# How well do FurAffinity Ads work for you?



## kitsunekoneko (Oct 31, 2011)

Hello people!
A few days ago I realized that FA had ads from its community. (It took me a while to notice because I had AdBlock on XD) In the past, I have used paid advertising on deviantart, hoping it would attract people to buy commissions from me. Unfortunately I failed to realize that ads only showed up for Non-Premium members, therefore attracting people who probably weren't going to pay me anything. I ended up getting 40+ watchers in the day due to that, although no commissions. Several of them were weeaboos. Bummer! On the bright side, it did expose me a little more.
But anyway, point is, I discovered that FA has advertising too, and I figured it'd be much better to advertise here due to the absence of premium membership. This way, people who are willing to pay online, and those who are not willing to pay online would see my stuff!
I checked the prices to see that it was just $20/month (am I reading something wrong??) which was much cheaper than deviantart's advertising. $20 for about 500 clicks I believe, only lasted a few hours. Maybe just one hour.

But I'm practically broke, that's the problem. I can afford the advertising, I just can't afford to pay for it and then earn nothing!

So I must ask, how well do these ads work for you? How many watches do you get per day? Have you been getting more commission orders?
Sorry if I sound stupid, I'm pretty new here, so... |D

Thank you!


----------



## Arshes Nei (Oct 31, 2011)

What you're asking for is too many variables to to placed on an ad.
There are many reasons why a person may get additional watchers through advertising.

If you actually have art worth watching. Just because you place an ad doesn't guarantee watches. 
I'm not entirely sure on your zone of an ad. And perhaps one can answer this better.

Basically when I mention zone - it's the AREA of where your ad is placed.  If the same ads are rotating on the bottom and top page, this isn't relevant at this time

There are other factors that I don't believe FA has put into place, like Weight, Size, Geotargetting etc... (but they should)

Right now 20 dollars is VERY cheap to have an ad placed for the month, but you asking if it will get you more watches is entirely based on how well your ad is made - since you provide the banner, and if people will click and find you worth watching.


----------



## kitsunekoneko (Oct 31, 2011)

eep I think i explained myself badly.
I realize that there are many factors that affect how successful and ad will be.

I was asking people who have already had ads before. I wasn't trying to be specific or anything.
I meant, how well do you think they've worked for you, IF you have ever placed an ad before. I don't expect this to directly reflect how my ad would work out if I placed one or anything.


----------



## dinosaurdammit (Oct 31, 2011)

even if you get like 2 commissions out of it depending on how much you charge it would pay for itself from what i understand. fa has a huge user base and a lot of artist once placing adds get swamped


----------



## Fay V (Oct 31, 2011)

I am willing to test this theory. Someone gimme 20$


----------



## kitsunekoneko (Oct 31, 2011)

Fay V said:


> I am willing to test this theory. Someone gimme 20$



wh-
....i have a feeling I sound really stupid to everyone |D I'm sorry


----------



## Summercat (Oct 31, 2011)

Fay V said:


> I am willing to test this theory. Someone gimme 20$



I would but it's in the Code of the Summerclan not to give Foxtapuses money. Sorry.


----------



## quoting_mungo (Nov 2, 2011)

We ran ads for a month when we launched our webcomic, and we felt we got decent exposure in return. Not much in the way of donations, but we also were not trying to sell a product, just get people aware of something we were making available for free. We certainly saw a fair number of referrals from FA, as well as a decent jump in answers to the poll we had/have running on the comic's website.

Definitely enough that we'd be willing to do it again when we hit a suitable milestone for it. And probably could be better if I sucked less at making banners.


----------



## kitsunekoneko (Nov 2, 2011)

quoting_mungo said:


> We ran ads for a month when we launched our webcomic, and we felt we got decent exposure in return. Not much in the way of donations, but we also were not trying to sell a product, just get people aware of something we were making available for free. We certainly saw a fair number of referrals from FA, as well as a decent jump in answers to the poll we had/have running on the comic's website.
> 
> Definitely enough that we'd be willing to do it again when we hit a suitable milestone for it. And probably could be better if I sucked less at making banners.



Ooh, I finally got an input XD Thank you very much for telling me!
I know a few things about design and color theory, so I don't think it'll be a problem for me to make a good banner. Thanks a bunch for your input.

I think I'll have to give it a try.


----------



## Dragoneer (Nov 11, 2011)

Fay V said:


> I am willing to test this theory. Someone gimme 20$


If you want to test... just give me an ad. You're staff. You don't need $20.


----------



## Dragoneer (Nov 11, 2011)

kitsunekoneko said:


> But I'm practically broke, that's the problem. I can afford the advertising, I just can't afford to pay for it and then earn nothing!
> 
> So I must ask, how well do these ads work for you? How many watches do you get per day? Have you been getting more commission orders?
> Sorry if I sound stupid, I'm pretty new here, so... |D
> ...


The average ad gets about between 1,200 to 1,500 clicks a month. Some of them (some hit 7,000 or higher).

I can't tell you if an ad is gong to work and be effective. It's impossible to say (given how many variables there are). The better the ad is designed the more effective it will be. Simple, expressive and clean ads do well. The more complex your ad... the less it will perform. Some ads vary in effectiveness based on the time of the month, whether people have money, etc. Some of our advertisers have been with us for years, so they can definitely be effective. A lot of it boils do it whether you have something that people want.

I'm always willing to work with our advertisers to improve their ads, offer suggestions and give feedback where I can. Some accept it, some don't, but if you'd like to drop me a note on FA I can offer tips to help create a better ad, or one that will be more effective.

So, if you want to pick my brain or toss and ad my way just to ask me my thoughts feel free. Just note not to expect at 24 hour response time. =P My inbox tends to get rather full, but I'm always willing to help if I can.


----------



## Sax (Jan 22, 2012)

kitsunekoneko said:


> But I'm practically broke, that's the problem. I can afford the advertising, I just can't afford to pay for it and then earn nothing!
> 
> So I must ask, how well do these ads work for you? How many watches do you get per day? Have you been getting more commission orders?



I had an ad running in november/half-december, I think. I'm not someone well known so I figured it could be a good way to gain some exposure.
I would say I had about 2-5 new watchers daily, tapering off toward the end. 
I got a commission from a new watcher so it paid for itself (even though to be honest I don't know if they found me through my ad or by browsing).
I found it really worth it.


----------



## lostfoxeh (Jan 30, 2012)

If I had money, there are a couple of things I would have bought from the add banners I have seen on FA. I would say they work many times better than the random ads that other sites have.


----------



## Kittentits (Feb 5, 2012)

I also have a question about this, how do you pay for an ad? or make one? I've been asking around for weeks and cannot figure it out. I am opening commissions soon and an ad would definitely help out.


----------



## Smelge (Feb 5, 2012)

Kittentits said:


> I also have a question about this, how do you pay for an ad? or make one? I've been asking around for weeks and cannot figure it out. I am opening commissions soon and an ad would definitely help out.



Easy. Give me money and a design brief, I make your advert based on your art with fancy animation, then you email it to the advertising address.

Simple.


----------



## ArielMT (Feb 5, 2012)

Disclaimer: I'm a forum mod, not a site admin.



Kittentits said:


> I also have a question about this, how do you pay for an ad? or make one? I've been asking around for weeks and cannot figure it out. I am opening commissions soon and an ad would definitely help out.



On FA main, Support -> Knowledgebase, search for Advertising.  (At last check, it was #7 on most frequent links.)



Smelge said:


> Easy. Give me money and a design brief, I make your advert based on your art with fancy animation, then you email it to the advertising address.
> 
> Simple.



I smiled.


----------



## Devious Bane (Feb 5, 2012)

It works out great. AdBlock Plus.


----------

