Some Thoughts About Ad Spots at TpT

Almost every week I see a new message board thread, questioning whether the "Promote on TpT" ads are worth it.  Since I've had several ads run, I thought I'd share my results thus far, and some thoughts about the whole thing.

First of all, TpT is AMAZING and I love it to the moon and back.  Anything I say is feedback and not meant to be a criticism.  

(Please love me.)

Also, I opened my store in February 2013, so I'm still pretty new to this.  But since I've had 25 promotion spots thus far, I'll tell you what I know as far as that goes.

As a result of my 25 spots, I made $122.  (WOOT!)

To get those spots I spent $203.  ('DOH!) 

So no, to date I am not "breaking even" as far as ad spots go.  But here are a few thoughts anyway.

 

Obviously, your product cover should be eye-catching:

- This isn't a problem for me, because I work with the best illustrator on earth.  Seriously.  She rocks.

Timing matters:

- Probably advertising a St. Patrick's Day product in October isn't the greatest idea.  But to each her own.

Make a plan and put it in front of you before you buy spots:

- The first time I bought some spots, I wasn't thinking.  I was so excited!  And a little rushed - I didn't want the spots to disappear!  I accidentally signed up for two spots in the SAME CATEGORY ON THE SAME DAY.  I also realized later that a different product would have worked better in a particular spot.  Once you confirm a spot there are no take-backs, so you need to be thoughtful from the start.

 

I do like that the reservation page also shows which dates and spots we have already reserved.  Some of us need that information organized for us!  (Click on image to enlarge.)

 

 

What I didn't like - Page Views:

- It's cool that the "Promote on TpT" page has a "Promotion Activity" history.  But we don't see how many times each ad actually shows up for people (I believe Google Ads calls this "impressions.")  There IS a "views" number in the Totals at the top of the chart, but that's cumulative and doesn't tell me about individual ad spots. 

 

You see those "views" on the below chart, next to each ad listing's history?  That's all-time views on that product, not "views from this particular day, when your ad ran."  (How do I know?  Click on the below image to enlarge, and look at my Jan. 11 and Jan 18 spots - that's the same item.  The number shown is also the exact number that is currently showing up in my "My Products" stats for views.  It's the all-time product total.  Why do I need to see that in my ads chart?)

 

 

What I didn't realize - Categories:

- Some of the categories I chose for my first round of ad spots, categories that popped up as Subject options (such as you see in this image) . . . well, they aren't actually on the Teachers Pay Teachers main page.  I really don't see how ANYONE was seeing those ads. 

 

For instance, I have some adorable stuff for classroom management.  So I chose the "Classroom Management" category for some ads.  But to get to that category from the TpT homepage, you have to go to Subject, hover over "Specialty," and THEN choose "Classroom Management" from the 37 item pop-out menu. 

 

AND if I type "classroom management" in the search box at the top, it just gives search term product matches.  (What would be cool is when you type in the exact terms for a category - and I suspect that's how people looking for classroom management items are finding them - the search would take you TO THAT CATEGORY.  And its ads.)  Of my 6 Classroom Management spots, I sold ZERO things.  Lesson learned.

What I don't understand - Pricing:

-  Ok, the pricing structure.  How can English Language Arts be only $6, but a grade level is $10?  ELA is a HUGE category, and has always disappeared first whenever ad spots are available.  If I could only have ads in one category EVER, it would be ELA - because when a teacher like me (and in my demographic!) goes to TpT and wants to look around, she just clicks ELA and sees what's new.  (I'd be very interested to see the stats on ELA product sales versus the rest of the site.)  I'd love to have a monopoly on a few days of the English Language Arts category, and I think it's either worth more than $6, or the grade level spots are worth less than $10.

What the Promotion Activity numbers don't show:

- You can't really know the value of your spot just by how many items you sold.  (And we just established that the "views" number on each spot isn't helpful.)  

 

But what you can't see is the people who notice your store and decide to follow you, or people who wishlist the product advertised and may come back to it later.  [I guess if you were really following your own numbers you could keep an eye on this, but it didn't dawn on me until pretty recently how I could keep a chart of this information.  (I have mad Excel skills.  Don't be jealous.)]

My follower number and my store sales have been gradually growing, with a pretty good up-tick since December.  Is this because of my ads?  Or Pins that people repin?  (Wanna be my Pinterest friend?)  Or because people are finally realizing my genius?  I don't know.  But steady store growth is my goal, so I'll take it.

 

What I've figured out - Product Price:

- Promoting a $5 product may make less sense than a $10 product in a promo spot.  If the spot is $9, I'll mostly "recoup" the fee by selling ONE $10 product. 

 

It could probably be argued, however, that if you have a product you just REALLY believe in and it's a $3 product, it could be worth it to promote on a $10 ad because so many people will see it and 100 people will buy it AND become followers and you'll more than make back your money and then some and be that much closer to taking a trip to Disney Land.  But that's wishful thinking, friends.  (Hey, hope springs eternal.)

 

What's up with double grade levels not having ad spots?

- I personally think that you're going to get the most eyes on your product if you get a big general category (ELA, Math) or a grade level - 1st or 2nd, for example.  BUT.  If you are at the TpT homepage and searching by grade, from Grades if you click on "1-2," this brings you the search results: you see all 1st AND 2nd grade products, AND no ads. This seems unfair, in my humble opinion.  It's ONLY if you follow the menu option one more spot to click on ONLY 1st or ONLY 2nd grade that you will see the ads purchased for 1st grade or for 2nd grade. 

 

Why doesn't the "1-2" result have ads as well?  (Perhaps ads that cycle through those who have already purchased 1st grade and 2nd grade for that time-frame?)  Honestly, I'm completely too lazy to click beyond Grades and "1-2," and I suspect others are as well - so those purchased ads are just not being seen!

Speaking of Grade Level:
- I've tried ads on 3 grade levels: preK, K, and 1st.  (If you haven't sensed it yet, my focus is EARLY LITERACY.)  What kind of luck did I have?
preK - out of 3 times, sold 4 items.
K - out of 7 times, sold 8 items.

1st - out of 8 times, sold 6 items.

I mostly broke even with these, as I often had $10 or $12 items up.

Homeschool is a demographic we care about!

- While I'm talking about the Grade Level ads, it mystifies me that if I start at Grade Level and hover over "Other" to get to "Homeschooler," the results have no ads!  I'm sure that PLENTY of us would love to buy a spot for the Homeschooler category!  (A TON of my stuff would be GREAT for homeschoolers!)  I'm also sure that plenty of buyers go straight to that category to search for items!  Homeschooling is a growing demographic and as more people learn about TpT, more homeschoolers are going to come our way.  These are savvy buyers who want high-quality products!  (They should come visit me!)

Can't all the "Top Resource Types" have ads?
- If I click on "Literacy Center Ideas" there are no ads.  If I click on "Printables" there are no ads.  I'm pretty sure that people look for stuff through these categories - if a big complaint is how quickly ad space fills up, why not open these up?  As an extension of my previous bid to get a monopoly on the ELA category, I'd settle for the Literacy Center Ideas category as well.  I am ALL about the Literacy Centers, folks.  (As long as we're here, that picture is my best Literacy Center item.) 

 

Also - if more ad space were opened up, couldn't ad prices be lowered, giving more people a chance to afford to buy a spot AND more people a chance to be seen?  Small stores will struggle to spend $10 a pop on ad space, but maybe some $3 or $4 options would be within reach.

 

Does the DAY the ad runs matter?

- Honestly, I have no idea.  I have a lot of questions about this.  I typically choose Saturdays for my ads, because I figure that teachers probably have more time on Saturdays to look around on TpT.  I envision most teachers being in full-on school mode Monday - Thursday at least, and I HOPE you guys are out there having fun on Friday nights (if you're into that kind of thing.)  Plus, I see weekend spots disappearing the quickest, so I'm not alone in thinking they're the primo spots. 

 

(But then I started doubting myself and made a chart of my sales by day for the last 3 months, and I DO make a lot of sales during the weekdays.  So I don't know what to think on this topic.)

 

*EDITED*  I have been informed that the busiest days for sales at TpT are SUNDAYS AND MONDAYS.  What?  My theory has been proven false.  There you go.  :D

Does the MONTH the ad runs matter?
- Then there's time of year questions.  If it's April, are people really going to be looking for new content?  I don't know.  (For some people the school year ends before Memorial Day - they're almost done with school in April!  Plus you have to think about which weeks are full-on OH CRAP WE'RE DOING STANDARDIZED TESTING weeks.  Oh, but if the school year goes through June, in April you have a ways to go, I guess.)  

ANYWAY.  I feel like May and June are going to be down months simply because of the (American) school year winding down..  If I had my choice of spots to monopolize, I'd choose August, because that's when teachers seem to get out of summer mode and get down to business.  Actually, here in TN we start school like Aug. 4th every year, so maybe I'd want dibs on some July spots too. 

 

I also had a good beginning of January this year, because people were gearing up for the new semester after a hopefully refreshing Christmas break - so that's something I'll keep in mind for next year.

 

Bottom line?

I buy ad space because I believe in my products and I want people to see them.  I also like that buying ad space helps to support the site, because TpT is an AMAZING opportunity for so many of us and I KNOW that it costs a lot to keep things running behind the scenes.  

And the thing is, it's not like we have a whole lot of other options.  Everyone wants to get in the newsletter, but there are 58,000+ sellers and 17 newsletter spots per week (once you count the 4 paid spots, 2 clip arts, and Featured Seller.)  So this is really the only other way WITHIN the site to get potential buyers to notice you.  

Yes, blogs and Pinterest are an option as well, but that feels like putting yourself out into the universe and just HOPING your target audience happens upon you.  Theoretically I could try to get some other bloggers who have a big audience to talk about me or sell me ad space, but I'm not seeing how that can easily be done.  (Maybe educational bloggers have a secret society for such things that I don't know about?  Come on, who wants to be my friend?)  At least when you buy ad spots at TpT you KNOW you're talking to your target audience.  And that's worth a few bucks here and there from me.

If you guys have input, I've love to hear it.  'Cause this stuff is just my experience and my opinion.  :D

And since you're going to click somewhere next, why not click on this image and come see me at my store?  (Eh, had to try.)

Comments

[Leslie]

I'm following your store already. ;) Now I'm following your Pinterest boards. I always enjoy your posts at TpT forum and this post was very enlightening. I've done only 2 ads, both times with my best-selling product ... and I made NOTHING. I think I spent $6 on one and $10 on another. I don't remember the categories, but I think one was grade level and another special education maybe. I am too afraid to try again (afraid of the big goose egg LOL!). Great read and great info. you shared here. :) I agree too btw about the homeschool market being WIDE OPEN, but it seems like TpT has moved more toward reaching out since I've been there (late May 2012). Take care and thanks for sharing!

[Schroeder's Stars]

Hey Jen!

Thanks for the awesome insight!! Your blog is fantastic and I'm glad I found you through the TPT forums!

I too have had several TPT ads and I've about broken even with them. I think that one "variable" to also look at is what other products are being listed with yours on that day. Every time my ad has been run on the first grade slot, my $5.00 product has been the second lowest price item on an ad for that day. I don't know how much it affects sales but I do know that if I saw 4 $10.00 + items on the advertised space I may pass them up because I don't have $10-$15 at the time to spend. One day I advertised someone had a $2.00 product with mine and I always wondered how she did.. It would take a lot of those $2.00 product sales to justify the expensive first grade ad space!

[Jen Strange]

ah, interesting point on pricing. Yeah, I can see how someone would just dismiss looking into a product because of a high price point - unless the product description states that its a bundle. My best selling item is my Reading Practice Sentences bundle - its 3 $5 products bundled for $12. (The fact that they seamlessly work together helps too LOL.)