Hey Reader!
I've missed you and these newsletters! How's your year going? What's new in your life?!
In my own little bubble this month, I've...
- launched a new coaching program with an amazing group of food bloggers π (come join us!)
- met friends in person at the Tastemaker Conference π―ββοΈ
- gone through a little mental breakdown π
- been accepted into Taki Moore's coaching program to help me become a better coach π
I have a feeling it's going to be a wild year - let's make the most of it, shall we?!
In October I made the switch from Mediavine to Raptive. Since then, I've gotten a lot of questions as to why I switched and how it's going.
I addressed it in an AMA on Instagram a few weeks ago, but I thought it'd be helpful to lay it all out in a newsletter (this is going to be a long one)!
Here's my story about my ad network transition π please keep in mind that everyone's is different!
I joined Mediavine in May 2022 and never had any issues with them.
My RPMs were increasing year-over-year and their customer service was fast & friendly!
I was itching to know what Raptive was like, though!
In my head, they were the premier network that all the biggest food bloggers ended up on, but I really liked Mediavine and didn't know much about Raptive!
Around March 2024 I applied to Raptive, got accepted, and hopped on a call to learn more. They were super patient and thoroughly answered my many questions π
But then I chickened out.
I ended up staying on Mediavine, but I couldn't get Raptive off my mind.
It was like my high school days of having a crush on someone else while in a relationship. You just know you have to break up, right? π
Before Q4 hit I started hearing about more food bloggers switching to Raptive, and one of my friends showed me the tools they offer.
This made me even more eager to switch, but right before Q4?! Is that a crazy terrible idea??
Spoiler alert π¨ I did it lol
Raptive was happy to hop on yet another call with me and kindly answered more of my questions (I'm an indecisive overthinker π).
They reassured me that they'd do multiple audits before the switch to make sure it was a smart decision for my site, but I could back out at any point.
They also offered a 2-month 15% RPM increase guarantee so there wasn't a big risk in switching. I was concerned about the ramp-up during Q4 and negotiated the guarantee to last through December.
I gave my 30-day notice to Mediavine and on October 2nd, Raptive installed my new ads.
They set up my ad layout similar to what I had with Mediavine and let me review & request changes to it.
That day Mediavine also disabled my account, so I no longer had access to my dashboard. Hindsight - makes sense, but I was hoping to be able to see my data until my last payout.
Speaking of payouts, Mediavine pays Net65 and Raptive pays Net45!
Before switching, my RPMs with Mediavine peaked in the $60s.
Raptive guaranteed the following RPMs:
October 2024: $61.19
November 2024: $68.26
December 2024: $72.96
My actual RPMs ended up being higher:
I was so grateful to see this increase!
(I know this isn't the case for everyone, though.)
At the beginning of January, they dropped to the $30s, but now they're up to the $50s.
Since I switched during Q4, it's hard to say if my RPM increase was due to Raptive or the holidays.
One thing that I think helped increase my revenue is video.
Raptive's video player is a big revenue driver!
I had some videos on my site with Mediavine, but very few were 30 seconds long, which is a Raptive requirement.
So, I had my video editor re-edit my recipe videos to be 30-second horizontals and uploaded them ASAP.
About 50% of my Raptive revenue has been from video.
The RPM increase isn't the only reason I'm happy I switched, though.
Raptive's customer service has been incredible. You can tell they truly care about creators and go above and beyond to show it!
They also have helpful tools like Topic, a content optimizer with a grader similar to RankIQ's, and you get free access to Matt Molen's Email On Autopilot course & mastermind.
I could go on and on with more details, but this is already so much longer than I anticipated so I'll stop here π
If you've made it this far, thank you π I promise I'll keep next week's shorter!
If you're considering switching ad networks, my advice is to hop on a call, ask all the questions, and go at your own pace! Oh, and try to negotiate a good RPM guarantee πͺ
If you'd like to apply using my Raptive referral link, here it is! I appreciate you π«Ά
Feel free to reply if you have any follow-up questions, or if there's anything you'd like me to cover in a future newsletter!
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