The Playbook for Authenticating Traffic to Boost CPMs

Advertisers are shifting their budgets toward authenticated traffic—visitors who are identifiable through first-party data like email or phone numbers. When you can prove a visitor is logged in, clicked from your newsletter, or came via SMS, advertisers pay more for that traffic.

The good news? You don’t need to be a giant publisher to take advantage of this. With a few simple steps, you can start collecting first-party data and pass it to advertisers through Ezoic to maximize CPMs and ROI from your ads.

Here’s your step-by-step playbook:

Step 1: Start Capturing Emails with a Newsletter

The easiest entry point to first-party data is a newsletter. Here’s how to get started:

1. Choose a newsletter platform – Tools like Beehiiv, Kit, or Mailchimp make it easy to get up and running.
2. Set up a landing page – Create a simple page on your site (or through your ESP) that encourages people to subscribe.
   • Highlight the benefit of subscribing: e.g., exclusive tips, breaking news, deals, or fresh content.
3. Drive traffic to your signup form – Use:
   • Social media posts (Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc.)
   • Paid ads (Facebook, Google, or even newsletter swaps with other creators)
   • Internal CTAs on your site (pop-ups, sidebar forms, or inline opt-ins).
4. Establish a consistent cadence – Send your newsletter at least 2–3 times per week. Every edition should link back to your site to generate traffic.

Hack: Don’t’ want to grow your list. Consider buying one relevant to your audience + content.

👉 Why this matters: Visitors who click from your newsletter to your site are authenticated users—advertisers bid more for them.

Step 2: Add a Site Login for More Identified Users

A login system not only unlocks community features, comments, or exclusive content—it also captures first-party data.

• Add a simple email/password login option for users.
• Offer small perks like saved content, early access, or personalized recommendations to incentivize signups.
• For a fast, low-friction hack, use Google One Tap. It lets visitors sign in with their Google account in a single click.

👉 Even a modest number of logged-in users increases your pool of authenticated traffic.

Step 3: Collect Phone Numbers for SMS

Email isn’t the only channel. SMS can be even more powerful for driving repeat traffic:

• Add an optional field for phone numbers in your signup forms.
• Use SMS tools (like Twilio, Postscript, or your ESP if it supports SMS) to send:
  • Alerts for new content
  • Exclusive deals or promotions
  • Reminders for newsletters or events

👉 Every click from an SMS is authenticated, just like a newsletter click.

Step 4: Sync Your Data with Ezoic

Capturing emails and phone numbers is step one. To monetize them effectively, you need to pass this data back to advertisers. That’s where Ezoic’s Identity & Authentication features come in.

1. Sync your subscriber list or login form with Ezoic.
2. Follow the guide here: Ezoic Identity Getting Started.
3. Once synced, Ezoic will automatically share authentication signals with advertisers—boosting the CPMs on those impressions.

👉 This means the same ad placement on your site can now earn significantly more revenue when shown to authenticated users.

Step 5: Keep Building the Flywheel

• Grow your newsletter list: Keep promoting your signup form. The more subscribers you have, the more authenticated traffic you can drive.
• Experiment with SMS: Even a small list can produce outsized results since SMS open rates are nearly 100%.
• Refine your login perks: Incentivize users to stay logged in and engaged.

Over time, your pool of authenticated traffic grows—and with it, your CPMs.

Final Authenticated Traffic Takeaway

Authenticated traffic is the future of digital advertising. By:

• Running a newsletter
• Adding site login (with Google One Tap for ease)
• Collecting phone numbers for SMS
• Syncing everything with Ezoic

…you’ll have a simple, repeatable system to boost CPMs and revenue—while building a stronger connection with your audience.

It doesn’t take long to set up, but the ROI compounds every single month.

PS – this newsletter signup form below is an example on how to begin collecting emails 😉

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