A successful advertising system shouldn't begin with an instruction manual. It should begin with an invitation.

WaypointAds provides a straightforward route that takes a visitor from discovering that advertising is available, through viewing the Rate Card and submitting an application, to becoming an approved advertiser with access to their own Advertiser Dashboard. Much of the work happens automatically, reducing the workload for the Administrator while giving the potential advertiser a clear path to follow.

It Begins With “Advertise With Us”

A potential advertiser's journey will often begin while they are simply browsing the website. WaypointAds can display an Advertise With Us link alongside advertising shown within a Zone, providing an immediate invitation to anyone interested in reaching the site's audience.

Clicking that link takes the visitor to the Rate Card.

This is an important part of the journey because the Rate Card does more than display prices. It allows potential advertisers to see what advertising opportunities are available, compare packages, understand what they are purchasing, and decide whether advertising on the website makes sense for them.

There is also an opportunity here that we strongly recommend Administrators consider: Test The Site (A free, one-time-only, offering).

Let Potential Advertisers Test The Site

Buying advertising from an unfamiliar website requires a certain amount of trust. A potential customer may understand the price and recognize the value of the audience, but there is still an understandable question in the back of their mind:

"What happens after I sign up?"

Providing a Test The Site option answers that question before money becomes part of the conversation.

When appropriately configured by the Administrator, a test or complimentary advertising option allows a prospective advertiser to experience the WaypointAds process for themselves. Instead of merely reading about how advertising works, they can enter the system, become familiar with the Advertiser Dashboard, create their advertising material, and see how straightforward the process is.

From the potential advertiser's point of view, this removes much of the uncertainty associated with becoming a new customer. They can see the system working before committing to a paid advertising package. They learn what will be expected of them, where their advertising information is managed, and how they will interact with the website after becoming an advertiser.

It also demonstrates something important about the website itself: Confidence.

Allowing prospective customers to look behind the curtain says that the Administrator is comfortable letting them experience the advertising process before asking them to spend money. A customer who understands how the system works is far more likely to feel comfortable proceeding to a paid campaign.

Applying to Become an Advertiser

Once the visitor chooses an advertising opportunity from the Rate Card, WaypointAds guides them through the advertiser application process.

The applicant provides the information required by the website and submits the application for consideration. At this point, control remains firmly with the Administrator. Submitting an application does not automatically give someone advertiser privileges simply because they filled out a form.

The Administrator reviews the application and decides whether the applicant should be approved.

This provides an important layer of control. Every website is different, and Administrators may have their own requirements concerning the businesses, organizations, products, or services they are willing to advertise. WaypointAds handles the mechanics of the application process without taking that decision away from the person running the website.

What Happens When an Application Is Approved?

This is where WaypointAds begins doing some of the administrative work automatically.

When the Administrator approves an advertiser application, the applicant is established as a member of the Joomla website and assigned to the WaypointAds – Advertisers User Group. This group provides the foundation for controlling access to advertiser-specific areas of the website without requiring the Administrator to manually configure each new advertiser.

The approved advertiser also receives an email advising them that their application has been accepted and that their membership has been created.

For a newly created account, the advertiser is provided with a temporary password. That password is deliberately temporary. When the advertiser first accesses the website as a member, they are required to replace it with a password of their own.

This gives the advertiser control of their credentials while avoiding the need for the Administrator to create passwords manually, send separate instructions, assign the appropriate User Group, and perform several other routine account-management tasks.

The Administrator approves the applicant; WaypointAds takes care of the repetitive work surrounding that approval.

The First Visit to the Advertiser Dashboard

Approval is only useful if the new advertiser knows what to do next.

WaypointAds therefore treats the advertiser's first visit differently from an ordinary login. As part of the onboarding procedure, the newly approved customer is guided to the Advertiser Dashboard, where they can begin becoming familiar with the tools available to them.

This first visit is important. The advertiser has just crossed the line from being a visitor interested in advertising to becoming an actual customer of the website. Dropping them onto an unrelated page and expecting them to figure out where to go next would create unnecessary confusion at precisely the moment when the process should feel easiest.

The onboarding procedure gets them to the right place this time, but there is an important consideration for the Administrator.

That automatic guidance is for onboarding. It isn't how the advertiser should have to find the Dashboard forever.

Give Advertisers a Clear Way Back

Once the initial onboarding is complete, the advertiser needs a reliable way to return to the Advertiser Dashboard whenever they visit the website in the future. For that reason, we strongly recommend creating a clearly labeled Advertiser Dashboard menu link and making it available to the appropriate advertiser Access Level.

This is a small detail that makes an enormous difference to the customer experience.

Imagine returning to a website several days after creating an advertising campaign. You want to check your advertising, make a change, upload another Creative, or review your account. You know there is an Advertiser Dashboard because you used it previously — but there is no obvious way to get back to it.

That is unnecessary frustration for a customer who, you hope, will become a long time advertising partner. A visible Dashboard link gives approved advertisers a familiar doorway into their advertising account. They don't need to remember a special address, return to an old email, or search around the website hoping to rediscover the page they need.

The principle is simple: if you give customers a Dashboard, give them a door back into it.

User Groups and Access Levels Do the Heavy Lifting

The automatically assigned WaypointAds – Advertisers User Group also makes this arrangement practical for the Administrator.

Using Joomla's access controls, the Advertiser Dashboard menu item can be made available to the appropriate users without displaying it unnecessarily to ordinary visitors. The advertiser sees the link because they have been granted the appropriate access; everyone else continues using the website normally. - Read more about Access Levels

This is one of the reasons WaypointAds creates the necessary advertiser structure rather than expecting every Administrator to build it manually. The objective is not to take control away from the Administrator. It is to remove repetitive work while leaving the important decisions firmly in their hands.

A Better First Impression

The complete journey is intentionally straightforward.

A visitor sees "Advertise With Us," views the Rate Card, and can potentially Test The Site before making a financial commitment. When ready, they submit an application. The Administrator reviews it and decides whether to approve it. Once approved, WaypointAds creates the necessary website membership, assigns the advertiser appropriately, sends the required information, and guides the new customer toward the Advertiser Dashboard.

From there, a properly placed Dashboard link gives them a simple way back whenever they return.

None of these individual steps is particularly complicated — and that's precisely the point.

Potential advertisers shouldn't need to understand Joomla User Groups, Access Levels, menu permissions, account creation, or the machinery operating behind the scenes. They should simply feel that becoming an advertiser was easy.

The Administrator shouldn't have to perform a dozen repetitive tasks every time someone applies, either.

WaypointAds handles the journey between those two needs: simple for the advertiser, controlled by the Administrator, and with as much of the routine work handled automatically as possible.