Creating ad items and serving them to your Indie Website is easy with Indie Ads Manager. Simply create a campaign in the relevant Advertiser record and then build your ad item. Finally, assign the ad(s) to a specific zone on your website.
Naming Conventions
Indie Ads Manager organizes ads by Advertiser > Campaign > Ad Item. It is important to use consistent naming conventions when setting up advertisers, campaigns, and ad items so that you can easily find the correct ads and reports.
Advertiser - Business name, i.e. Walmart or McDonalds
Campaign - Focus and placement i.e. Spring Sale Presenting Sponsor
Ad Item - Topic and dates, i.e. 50% Off Shoes - Oct 2023
Example: Walmart/Spring Sale - Presenting Sponsor/50% Off Shoes - Oct 2023
Advertiser
Advertisers can be any source of advertisement. For most advertisers, the best way to serve ads is by grouping ad items into campaigns. If you need to add a new advertiser, simply click on Advertisers and select Add Advertiser.
Campaigns
Campaigns are the perfect way to manage multiple ad items, but they can also contain a single ad item. Learn more about campaigns.
Creating a Standard Campaign
Navigate to the relevant advertiser and click Add Campaign
The create campaign window will appear, select Standard Campaign
Name the campaign, i.e. [Ad Type] - [Advertiser] - [Campaign Focus] - [Placement] - [MMYYYY]
Adjust the campaign settings if required. You can set the ad targeting and ad scheduling at either the campaign level or the ad item level. Please note, these targeting levels cannot be changed once the campaign is created. Learn more about campaign level and ad level targeting.
Select Create Campaign
Creating a Standard Image Ad
Click into the campaign you just created and then click Add Ad Item
The add ad item window will appear. From the list of ad types, select Image.
Name the ad item, i.e. [Advertiser] - [Campaign Focus] - [Size]
Insert a destination URL if you have one, this is where users will be directed if they click on the ad
Choose Library under Image Source and upload your ad creative
Select the size of the creative, the ad creative must be the same size as the zone
You can include additional information like alt text, tracking pixels, metadata, and more but the most important fields are the name, destination URL, and the creative/size
Click Save Ad Item
QC Your New Ad
Once your ad is built, click the checkbox beside the ad. The Preview button will no longer be greyed out. You can click Preview to view your ad, and if you included a destination URL, you can test clicks.
Please note, if your ad shows up squished or stretched in the preview, it will likely display the same way on your website. Use the preview to ensure your ads are set up and running correctly before you assign them.
Assigning Campaigns to Zones
You can assign ad campaigns through the Advertiser or through your Publisher record.
From the Advertiser side...
Navigate to the advertiser record in Indie Ads Manager
Click on the appropriate campaign
Click Assign to Zone
From the Publisher side...
Navigate to your publication's record in Indie Ads Manager
Click on the appropriate zone
Under Assigned Campaigns click Assign Campaign to Zone
Configuring Assignments
Any eligible campaigns for the zone will show up, select the campaign you set up in the previous step.
Choose how you want to serve the ads, you can serve them by Fixed Delivery or by Auction
Once you determine how to serve the ads, you can include information about Pacing & Scheduling, Frequency Capping, and Targeting
Click Save
Once a campaign has been assigned to a zone, you will be able to see it and check its status. Active ads can be paused, and paused ads can be resumed.