Outbrain Content Discovery Tips?
Hey everyone, I'm pretty new here and just launched my SaaS, AdsVolt.com, an ad management tool. We've been focusing on Google and Facebook ads so far, but I'm really trying to explore new traffic channels to diversify our acquisition strategy. I've heard some great things about native advertising, especially Outbrain, as a powerful content discovery platform for reaching engaged audiences. I'm hoping it can be a good fit for us.
I have to admit, I'm a complete noob when it comes to Outbrain. I literally just set up my very first campaign, trying to promote a recent blog post we published titled '7 Essential SaaS Marketing Strategies for Growth' with the ultimate goal of driving sign-ups for AdsVolt.com. My main objective with this content discovery platform is to attract relevant traffic that's genuinely interested in the content, and then hopefully, they'll explore our tool and convert.
So far, it's been a bit of a struggle, to say the least. I've uploaded a few different headlines and images, set some basic geo-targeting, and a daily budget using their 'Traffic' objective. The results are pretty disheartening right now; my click-through rate is incredibly low, usually under 0.1%, my cost per click is quite high, and I'm getting absolutely zero conversions. It honestly feels like I'm just burning money without a clear understanding of what I'm doing wrong. I'm confident our content itself is high quality and valuable for our target audience, so I strongly suspect the issue lies within my ad setup or targeting strategy on this particular content discovery platform.
Given my newbie status, I'm hoping some of you seasoned pros can shed some light on this. What are the absolute must-know best practices for setting up a first Outbrain content discovery campaign, especially for a B2B SaaS product? Are there any specific tips for ad creatives and headlines that tend to perform exceptionally well on Outbrain for B2B or SaaS-related content? Also, regarding bidding strategy, what's a good approach to start with? Should I dive into SmartBid, stick with Manual bidding, or is there another option I should consider, especially when I have absolutely no conversion data to feed the algorithm yet? Crucially, how do I effectively optimize these campaigns for actual sign-ups or conversions, not just clicks, particularly in these early stages when I'm just trying to get some traction? Finally, are there any common pitfalls or rookie mistakes that newbies often make when running content discovery campaigns on Outbrain that I should be actively trying to avoid?
I'd really appreciate any guidance, insights, or resources you could point me towards. Help a brother out please...
1 Answers
Jian Liu
Answered 1 hour agoIt's common for initial campaigns on a new platform, especially a content discovery platform like Outbrain, to underperform if the setup isn't specifically tailored. Given you're promoting a B2B SaaS product, AdsVolt.com, and aiming for sign-ups, hereโs a breakdown of best practices to get your Outbrain campaigns performing:
- Targeting Refinement: While geo-targeting is a start, Outbrain offers more. Explore their interest-based targeting (e.g., Business & Finance, Technology) and lookalike audiences if you have an existing customer list or website visitor data. For B2B, consider retargeting website visitors who engaged with your blog post but didn't convert, as they're higher intent.
- Creative Strategy for B2B SaaS:
- Headlines: Move beyond generic titles. Focus on pain points your SaaS solves or benefits it delivers. Examples: "Struggling with Ad Spend? This Tool Helps", "Optimize Your Campaigns: 7 Strategies", "SaaS Growth Secrets Revealed for 2024". Use numbers, questions, and strong verbs. Test multiple variations (10-15 per campaign is not excessive).
- Images: Professional, high-quality images are crucial. Avoid stock photos that look too generic. Consider images that evoke curiosity, show a clean UI of your tool (subtly), or represent the concept of growth/efficiency. People often scroll past low-quality visuals.
- Bidding Strategy: Since you have no conversion data, starting with manual bidding (Manual CPC) is the most prudent approach. This allows you to control your spend and gather initial click data without an algorithm making uninformed decisions. Once you have at least 50-100 conversions tracked by the Outbrain pixel, you can experiment with SmartBid (CPA or CPC) to leverage their optimization algorithms.
- Conversion Tracking: This is non-negotiable for optimizing for sign-ups. Implement the Outbrain pixel on your site and set up specific conversion events for sign-ups. Without accurate tracking, you're flying blind. Consider using server postbacks for more robust conversion data, especially if you experience discrepancies with pixel-only tracking.
- Optimization for Sign-ups:
- Landing Page Experience: Your blog post, '7 Essential SaaS Marketing Strategies for Growth', is a great content piece. Ensure it has clear, prominent calls-to-action (CTAs) directing users to sign up for AdsVolt.com. The content should naturally lead them to understand the value of your tool.
- Iterative Testing: Continuously test headlines, images, and audience segments. Outbrainโs native advertising networks thrive on fresh creatives. Pause underperforming creatives and scale up those with better CTR and, more importantly, conversion rates.
- Budget Allocation: Ensure your daily budget is sufficient to get meaningful data. Very low budgets can starve campaigns and prevent them from exiting the learning phase.
- Common Pitfalls to Avoid:
- Not tracking conversions properly.
- Using too few creative variations.
- Sending traffic to a generic homepage instead of relevant, high-value content with clear CTAs.
- Impatience: Optimization takes time and data.
What specific metrics are you currently focusing on beyond CTR for initial evaluation?