Written on July 4th, 2009 at 12:07 am by Darren Rowse
MyAds: Promote Your Blog, Product or Service on MySpace
At the bottom of this post is a coupon code to give you a $50 credit at MyAds – this is not an affiliate promotion, just a take it or leave it offer from MyAds.
Over the last week or so I’ve had the opportunity to see inside the MyAds from MySpace.
MyAds have been an advertiser here on ProBlogger for a month or two now (consider that a disclaimer) so I wanted to see for myself how it worked. What I found was a very easy to use and pretty affordable way to advertise a product, service or even your blog.
In short – MyAds is a pay per click banner advertising system where you can advertise on MySpace and get your message in front of potentially millions upon millions of MySpace users.
You can use it with an advertising budget of as little as $5 a day and have a pretty good looking ad set up to run within just a few minutes using their ad building tool (or you can upload your own using an uploader).
Worth noting before we go any further is that to run a campaign you need a US address and credit card. As someone without either of these I could only go as far as designing an ad and testing out the targeting features. I did however talk to a number of MyAds advertisers to get their feedback (see below).
Setting up an ad is easy. Even me as a design challenged guy got one set up in a few minutes. I put a mock ad together for my 31 Days to Build a Better Blog Workbook. Here’s a screenshot of the page where you set up the ads (click to enlarge):
As you’ll see there are three ad size options and it’s as simple as typing in your ad copy, adding an image, choosing a background color and adding in a destination URL.
You can then preview your and move on to working out who you want to see it as well as setting a budget.
On the following screenshot you’ll see the section to choose your target audience:
As you make your choices about who you want to see the ad the grey area the bottom of the screen changes. It shows you how many users on MySpace will potentially see your ad as well as giving you a suggested bid price for how much the ad might cost per click to run.
The targeting options look pretty good – not only can you target by demographics (gender, age, education, relationships, parental status and location within the US) but you can also choose categories of interests and occupations of the type of person you want to reach with your ad. I tried a number of options and got the target number of people to reach quite focused and the suggested cost per click quite a bit lower than what you see in the above screenshot.
This enables you to increase the chances of conversion with your ad quite considerably.
All in all from where I stand MyAds seems like something that I’d like to use if I were running an ad campaign for a product, service or even to launch a new blog. I’ve previously used similar ad systems on other social networks with some success and the easy of use of MyAds plus what looks like great targeting make it an attractive option.
How Does it Perform? Testimony from a Heavy User of MyAds
As I was unable to go much further in the process (as a non US resident) I approached a number of people to get their feedback on the ads. One of those I talked with was Joe Frevola from Globalizer who uses MyAds quite extensively. I asked Joe a number of questions to get his insight on the why and how of MyAds:
How have you used MyAds and How has it performed?
Globalizer uses Myspace MyAds to buy media for our GlobalizerNetwork advertisers. We have had tremendous success with several campaigns on MySpace and have been impressed with its powerful targeting tools, which we have utilized to target the demographics and interests of our audience.
In comparison with Facebook, it’s hard to pick a clear cut winner and both should be a part of your media buy in most cases. Each has advantages and disadvantages and the best choice of the two will vary based on the type of campaign you are running.
While MySpace’s targeting tool is more organized and allows you to select keywords sorted by categories and sub categories, Facebook’s keyword search tool allows you to access a more robust database of target interest. MySpace does have useful demographic targeting that you can’t get with Facebook, such as the ability to specifically target mothers or recently married individuals.
Both MySpace and Facebook have solid targeting tools that should allow you to push positive ROI. While the Facebook ad platform is global, you can only target US users on MySpace currently, however word is MySpace is adding new countries later in the year. I would highly recommend the use of both ad networks to just about any advertiser.
Do you have any tips for using MyAds to share with ProBlogger readers?
There are some tricks to getting the most out of MySpace MyAds. Globalizer runs a lot of lead generation campaigns that drive a very high response, but don’t pay high bounties per conversion and therefore don’t allow us to pay very high CPC’s.
Often, when you start a campaign with a very low CPC, the ads delivers very little or no volume at all. We find that in order to kick start this sort of campaign, we overpay on CPC in the beginning and fully expect to take a short term loss as MySpace’s optimization system values the quality of our offers.
In the end, the system just wants to back into the highest eCPM, so the fact that our ads are driving very high click through rates more than compensates for the lower CPC. Once the campaign starts getting significant delivery, we are able to adjust our rate down to a profitable number and continue to experience a great a volume of traffic.
Also, when you first start running a new campaign on MySpace, definitely go with your gut and select targets that you feel will have the best chance of success with your offer. However, don’t neglect to test various demographics that you might not think would typically perform with your ads. You will often be surprised at the demos that respond to your offers.
Get $50 Credit with This Code
If you’d like to test MyAds for yourself (IF you’re in the US) they’ve given me a coupon code for ProBlogger readers to try it out and get $50 credit to use in doing so. You need to be new to MyAds to redeem it (ie if you’ve already used MyAds it’s not redeemable).
To use it – just design an ad and at the end of the process use the coupon code of Pro50. Of course this is only for those who are residents of the US and have US address and credit card details.
44 Responses to “MyAds: Promote Your Blog, Product or Service on MySpace” - Add Yours
BlogSEOExpert - SEO for Blogs
July 4th, 2009 12:41 am
Hi Darren,
Thanks a lot for the review, and for getting the perspective of a MyAds user.
It sounds promising – would definitely try it out, especially because of the coupon code!
Many thanks…
Paritosh
July 4th, 2009 12:47 am
An extremely useful tool for blogger to promote themselves. And the promotion code will certainly attract readers to try out the service ! ( Bad for those who dont live in us :( )
Aaron B. Reddin
July 4th, 2009 12:54 am
Do people really use MySpace still?
BLOGERCISE
July 4th, 2009 1:26 am
Yeah MySpace isn’t so popular but I guess facebook have an equivalent service.
The Bad Blogger
July 4th, 2009 1:34 am
My Space is not very popular though, but can try since it had got free advertising coupon to use… You never try you never know…
Jon
July 4th, 2009 3:06 am
@TheBadBlogger: How is MySpace not that popular? It may not be a great target audience for some people, but there are millions of people who use myspace every single day, multiple times a day. Over 100 million accounts have been created there. It’s pretty popular…
Anyway, that’s an awesome promotion, I’m definitely doing to have to look into this.
Asswass
July 4th, 2009 3:09 am
Hey Darren do you think that PPC is still the way to go? Of course you make more money but is harder to find advertisers. Ask anyone of your advertisers if they prefer to pay per click on an Ad in MySpace, Facebook, Adsense,etc.. or pay a monthly fee for a banner on your blog.
With all these big websites offering ppc ads, its hard to choose and I thinks these websites won’t get as much ad revenue as they need to survive.
Northern Camping Blog
July 4th, 2009 3:52 am
I experimented with Facebook advertising as a way to promote another one of my websites with limited success.
It’s difficult to justify paying 50-60cents per reader click through for a blog unless you have some unusually high converting ads or products you are selling.
On the other hand, my friend does a fantastic job advertising her wedding planning service on facebook.
Nicole/MadlabPost
July 4th, 2009 4:29 am
Darren,
Myspace Ads have some drawbacks that have kept me from being interested in advertising through their platform.
1. The recurring charges that they do are not something that I agree with. It would be better if they had other billing options because I would not want them just charging me every month at their own free will.
2. You have to bid on Myspace ads instead of paying a flat rate to go into a rotation. The bidding is not a fun thing for me and bidding can end up being expensive for small or newer bloggers who do not have a large advertising budget.
I read about Myspace Ads a few months ago when they sent me an email and have considered using the program but certain factors including their billing and payment requirements keep me from doing so.
I tried to use Facebook for a contest I was running but they declined my ad so I guess it was either not designed properly or my landing page (which was a blog post on the content) did not meet their requirements. I would still agree that Facebook is a useful way to advertise and do like their layout.
If I were to advertise my blog again, I would probably go with Facebook and just promote a regular article instead of contests or incentive types of posts….even though I’m not a huge fan of Facebook right now because I have encountered problems with their support end.
teratips
July 4th, 2009 4:46 am
it sounds good and promising, Thanks Dareen
Money, blogging Tips at http://www.teratips.com
Mikes Sumondong
July 4th, 2009 6:54 am
Enjoy US Residents. Darren, just like you I can just go as far as designing. lol!
Domain Name Blog
July 4th, 2009 8:48 am
I have tried Facebook ads with disastrous results; it turned out to be a waste of money. Despite the millions upon millions of visits each day on Facebook, there is hardly anyone there to click and check out your ads.
Myspace will definitely prove similar. There is a very scarce chance that you can attract target audience from these social networking sites; and if people click on your ads, expect a negligible click to conversion ratio. I think Myspace is a poor place to advertise, but then, this is purely my own opinion….
Duncan Riley
July 4th, 2009 10:46 am
MySpace has an Australian office, why would they restrict this only to Americans? seems odd really.
Miss Virtual Reality
July 4th, 2009 11:18 am
Thanks, I might try it. However I am not happy that you have to post your credit card details.
Dabbygag
July 4th, 2009 11:44 am
Oh nice! I decided to incorporate Google Adwords as part of my marketing campaign. I discuss the reason on my site, but I’ll say that I have been using mostly twitter.com to market, which is very saturated with other bloggers and businesses.
Even though I think less and less people use Myspace now, it still has some potential value. So I will definitely add it to my marketing campaign for dabbygag.
Thanks,
Troy Dabbygag
nevdin
July 4th, 2009 12:53 pm
Like Duncan, who says :- why would they restrict this only to Americans? seems odd really.-:, I am a little curious about why this service is restricted to one sector of the market. I would have thought that it shouldn’t be too difficult to expand.
Perhaps there is an opening for someone else to jump in there.
Flat Baby
July 4th, 2009 3:09 pm
Thanks for sharing this, yes im still using myspace, especially the music section !
tunepal
July 4th, 2009 4:23 pm
interesting. I like to try advertise using myads now.
Deepak @ BusinessAttitude.com
July 4th, 2009 7:06 pm
This is a very good opportunity for PPC advertisers who are tired of adwords. However I am not lucky enough to try it because I am from India.
Christopher
July 4th, 2009 8:51 pm
Very nice, this should do wonders for me thank you.
Alex094
July 4th, 2009 9:42 pm
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ITrush
July 4th, 2009 11:17 pm
Coupon Code is great, thank for sharing it.. checking it out now.
fas
July 5th, 2009 12:09 am
MySpace is going down day by day, so is it worth buying ads there?
Freelancer Online
July 5th, 2009 12:24 am
@ fas
Myspace still gets million of visitors every day.
Why shouldn’t it be worth it?
It’s a big disadvantage that i need to have a US adress to avdertise on myspace:(
Mike L.
July 5th, 2009 1:00 am
Saying that it’s not good to advertise on myspace is sorta’ like saying you shouldn’t advertise on Yaoo because Google has over 60% of the marketshare. Facebook may be the leader in that space but Myspace is still in #5 on the top visited sites list in the US (according to Alexa), behind Google, Yahoo, Facebook and Youtube. So the question is, is MySpace a good place to advertise?… of course. Think business people! :)
BloggerDaily
July 5th, 2009 1:42 am
I see interesting ads while using MySpace and tend to click it. Maybe placing ads through MyAds give good results!
Thanks for this info!
Jermaine Holmes
July 5th, 2009 3:12 am
I just started to use Myspace Ads, and I like it so far. I’m just looking for traffic, so this is a good place to start. I’ll try Facebook next.
teratips
July 5th, 2009 3:41 am
Thanks for this cool info
Money , Blogging Tips bu http://teratips.com
Branko Zecevic
July 5th, 2009 5:06 am
Cool stuff! The only disadvantage of this kind of advertising is that this is only for US residents!
Waqas Lone
July 5th, 2009 2:32 pm
Thanks for the article, sounds quite promising. Thanks for sharing coupon code also.
Manrevo
July 6th, 2009 12:43 am
How is this compared to Facebook’s ad service? I haven’t heard of great returns coming from Facebook, really.
Manrevo
July 6th, 2009 12:47 am
@Fas
MySpace has an Alexa rank of 11 so I’d say there’s still an immense amount of people visiting it daily.
Online Surveys
July 6th, 2009 9:32 am
@Aaron B. Reddin, @BLOGERCISE, @The Bad Blogger and others who thinks MySpace is not popular. If youselft are not visiting some website, that doesn’t mean it is not popular. And may be FB has more registered users, but this doesn’t mean it has more regular daily users then MySpace.
Hesham
July 6th, 2009 8:20 pm
Very nice, I am sure that MySpace is popular, but the only problem I have that I am not USA resident at the mean time!
emre demir
July 6th, 2009 11:25 pm
Do people really use MySpace still?
TheDailyKittenKrew
July 7th, 2009 7:02 am
I signed up for MyAds and created an ad but I didn’t see any place to enter the promotion code. Does anyone have a clue?
ejakulasi dini
July 8th, 2009 2:08 pm
Thanks for explaining that, i am new for advertising in myspace.
karsten h.
July 10th, 2009 10:33 am
There are less and less ACTUAL scams out there now because people are realizing that it’s for once easier to make good money the honest and legitimate way. The problem is, the quality of some of these new services is just not up to par and really, they are lowering the standard.
I really hope that big companies like Myspace can avoid being recognized as low-quality….
CRAZY Internet Millionaire
July 10th, 2009 10:21 pm
For US only? If I use fake address the ad will run or not? Maybe I should try..hehe
Alex
July 11th, 2009 4:59 am
Using social networks for PPC advertising sounds a bit risky to me. Mainly because people on them aren’t in a research or buying phase. I would like to know people’s personal experiences with this… ( i.e, actual conversion rates, impressions VS clickthroughs)
Anyone?
TheDailyKittenKrew
July 12th, 2009 3:49 am
I learned that the place to enter the coupon code is located on the page where you enter your credit card information. You do have to look closely though… the link to enter your code is a very small link that says: “I have a promotional code”.
I did not enter the code during registration but their support people were willing to accept the code via email after I had finished my registration.
I have since used up my $50 credit. I found it very easy to set up my ad and was happy with the free promotion but I’m not sure that the CPC that I got on my ad was worth spending my own money.
SURVEYS FOR MONEY
July 18th, 2009 7:26 pm
I was never enthusiastic about promoting my blog on Myspace. I never saw it as helping me to improve my blog. But from reading your post, I think I might give this a shot. It doesn’t hurt to try, and see the results.
discount jewelry
July 20th, 2009 3:57 pm
oh my god !what can i do ,it is so awesome that i can not see my message after waiting for a long time
jeux voiture
September 26th, 2009 10:35 pm
This sounds familiar. MyAds aka Facebook Ads… Either way, it’s a smart platform, since Musicians/talent in general would love to promote who they are or what they are doing. Especially bands on tour trying to focus on cities they are touring in. It will definitely be a financial success, no one can argue with that.
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