Creating an Ad for Web and Newsletters on Ghost

This recipe shows you how to place an ad on a Ghost site and newsletter using AdPlugg. This recipe just adds a single ad but you can use it to add any number of ads, you can also combine it with other recipes, etc. The instructions here will work on both managed and self-hosted Ghost sites. The recipe uses an Email Ad Tag which will work both on your Ghost website and in your Ghost newsletters.

Note that Email Ads and Email Ad Tags are part of the AdPlugg Business Plan. You'll need to be on the AdPlugg Business Plan, or be on a Custom Plan that has the Email Ads feature, in order to have access to use the Email Ad Tags described in these instructions.

Also note that you can include ads on your Ghost website (but not your newsletters) using the standard tags that are included in AdPlugg's Free and Pro plans. A recipe describing how to set this up is available here.

Create An Ad

First, we need to create an AdPlugg Ad.

1. From within your AdPlugg account, create an Ad and upload an ad image (see the Ad Help Page).

Get the Tag

1. From your Ads list, next to the Ad that you created above, open the Actions menu and choose Get Tag.
2. Find the Email Tag and copy it to your clipboard.

Insert the AdPlugg Ad Tag

Now we are going to add the AdPlugg Ad Tag to one of your Ghost Posts. We are going to do it using a Ghost HTML card.

1. From inside the Ghost admin, open the Post that you want to run the Ad on.
2. Edit the Post and press the plus (+) sign where you want the Ad to appear.
3. Choose "HTML card" from the list.
4. Paste the Ad Tag code that you copied above in to the HTML card box.
5. Click out of the HTML card box to save it. The ad should render.

Save the AdPlugg Ad Tag as a Ghost Snippet

Now, we are going to save the Ad Tag as a Ghost Snippet so that we can easily use it in other Posts.

If you don't expect to use this particular Ad on other posts, you can skip this step.

1. Click on the edge of the HTML card box that you created above.
2. From the menu that pops up, click the Create Snippet button.
3. Give the Snippet a name. You could use the name of the Ad or give the Snippet a generic name (such as "Sponsor 1") so that you can then edit and reuse it as your ads change.
4. Press the Plus (+) button to save the snippet.

Your snippet will now be available from the bottom of the cards list when you press the (+) button from the Post editor.

Preview and Test it!

Now, we'll test the Post and our Ad to make sure that it looks right.

1. Click the Preview button at the top of the editor.
2. Tab through the various device icons at the top to see how your Ad will look on each device.
3. Click on the email device icon.
4. Enter your email address into the test email recipient field at the bottom of the screen (if it is not already there).
5. Press the "Send test email" button.
6. Check your inbox for the test email and check it to make sure that the email and Ad look how you you want them.

When you are ready, Publish the post!

Add More Ads!

Repeat the above to add more Ads to your site and newsletters.