There are many different elements to affiliate marketing however advertising is one of the biggest parts that you need to get right.
You might have some outstanding offers and beautiful landing pages but if you aren’t driving traffic to these pages then you won’t have any conversions. This is why SSPs are so important these days. Back when the internet was in its infancy, much of this work could be done manually but that just isn’t possible now.
We are going to show you the supply-side platform definition, how it works and what benefits it has for affiliate marketing.
What is a Supply Side Platform?
A supply-side platform is a tool that allows marketers to manage their ad campaigns as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible.
Buying and selling digital space used to be cumbersome and pretty expensive. An SSP essentially takes the hard work away and streamlines this process so that advertisers connect with publishers much easier and their text, image, and mobile ads are displayed across a range of websites.
How does SSP advertising work?
Supply-side platforms allow publishers complete control over their inventory so they can set price floors for example. This means that publishers can dictate the minimum price that their inventory will be sold for. Essentially it means that publishers will get the best deal for them from their digital space and allows for an easier way for publishers to find and display relevant ads. They link in with demand-side platforms too for frequency capping and real-time bidding.
There is a lot of in-depth information as to how SSPs work in practice but at a basic level, they are an efficient way that allows publishers greater control over the ads that are displayed with less work involved.
Does it have benefits for affiliate marketing?
So, when it comes to affiliate marketing – what are the benefits of using SSP marketing?
You might have heard of real-time bidding before. As the market moves so fast these days, taking a manual decision to bid on ad spaces is hard.
Real-time bidding allows the highest bidder to have their ad shown at the first impression. When someone goes to a website and sees an ad then this is the first impression and it is the most prominent spot. The second highest bidder will get the second impression and so on. Doing this is real time means that you can set up your campaign, your price controls and everything else and the system does all of this for you.
They also ensure that the value of inventory isn’t driven down. Modern SSP’s link with several networks, DSPs and ad exchanges so there are many buyers who conduct real-time bidding which produces better results for publishers. They provide good reporting tools as well which help publishers to plan their strategy better.
So, supply-side platforms play a vital role in getting affiliate marketing ads out there and offer a convenient way for publishers to have more control over their inventory.
Supply Side Platform Companies
There are quite a few supply-side platform companies out there however the main players in the market are:
- OpenX
- DoubleClick for Publishers
- LiveRail
- PubMatic
- BrightRoll
- Rubicon Project
- AppNexus Publisher Suite
Making SSP work to your advantage
You should now know at a basic level what a supply-side platform is, how it works and why it can be very beneficial in the realm of affiliate marketing.
The market isn’t the same now as it was 20 years ago. There is a lot more to think about and SSP’s provide an important cog in the affiliate marketing machine.
While supple-side platforms can take a bit of getting used to, once you have mastered the basics and understand their purpose you can use them to your advantage within the programmatic network.
