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Tips to manage multiple ads effectively in your ad server

There is no single ad that works for all viewers. Therefore, advertisers need to create and manage multiple ads. With time and some practice, advertisers and ad agencies can become very good at knowing which types of ads will appeal to the largest number of potential customers. It does take some trial and error, but once you get to that point, it becomes possible to start trafficking multiple ads to reach even more people at any given time. While this all sounds rather simple, the reality is that things can get a little complicated when running multiple ads online. The good news is that there are ways using your ad server to simplify the process and have every single ad campaign running effectively and effortlessly. Let’s look at a few things that will make managing multiple ads that much easier:

Have a consistent naming convention

Organization is the key to running multiple ads effectively. When things are organized, you save time when searching for an ad. One of the best ways to stay organized is to create and follow a consistent naming convention that describes what each of your ads is about, making them easy to segment and identify. The ad names are displayed in many places, including ad reports, management panels, trafficking tools and other places. The names you use should be simple and easy to understand for different people from different departments, which could include your client, technical, accounting, or marketing people. For example, if you sell ad spots on a monthly basis then you can consider stating the advertiser name, the month and the ad location. However, you should not include all details and descriptions in the ad names because that would result in very long names. There are length limits in adservers and other supporting systems. The names might be truncated to a point that they are no longer useful.

Clean up old ads

When you have too many ads, it will be confusing and overwhelming to look at them all. There will be some ads that are actually active and needed, some already expired and some should just be deleted such as testing ads. It is also very difficult and time consuming to find a specific ad among the jungle of items. You might even make a mistake trafficking or reporting on an old or expired ad. Therefore, it’s always a good practice to deactivate, archive or delete old ads in a timely manner. In your ad serving solution, make sure to set a specified start and end date for every ad campaign that you put out there. The ad server software will then automatically activate an upcoming ad and deactivate an old one. This allows you to keep the ads looking fresh, while also avoiding viewers clicking on ads for a product or sale that is no longer available. Make it a habit to review and clean up ads on a monthly basis or even weekly. When it becomes a routine, you can quickly organize the ads and stay on top of things to prevent and avoid unwanted ad management issues and mistakes.

Part 2: Report scheduling, grouping and API automation

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