiter’s advice for online marketers is to market premium inventory while also selling standard and performance-based placements by:
* Creating self-serve solutions. Allow prospective advertisers to bid on space.
* Provide effectiveness case studies that distinguish between direct response and branding objectives.
* Place premiums on media, not creative. Splashy creative and fat bandwidth will not solve the industry’s problems. Premium inventory is largely a function of creative unit size and placement—while only the latter makes sense.
Online media buying executives were surveyed in February for this report. They were asked to fill out a form on a Web site that asked about strategies, attitudes and expectations of market-driving companies.
