Remnant Ads, What You Should Know First

The emergence of Internet advertising has opened many doors for businesses. Many companies are flocking to Internet marketing, freeing up space in other media such as newspapers, magazines, radio, and television, thus bringing forth new opportunities for budget-conscious businesses to advertise through remnant ads.

Remnant ads are unsold advertising space on the verge of expiring. Every inch of print or second of airtime is a valuable – and perishable – commodity: if it expires, that potential revenue is gone for good, and so publishers and stations alike will try to sell this remnant ad space at a steep discount in order to turn a profit – any amount profit – off of it. It’s a win-win situation: publishers and stations capitalize on their unsold ad space, and advertisers get to promote their business at a fraction of the usual cost.

But before you dive headfirst into remnant advertising,there are some things you should know to make sure that you actually get the best deal on remnant ads.

Just like with anything else, you should always know what you’re buying before you spend your money. Seeing the words “cheap spots” and throwing caution to the wind is a good way to end up spending more than you have to for disappointing results. Say a radio station offers one remnant spot for $15 and another for $40: at first glance, the $15 offer seems like the obvious choice, but what are you actually getting for that $15? What kind of audience are you getting for the money? Before you accept an offer, make sure what kind of time frame you’ll be paying for: it’s entirely possible you might find a better deal with regularly priced spots than you will with remnant spots.

Another thing to make sure of is how many people will hear your commercial each time it airs. Don’t ask the station for this info, though: instead, go to a reputable third party such as Arbitron, a company that collects TV and radio audience data. There are also media buying firms that use CPM (cost per thousand) pricing, meaning that the price you’ll pay is based on the number of impressions you’ll receive.

To make sure that you’ll get the most out of your remnant ads, be sure to use an airtime auction company that use CPM and lets you bid on remnant airtime packages. You don’t want your win-win situation to turn into a catch-22.