My clients turn to me for out-of-the-box solutions to get the most out of their ad budgets. Three years ago, I made the decision to move them to Flipboard ads to break through the social clutter.
Why Advertise on Flipboard?
As a social magazine, Flipboard is a discovery channel for anyone looking to learn about specific topics. Reading is a big part of the Flipboard experience, which gives you an opportunity to tell your story in many unique ways.
Most shoppers like to learn about a product or service before they buy. This makes Flipboard a natural place to advertise to a new consumer base. This month, Flipboard was the top referrer to our website resulting from a combination of curated collections and ads. The app sends shoppers to your website that are ready and willing to make a purchase.
Here are some good reasons to advertise on Flipboard:
- The layout is visually beautiful and impactful, making your product stand out.
- You can expose your brand to a whole new qualified audience.
- Audiences can be targeted based on topics and interests.
- You can drive traffic to your website, blog, newsletter, and more.
- It’s a great place to dive deeper and explore new and undiscovered targeted audiences.
In addition to its popular app, Flipboard has a large email audience and brands can sponsor Flipboard newsletters to connect with opted-in email subscribers.
Important Tips
- Make sure your ads are beautifully designed and ready for full-screen exposure. Flipboard has a variety of engaging formats which you can learn more about on their website or by contacting Flipboard directly.
- Use engaging titles and copy to ensure your content is useful to your readers. For example, “Simplify Your Cooking With These Gadgets.”
- Like your content, your imagery must be considerate of the user experience and your readers’ mindset. Your ads should look seamless to a reader, with colorful, clear images that inspire or inform.
- It’s a good idea to cross-reference your analytics with the ones Flipboard gives you. I build UTMs for all my links so I can track progress through either Bit.ly or Google Analytics.
Flipboard Advertising Products That I’ve Used
Promoted Product: These ads showcase products and feature a call-to-action button at the bottom to drive traffic to a store. These are ideal for special promotional events like Mother’s Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. I use this format the most because I get the best ROI and I typically send traffic to my clients’ online stores. Like all of Flipboard’s sponsored formats, your ad appears in the feed and is the only item on the mobile device.
Promoted Content: The best strategy for this ad format is to take five or six articles from your blog and run them on Flipboard. It’s great if you run a blog and want to promote your content since paid article ads help educate audiences about your offering or services. You can not only drive interested readers to your website but also build brand awareness.
Promoted Collections: This option uses a “collection” of three articles grouped together, which is helpful for building awareness of products and services. The format is great for showcasing mixed media and allows you to feature videos, articles, product reviews and more. I have used videos from YouTube, articles from brand publications, and influencer content. I have found that this format drives a great amount of traffic to your website. Engagement is higher but it is also far more expensive. I use these every two to three months.
Newsletters: Flipboard’s email newsletters offer many sponsorable formats and include the same high-quality content you can find in the Flipboard app. A brand can benefit from exposure to Flipboard’s large email audience and you can generate leads and interest from promoting content and products. Flipboard offers many newsletters focused on key reader interests like food, photography, travel, tech, and more. I have sponsored a few of these on behalf of organic food brands. Food and travel boast huge audiences with Flipboard.
Final Thoughts…
Flipboard users appreciate information that benefits them. I’ve found that the best approach is to offer your products in a manner that respects the community.
It’s a sure win if you…
Entertain + be useful + teach = win
My clients have been very happy with Flipboard advertising because it delivers! It’s worth a try.
— Janette Speyer is co-curating Mind Your Art and Photography Business
Janette is co-founder and partner of marketing agency Hot Ice Media. She also leads Flipboard User Group, an online community for marketers, publishers, educators and business owners leveraging the power of Flipboard to educate, and build awareness for their education centers and businesses.