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Dan Siepen

What are the best cost effective or cheap ad networks for makers or early stage B2B SaaS companies?

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Growth Marketing Checklists
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Hi everyone :) I wanted to ask the community about ad channels/networks they've had experience with and have had good success with decent costs in CPC's/CPL's outside of the traditional networks like Google and Facebook. I know of the top directories but any other niche-specific channels they know of or can share would be awesome to know :) Cheers :) Dan
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Rahul Vats
In terms of traffic, these are the biggest digital marketing channels for the largest public SaaS companies 1. Direct search – 53.6% of traffic, on average 2. Organic search – 26.4% 3. Referrals – 10.7% 4. Email – 4.8% 5. Social media – 2.2% 6.Paid search – 1.7% 7. Display ads – 0.6% So I would say that paid channels can help you initially but showly and strategically you have to get the SEO right and build a brand. As you go ahead focus on organic search and referrals. As for the most effective ad networks. Here is the list of paid networks and breakup that the biggest SaaS companies spend on: 1. Google Display Network : 57% 2. AdRoll : 15% 3. Criteo : 4% 4. Vibrant : 2% 5. Rubicon Project : 2% 6. Taboola : 2% 7. Impact : 2% 8. Conversant Media : 2% So you can try out these ad networks but do not get disheartened quickly. It will take some amount of patience and time to build valuable insights. Just don’t expect paid channels to form the long-term foundation of your marketing strategy. All the very best.
Dan Siepen
@rahulvats Good comment mate this is great! Definitely agree with the above and appreciate the data too!
Dan Siepen
@rahulvats And also to clarify from a strategy point of view, of course not relying on paid per say, but can help open up new channels :)
Devanand Premkumar
@rahulvats @dansiepen Nice one Rahul. +1 Dan :)
Rahul Vats
@dansiepen Oh yeah definitely. It is almost impossible to reach organically when you are starting out. So paid channels do help initially.
Jonathan Riftin
@rahulvats Where is the data from?
Solomon Kingsnorth
Hey, you’ve probably heard of Carbon but just in case: https://www.carbonads.net/
Dan Siepen
@solomon_teach Oh yes have heard of carbon good share! However mainly for design based products right? Looks good though will certainly look + consider this as keen to hear the pricing.
Bill Dinh
Hi, I've only tried Facebook and Instagram. I assume you want to get new customers? I think the rule of thumb is if you aren't making a profit from the product already, don't pay for ads. Instead, just think of the problem you're solving and who has that problem and where they hang out. This is for Cenario?
Dan Siepen
@billfromberlocks Hey Bill good answer! Yes of course want to avoid ads as much as possible however if there's good CPC's/CPL's then I see as a good way to get the right eyeballs and quality of audiences. Yep for Cenario and do hang out/do well in terms of signups from there but more for scaling. Facebook + Instagram ads I do often for Cenario + other clients I help advise but more for exploring 'untapped' sort of ad channels/networks :)
Steve Connerton
https://betalist.com/ is a good one (not CPC, but good for exposure. https://vidnetics.com/ is a new one that I haven't tried yet, but was new created by a fellow PHer --> https://www.producthunt.com/@jak...
Dan Siepen
@jaketital @steve_connerton1 Nice man good to know! I know Jake well and vidnetics and looks good :) - Will give it a go soon enough!
Jake Tital
@steve_connerton1 @dansiepen Two legends in the house! Thanks for the shout outs
Dan Siepen
David Bonilla
Search can be effective as well so long as keywords are tied to intent and CPLs stay within your range. For early stage, you'll want to focus 200% into your audience and allocate your spend according to those insights. +1 for Carbon, great for awareness.
Dan Siepen
@dbonilla Love it great answer David appreciate it :) +1 for giving Carbon a go then!
Sarah Mooney
Quora isn't bad. But, Capterra + G2 are pretty decent depending on your product.
Dan Siepen
@sarahthemarketer Yeah have heard fairly good things and CPC being not to bad on both platforms! Especially quality of audience/leads would be pretty good also! How's your experience with G2/Capterra? :)
Sarah Mooney
@dansiepen Def not bad. They give you $20 to play with at first, which depending on your category can last a while. I've never had to pay more than $1/ click.
Dan Siepen
@sarahthemarketer That's actually pretty good! Are there any guides/articles on CPM's/CPC's anywhere by either of the two?
Sarah
Specifically for banner ads, I worked with the folks at https://codefund.io/ for a few months on a few different ad campaigns when I was exploring affordable digital advertising options for one of the data visualization libraries I work with. I was pleasantly surprised by the level of service they provided. Not sure how pricing looks now, but the selling point for me was/is that they're dev-targeted.
Dan Siepen
@practicing_dsgn Nice good share Sarah thank you :) - nice! There doesn't seem to be a guide but have submitted an enquiry to chat to someone on their team. Looks promising + good! Thanks for sharing :)
Chris Wray
Just a guess, but Facebook and google ads are really affordable right now. Might look into that..
Dan Siepen
@chris_wray Yeah totally that's a very good point both channel's CPM's are done! More still wanting to find out other alternative channels :) - However good reminder need to make the most of what they have to offer right now!
Chris Wray
@dansiepen Yeah, on some google ads I'm running I have seen clicks increase by 30% and price go down significantly. Good luck!
Dan Siepen
@chris_wray Wow nice that's awesome!
Edouard Rosenblum
Have you heard of Secret? www.joinsecret.com
Dan Siepen
@edzor13 Awesome good share! Thanks :)
Ahmet ARSLAN
How about Reddit ads? You can target really niche audiences.
Dan Siepen
@ahmetarslan Yeah very good option + heard CPC's are fairly cheap too! Will certainly consider 100% :)
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