You have seen them all over the internet -- blinking, flashing,
animated and garish. You vow that you will not contribute
to this internet graffiti. You feel smug with your decision
because after all banner advertising is dead.
Wrong. Banner advertising is not dead -- and in fact it
is still an effective internet marketing tool. However banner
advertising has evolved -- or rather I should say successful
banner advertising has evolved. Some of the horrible eye-damaging
banner ads still exist but successful, knowledgable internet
entrepreneurs have long abandoned those marketing efforts
and instead concentrated on targeted, tasteful, and trim
banner ads.
Banner ads have a bad reputation in part because of the
proliferation of banner farms that killed all the banner
swap programs (or at least made them completely ineffectual).
Also we all have memories of those hideous banners flashing
across the top of so many web sites.
Banners have come along way since then and a cleverly designed
banner can be a real asset to any advertising campaign. Also
don't forget that you don't have to use one of those big
giant banners that span the width of the screen. You can
use smaller simple ads that can fit easily into the sidebar
or special box on a web site so they can suit the design
and work more effectively.
It is also important that you pay close attention to what
sites you will choose for displaying your banner. IE. A site
about web development for your web hosting service ad or
a site about parenting for your ad promoting your potty training
book.
Many text link and pay per click advertising vendors also
offer the option of banner ads. Similarly many ezine and
newsletter publishers sell space on their sites.
And savvy internet marketers are taking them up on these
advertising opportunities.
WHY USE BANNER ADVERTISING?
Consumer research historically shows that most people see
an ad several times before they take action. Banners allow
you to display your ad over a period of time, increasing
the chances that a prospect will see your ad and remember
it.
Your banner ad can be targeted to specific audiences and
displayed on internet pages and sites matched to that specific
audience.
People seeing your advertisement can instantly click through
to your web site store to to learn more or to make a purchase
on the spot.
You can track your results and make adjustments to your
campaigns based on response. Analyzing your results can help
you finetune your banner, landing page, or target audience
to improve your response and sales.
Banner advertising is really a buyers market, as there is
always more banner spaces available than advertisers need
or want, which means you can find many bargains available.
IMPORTANT POINTS TO CONSIDER WHEN PLANNING YOUR BANNER AD
CAMPAIGN
There are several aspects to consider when planning out
your banner advertising campaign.
The first consideration should be your ad graphic itself.
These are usually animated GIF images but remember you want
to attract customers -- not simply attention -- and remember
the overall tone of your ad campaign when designing your
graphic. Also keep in mind that many sites limit the file
size of the graphic to somewhere between 12 and 16 KB.
Your banner can come in variety of sizes. The full banner
size is 468 x 60 pixels. Some other standard banner sizes
include:
Size(pixels).Type
468 x 60.....Full banner
234 x 60.....Half banner
392 x 72.....Full banner with vertical navigation bar
120 x 240....Vertical banner
125 x 125....Square button
120 x 90.....Button #1
120 x 60.....Button #2
88 x 31......Micro button
Your graphic will be hyperlinked to a target url of your
choice so you may want to spend some time planning how you
will track traffic and clicks. Some programs provide a tracking
and statistics service for you but most individual sites
can't offer that information.
When selecting where to display your banner ad the first
consideration should really be choosing a site offering information
that appeals to your target audience. A high-traffic dating
site isn't going to be much good for advertising your maternity
clothing line, for example.
Then you should look at traffic. When looking at site stats
you want to make sure you focus on page views or page impressions
rather than hits (which may count individually each graphic
viewed). Depending on your banner and market you may be primarily
concerned with unique page impressions.
Banner advertising is often sold by CPM (Cost Per Thousand
displays, the Roman numeral "M" stands for one thousand).
Many sites also offer a fixed rate price for a set period
of time.
Many marketers do not concern themselves as much with click-through
rates and instead see banner ads as "branding" tools. They
create brand awareness and a brand image in the viewer's
mind. The hope is that when the viewer gets ready to make
a purchase then your "brand" pops into their mind. Branding
can also generate sales over the long-term. Branding is difficult
to measure, but can be very powerful.
If you have a big advertising budget then you might want
to consider an ad agency or media buyer. They can offer a
lot of value for the dollar because they have the experience,
knowledge, and contacts to make the most of your budget.
It is quite possible to be your own media buyer, if you
are willing and able to handle the increased workload. The
biggest difficulty is finding the right sites on which to
advertise your product or service. Then after you find a
site that might be a good match you need to negotiate the
best possible deal. It is important you be as knowledgeable
as possible as it is a buyer's market and you don't want
to pay too much. Of course you also don't want to alienate
a web master whose site is a perfect match for you.
You also have the option to buy banner space on many search
engines and directories. Often this option allows you to
display your ad only to a targeted audience which can obviously
increase your chances for a successful campaign but it can
be a pricey option.
Banner ad networks are another targeted option that might
be more affordable. Individual web site owners contract with
a single company to serve their banner ads and handle ad
sales for them. In turn, these networks divide their sites
into categories and subcategories to allow advertisers to
advertise on particular sites within the network that are
the most highly targeted. They also offer very sophisticated
tracking tools that give you lots of valuable information
about who is visiting your site, and what actions they are
taking.
Some networks offer pay-per-click advertising which only
charges you when someone clicks on your banner and comes
to your site. However, this approach is subject to fraud
by unscrupulous site owners.
A pay-per-sale network, otherwise known as an affiliate
program, only charges the advertiser when a purchase is actually
made. The advertiser pays both the affiliate and the network
but only when there is a sale. Of course the competition
to attract quality affiliates is high so while this can be
effective it shouldn't be the only method of banner advertising
you use.
And some final banner advertising tips:
* Keep your message brief, direct and simple.
* Attract more attention using words such as "free" and "now".
* Put "click here" somewhere on the banner.
* Create different versions of the banner.
* Animate your banner but only if it improves it.
* Keep the file size as small as possible.
Deanna Mascle is the publisher of the internet marketing
newsletter
Establish
Your Epresence. She will be glad to explain how
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