I'm preparing to launch a marketplace that will promote SaaS products and services. This marketplace is an extension of an existing product that launched a month ago and is slowly building up. Our site doesn't have much traffic yet (1k unique a month), but we expect this will go up significantly over the coming months. Is it silly to think I can sell some early advertising packages to SaaS vendors (pre-launch), to help bankroll growth of the marketplace? I had mulled over the idea of offering something like 2 to 3 months of prominent product placement in their respective categories for really cheap (e.g. $250 - $500) while we work to build up traffic. Since the traffic is low right now there won't any ROI guarantees, but I wonder if sharing the product and marketplace vision with them (which I believe will resonate) and offering a cheap package might convince them it's worth taking a chance? Or is this a pipe dream?
It's unrealistic to expect anyone other than personal connections to consider your offer at this stage.
I don't recommend any advertisers at this point.* Building traffic should be your only priority. An ad-free site is more likely to gain traction in the early phases - so focus on that. The time wasted seeking advertisers now will just steal time and progress from your efforts to build an audience.
If you want help building the audience, let me know - www.clarity.fm/ryandraving
*If you are committed to pursuing advertisers, offer free ad spots to big name advertisers in order to show social proof to other prospective advertisers you pursue at full price. Bonus here: if the trial advertisers see high ROI (relative to the full price you waived), they are likely to renew at the full price. Additionally, you can offer guaranteed pageviews at a cost that is a fraction of what they are paying now. However, you are so new that most advertisers are not going to take the risk that your site never reaches that volume of visitors.
Answered 9 years ago
Access 20,000+ Startup Experts, 650+ masterclass videos, 1,000+ in-depth guides, and all the software tools you need to launch and grow quickly.
Already a member? Sign in