Introduction

Internet sites pop up every minute of everyday. Many become overnight sensations, but one moment you’re are in, and the next you’re out. In 2005, a small pop-culture blog saw itself become an overnight sensation. With editorial and links to the who’s who of the glitterati, Withlime.net had unexpectedly become an internet smash. With 60,000 and growing unique page views daily, it was clear that there was a growing audience to cultivate, but how and for whom?

Challenge

Starting as a personal blog and hobby, Withlime.net did not expect to become to a source of news and entertainment for people across the globe. As such, little to no analytics data was being collected. Knowing that the site’s success could be short lived, it was clear they needed to quickly capitalize on their growing popularity by building a business case for potential advertisers.

Building out site analytics and key internet tools such as Google Analytics and DART would be easy, but also time consuming and expensive. However, without these analytic and ad serving tools, how could a case be built to attract advertisers?

Solution

The key would be to approach up and coming brands with exclusive advertising units. Instead of offering a Cost-per-impression (CPI) or Cost-per-thousand (CPM) model initially, exclusive site advertising with 100% share of voice would be offered to advertisers that fit the audience’s desire for fashion and glamour (e.g. Urban Outfitters and American Apparel). Leveraging brands like these would maintain the site’s integrity and add legitimacy, but more importantly build the much needed revenue to implement key analytics and site performance/conversion data.

As such, Withlime.net embarked on extensive one-on-one media blitz to contact key marketing individuals at apparel and lifestyle brands. Armed with basic datasheets and the promise of extensive click and analytics data, the up and coming site embarked on a relentless search to find it first well-known advertiser.

Results

Within 10 days, Withlime.net was able to solidify a $6,000 month long exclusive sponsorship from American Apparel. The Los Angeles based company was quickly growing in downtown locations and needed a platform to attract local customers. With all variables in place, Withlime.net was able to initiate its first advertiser campaign:

• Implementing click-through and retargeting metrics across the site;
• Converting 3%-5% of visitor traffic to online purchases at online store; and
• Building audience profiles to attract subsequent advertisers on a more profitable basis.