Frequently Asked Questions
The Basics
Customizing an Ad
Campaign Set Up
Reporting and Measuring Performance
Frequently Asked Questions
What is this service?
AdReady offers a complete on-demand banner advertising solution. When you create an AdReady account, you will have full access to our public library of ads templates where you will choose a template to customize for your company and service. You are able to customize ads by swapping out text, images, logos, background color, etc. There is no charge to use the customization tool and you can customize as many ads from the public library as you would like.
When you are ready to run a targeted campaign with your customized ads, you will choose the publisher that you would like to run with.
How much does the service cost?
It is free to set up an account and customize ads. You pay only for the advertising that runs through your campaigns. The minimum daily media budget is $20 per day.
Customizing an Ad
Do I have to pay for the ads that I customize?
No. You can build and run as many ads as you like. All of the ad themes that you customize are stored in your own private ad library, where you will be able to use and reuse them whenever you like.
How do I customize an ad?
You can quickly and easily customize ad themes for your business by changing the text, background and font color, adding your logo and replacing the images. Simply browse the public library until you find an ad you would like to make your own, and then select “Customize”. This will open up the customization tool and allow you to change text, images, colors and logo(s). If you prefer, you can browse the entire library and save ad themes that you like to your Private Library for future reference.
What are the best ways to customize an ad?
Capture the users attention with images and text related to your business. Make sure your “call to action” text is compelling to your audience and highlight features and offers that make your site special. And make sure to test. It doesn’t cost any more to run a campaign with one ad or two, so run two ads and see which performs best.
How to make an image fit within the ad?
We suggest uploading an image which is in the same aspect ratio as the image currently in the ad. The size of the current image is listed next to the image within the toolbox. For example if the image is 150 x 250 you should upload a logo which is 150 x 250, 300 x 500, etc.
What if I don’t have a logo?
If you do not have a logo you may replace the logo with your name or Web address through the manual customization process.
What if I don’t see an ad I like in my business category?
Any ad from our ad library can be customized to fit your business, regardless of the category in which it appears in the AdReady library. By utilizing the free customization tool in our system, you are able to change the text of the ad, the logo, images, and even the color of the text and background.
Can I use my own ads / creative?
Yes. Once you set up a free account with AdReady, you can upload all of your own creative to run in your campaigns. We recommend testing your best performing creative against some of the customizable templates in our library. This will help you see how your existing creative measures up against our “best practices” templates. To upload your own ad creative into your private library, click on the “upload ad” button under the “Ads” tab and follow the instructions.
How do I create a Private Library?
It’s easy (and free). Simply click on the “Create an Account” link at the top of the page and create your free account. A Private Library is included with each free account so you can have a place to save your customized or uploaded ads, or even save public ads that you like for later customization.
Campaign Set Up
How many ads should I run in each campaign?
At a minimum you should always run at least two ads. We recommend running one ad per each $1000 to $2000 dollars run in monthly media. For example, if you have a $5000 per month campaign, you should run 2 to 5 ads until a best performer is determined.
How does geographic targeting work?
Online publishers and networks identify the visitor by determining the location of the IP address of the computer the user is logged into, matching it to a particular location. When you choose to run a geo-targeted campaign, you can set your targeting to all of the U.S. or to be more granular with cities or states selected. As you get more specific with geo-targeting your campaign, the less chance your ad has to be shown due to the decreased number of users at each level. If your business is specific to a particular area, geo-targeting is the best way to get qualified traffic. If your business is not dependent on a specific area, we recommend targeting to the United States in order to increase your reach.
Is there targeting outside the US?
Currently AdReady offers US/Canada based targeting only.
How do I determine my campaign budget?
This depends upon your specific marketing goals. The minimum daily budget is $20. If you are regional marketer, $150 per day is a good amount to begin with so that you can start testing and optimizing your ad creative. It is essential to have enough data to make optimization decisions based on statistically valid results.
Which publisher should I select?
You may run your ads on one or all of the publishers. Below each publisher there is a note on the differences between their networks. To select more than one publisher, just check the box of the corresponding publisher and enter your desired budget. The minimum daily budget per publisher is $20.
How is the click estimate generated?
The click estimator results are based on your budget and targeting selections as well as the estimation tools provided by our publisher and network partners. These figures are offered to give you approximate guidance on the volume of site visits your campaign might generate so that you can further refine your campaign selections.
What is “maximum CPM” and “Target CPC”?
CPM, or cost-per-thousand, is a measure of the cost for displaying your ad 1,000 times, (or “impressions”). A maximum CPM means the advertiser will pay a set price for the delivery of 1,000 impressions. For example, if you set a max CPM bid of $5.00, that means you are willing to pay a maximum of $5.00 for your ad to be shown 1,000 times. Your average CPM rate may be less than $5.00, but will not exceed your maximum specified.
CPC, or cost-per-click, is the cost you will pay each time a user clicks on your ad. “Target CPC” means that a performance advertising network will seek to match your ad(s) with publishers and websites that will attempt to meet the specified cost per click target. The ad network continues to optimize to meet this goal over time.
Our system automatically generates a CPC for your campaign based on the budget that you choose and your targeting selections. The figures offered are to give you an approximate guidance on the volume of site visits your campaign may generate, but are no means set in stone. If you would like to change the generated CPC or CPM, you are able to do so.
What happens after I submit my campaign?
After you click on the “Submit my campaign” button your campaign is submitted to be approved by AdReady and the publishers you selected, who ensures it meets all requirements and doesn’t violate any policies. This approval process takes anywhere from 2-4 business days. Shortly after your campaign is approved, the ads will be live and begin serving impressions.
What is reviewed during campaign approval?
Your campaign will pass through an approval review in which AdReady and the publishers you’ve selected will review your campaigns for any issues that will prevent your campaign / ads from running. If we identify any areas of your campaign which can be revised to enhance performance out of the gate we will inform you before approving your campaign. Our review includes:
- Landing Page – We will confirm that users who click on your ads are being sent to an active landing page that is relevant to the offer presented in the ad.
- Ad Creative Requirements – We will confirm that all sizes of the ad display the customized changes you made, including, but not limited to the following:
- The ad logo placeholder is replaced or hidden.
- The text and images appropriate for the publisher selected and does not mislead the user.
- If running on Yahoo!, ads must have a distinct border to clearly identify where the advertisement begins.
- If running on Yahoo!, the sponsor of the ad must be clearly identified in the advertisement.
- Use of terms such as “free” and any contests / promotions, special offers will be reviewed to ensure fair participation of the user and valid claims by the advertiser.
When will I start seeing delivery on my campaign?
The turnaround time to review and approve your campaign can take from 2 - 4 business days, so it can take that long before you’re your ad begins receiving impressions. If there is more than one publisher selected on a campaign, one publisher may begin serving ads before the other.
Where will my ad show-up?
Your ad will show up on many different web sites within the publisher network associated with the site content and geography category selected when you set up the campaign. For example, if you selected “finance” as the site content for your campaign and chose the Yahoo! Network for your publisher, your ad may run on any of the sites associated with finance within the Yahoo! Network. Unfortunately, we are unable to provide you with exactly what sites your ads are being placed on because our publisher networks handle the placement of your ad with their online publishing partners. We can show you how many times your ads have been seen and how many people have clicked on them and visited your website. You can find this information if you click on the Reports tab and then choose Campaigns.
Can I see my ads out on the web?
You may see your ads as you are browsing sites on the web, but specifically pinpointing where and when your ad will be served is not possible given the volume of total inventory.
Will my ad appear on any search engine results?
No. Your ad will appear on web sites with content relating to your desired selection when you initially set up your campaign. You can change this selection at any time by clicking on the campaign and selecting “edit details.”
How am I charged for the media from my campaigns?
You are charged on a “pay as you go” basis. This means that your card will be authorized at the time you submit your campaign for your full budget amount, but you will only be charged for the media that runs.
Our terms state that when you submit your credit card to run a campaign, AdReady will check to see whether there is enough available credit up to the total amount of the billing cycle budget you provide for each of your campaign. This is not a charge; it is simply an authorization to make sure funds are sufficient. You are only charged for media that has run.
Reporting and Measuring Performance
Can I track actions on my site?
Yes. It is suggested that you place a minimum of one tracking pixel on your website to allow your reports to identify your cost per action and return on investment percentage. A tracking pixel is called a “Traction”. Tractions – short for action tracking – allow you to track the number of users that complete a desired action once on your site. You can find your traction code by clicking the My Account link and then clicking Tractions. Place the action tracking code on the page that users will see after they complete the desired action. This is usually a “Thank You” page or a confirmation page.
Once you have placed the action tracking code on your site, you will be able to see if any of your ads have generated an action under our Reports tab. Once you receive your first action the Actions column and the CPA column will show up in your Campaigns report.
How do I access my campaign results?
There are several reports available to review your campaign performance. Each available report groups your campaign data in different ways. Reporting is available from the date your campaign begins delivering. Reporting updates nightly and includes information from the previous day.
Once logged into your account, click on the “reports” tab at the top right of the page. Choose from the drop down menu which report you would like to access, as well as the date range you wish to view.
