Gmail may be the most popular email service, but it is far from the only one out there. Hotmail (now known as Outlook), Yahoo Mail, AOL, GMX, and other email services also have sizable user bases.
Second in place to Gmail is Yahoo Mail which delivers billions of emails to users every day. Many of its users see sponsored ads when they log in to their Yahoo Mail account. For digital advertisers, advertising on email platforms like Yahoo may be cheaper and more effective than trying to compete in Gmail.
Here’s how to decide if Yahoo Mail ads are right for your business.
What Are Yahoo Mail Advertisements?
Yahoo Mail advertisements are ads that show up as inline email messages, or videos, in targeted user’s Yahoo Mail inboxes. If the user clicks on the ad, it will open in the message pane, and users can interact with the HTML content or video. They can also forward it to friends.
Yahoo claims that these ads have demonstrated click through rates as high as 4x industry averages.
It is worth noting that some Yahoo Mail accounts have upgraded to Yahoo Mail Plus (formerly Yahoo Mail Pro), a paid service that allows them to keep their account even if it is inactive, provides 24/7 customer support and offers ad-free mail. (It also offers Ad-free Yahoo which means fewer ads on Yahoo websites.)
It is also possible that users who use third-party ad blockers to remove ads may not see your ads. For example, the AdBlock extension allows users to remove ads or temporarily hide ads from Yahoo Mail, as long as they are using a supported browser (Google Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge or Firefox.)
How To Advertise In Yahoo Mail
In order to run any type of Yahoo Native ads, including Yahoo Mail ads, you need to sign up for an account in Yahoo Ads Manager (formerly called Yahoo Gemini).
To advertise in Yahoo Mail you must first create a companion Yahoo Native Ad.
As with other Yahoo Native ads, the next steps are to create your ad group, select your target audience and the schedule for your ads. You’ll also be able to set your budget, bid strategy, and how you want to track and count conversions.
Ads can be html, images, or videos.
Video ads will play for 5 seconds before the user has to click on it to continue to watch. The good news is that you aren’t billed for the ad unless 3 seconds of the video is viewed.
Also note that video ads work slightly differently depending on where the user views the ad. On Android, a user that clicks on the mail pencil ad opens a split screen with the advertiser’s landing page on one of the screens.
On desktop and iOS, the user clicks on the video which then leads to the advertiser’s landing page.
You can view examples of these ads on Yahoo’s Developer Network.
How Much Does It Cost To Advertise On Yahoo Mail?
Yahoo Mail ads are cost per click (CPC). For video ads, marketers can choose between enhanced CPC or oCPC (optimized cost per click). Yahoo used to also offer the option of CPV (cost per view, used in video ads) but that was discontinued several years ago.
Since Yahoo native ads operate on an auction system, your cost to place sponsored ads in Yahoo Mail will depend on a variety of factors, including your industry and competition. However, it is not likely to be as expensive as other more competitive platforms like Google simply because there is less competition.
Who Should Use Yahoo Mail Ads?
Your target demographic is one of the most important factors in determining whether Yahoo Mail Ads will work for you.
Yahoo Mail users tend to be older than Gmail users. That doesn’t mean you can’t reach audiences of various ages, but you may find it harder to get the ROAS you want if your target audience isn’t using Yahoo Mail.
Testing is one way to find out, provided you don’t spend a lot of time and effort that could be better spent elsewhere.
Yahoo Mail Ads Best Practices
If you do decide to advertise on this platform, here are some steps you can take to get the most out of your Yahoo Mail ads:
Test: Successful digital marketers always test. It is always important, especially when running ad campaign(s) on a new platform, that you test different messaging and ad formats. You’ll need to find what resonates with your target audience and gets results. With Yahoo Mail you may want to see how text ads perform compared to video ads.
Monitor Metrics: Testing won’t do you a lot of good unless you keep a close eye on your metrics. Closely monitoring CPC, impressions, conversions, etc will help you understand how your ads are performing, and can help you compare ad cost and performance across platforms.
Take Some Time: It is important to give your ads some time before you assess performance. Yahoo recommends running ads for 2-4 weeks to really get an idea of how an ad performs. Of course you don’t want to spend money on ads that won’t work but giving up too soon may mean you miss out on the opportunity to find an effective formula.
Maximize Rewards: Pay for your online digital spend using a credit card that offers generous cash back rewards to get the most for your money. Dash.fi offers rewards and features high credit limits to help advertisers scale ad spend without risking card failure.
Yahoo provides additional information about best practices that is worth reviewing before launching your ad campaign.
Can Yahoo Mail offer an effective ad strategy for your business?
It may be, says Joe Karasin, a digital marketer who has used Yahoo Mail ads over the years. Now chief marketing officer at CircleIt.com, a trusted service that sends cards and gifts to loved ones for any future date or life milestone even long after you’re gone, he says his experience is that the effectiveness of these ads have waned somewhat in recent years. But he says they are still worth testing, especially because they can be cost effective.
“Remember that anyone that doesn't want to see ads pays Yahoo for that privilege, so again, it can be an effective channel for advertising your business with a limited budget,” he notes.
