Plus, today’s podcast episode, auto-DM tactics, and a NerdPress collab  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ Raptive News NOVEMBER 5, 2025 By Emily Rose VP, Content Marketing Hi Raptive, If your RPMs are lower than you expected right now, you’re not alone, and it’s not a reflection of your content or overall performance. Across the digital advertising industry, brands are spending more cautiously this quarter. Learn more about what we know, how we believe the trend will move, and more in the What’s new section below. In this week’s newsletter, you’ll also find: • Expert advertising advice in today’s Ctrl Alt Ask episode • Best practices for auto-DM tools, like Grocers List • Our new collaboration with NerdPress to protect your content What’s new Our take on Q4 ad trends and what’s behind the slowdown According to recent reports, advertisers across the industry are holding budgets longer into the season, incorporating more flexibility into deals, and focusing more on measurable ROI. Trade tensions and tariff uncertainty have increased costs for many advertisers, while the government shutdown hampers consumer spending—all resulting in tighter budgets for the early quarter. Although total ad spend for 2025 is still growing, and we expect it to trend upward over the next two months, those dollars are moving more slowly. Open-market CPMs and RPMs were softer across the industry this October, especially compared to 2024, when ad spend was more front-loaded due to election activity that boosted early-quarter rates. We’re seeing a similar pacing pattern in our own direct deals. Many advertisers plan to spend more in the second half of Q4 than in the first, even more so than in prior years. If programmatic buyers follow a similar trajectory, that’s a good sign for the weeks ahead. As brands launch their holiday campaigns and finalize year-end budgets, we expect momentum to build starting mid-November. We’re already working to capture as much of that demand as possible. Throughout the year, our Ad Code team has shipped a series of optimizations designed to improve ad delivery, viewability, and overall yield. To measure the impact, we maintain a small slice of traffic running the original version from early 2025. The changes made this year resulted in an incremental 20%+ RPM lift. Check your ad layout to get the most out of Q4 Advertisers are becoming increasingly selective about where they invest, so it’s really important to ensure your ad layout is optimized. One of the best ways to do that is to run high-impact ad and video placements, as they deliver a stronger ROI for brands and higher returns for you. You can make those changes directly in the Raptive dashboard, or reach out to our team if you need help! Turn on high-performing video and display ads → Ctrl Alt Ask Episode 4: Am I too niche to attract advertisers? As a creator, your niche is your superpower for finding and retaining an audience. But is honing a super-specific category leaving advertising dollars on the table? This week, Jess Coppom of Make & Do Crew, wonders if she should expand her crochet content to attract advertisers. To provide Jess with the best advice, we added MaryRay Lombardo, Raptive’s SVP of Advertising Partnerships, to the chat. She walks us through why advertisers are drawn to creator sites and what they’re really looking for. She brings the latest research to help creators find ways to attract more ad dollars without alienating their devoted audiences. Listen and subscribe for Jess’ story → Want to be on the show next? Send your question to ctrlaltask@raptive.com. Subscribe Top resource Turn social comments into lasting traffic with new auto-DM insights Based on new network data and insights, creators using auto-DM tools, like Grocers List, are driving higher traffic and sign-up rates than ever before. Find out what makes this strategy so effective—and how to put it to work for you. Apply the latest auto-DM strategies → Quick tip Get the timing right on your seasonal content “Optimizing seasonal content isn’t just about what you post—it’s about when. Use Google Trends to see when search interest for your keyword peaks, and publish or update your content 30–60 days before that to give Google time to crawl, index, and rank it.” Stephanie Adamo Manager, SEO Solutions Don’t miss Stay in the loop on the latest updates The art of identity In our new team feature, meet Katie Swanson, the data storyteller helping you build privacy-safe connections with your readers to boost revenue and trust. Read her story → Your content, protected Raptive and NerdPress are joining forces to stop AI bots from scraping your site—so your hard work stays in your hands. See how it works → In case you missed it Catch the highlights from last week’s webinar with Grocers List, where Stephanie Parker of Plain Chicken and Amy Coyne of Amy Bakes Bread shared how they’re using auto-DMs to grow email lists and boost traffic—with data-backed tips you can try today. Watch the recording → What we’re reading Catch up on news from around the industry • OpenAI strikes $38 billion AI training deal with Amazon (The Verge) • More articles are now created by AI than humans (Graphite) • AI slop myths, debunked: What’s harmful, what’s hype, what’s just meh (Digiday) Question of the week Are you using auto-DMs to drive traffic and grow your email list? 💯 All in Seeing strong results 🧑‍🔬 Testing, testing Just getting started 🤔 Curious Thinking about trying soon 🙅‍♀️ No thanks Sticking to other tactics Was this email helpful? You’re receiving this email because you help manage a site that works with Raptive. To ensure our emails reach your inbox, add hello@email.raptive.com to your email contacts. Want to stop receiving Raptive News emails? You can update your preferences anytime. 1411 Broadway, 27th Floor New York, NY, 10018, US © 2025 Raptive. All rights reserved. Unsubscribe | View online