Sorry, Advertising is Required
It’s almost impossible to interact with the Internet without running into online advertising. Some people complain about it until the cows come home, but the truth of the matter is that online advertising isn’t going anywhere because it works. Online advertising is one of the most successful promotional campaigns on the Internet today.
Period… End of story… Shall we move on?
Don’t assume that spending money on advertising is a more effective promotional strategy. Paid advertising is just one strategy of many – and it’s at least as effective as the paths you’ve already taken! There are at least four different types of online advertising – two of which are rather new (video and audio) and two of which are the most popular (text and graphic). Below, we’re going to investigate the most popular forms.
Banner Advertising
You’re probably most familiar banner ads as a type of graphic advertisement. Banner ads are those rectangular pictures you see all over the place with little text blurbs that say, “Click Here!” or “Click Me!” This promotional strategy is similar to the link exchange strategy – only instead of exchanging links, you’re paying another person to put your banner (and a link to your website) on their website. And since you’re paying for this opportunity, you’re not obligated to return the favor with a reciprocal banner or link.
Ad Placement
To get your money’s worth, you want to be a little judicious about where you place your banner ads. We would never think about advertising our banner ad on a website about cats for example, because our products and services have nothing to do with cats. We want to advertise our banner ad on websites about outsourcing or online business instead. That way, we can attract the attention of people who already have outsourcing or online business on their minds, and who just might want to use our services.
CPM
CPM stands for “cost per thousand impressions,” and when you inquire about it, you’re really asking what the cost is per impression – that is, how much do you need to fork over each time your banner ad is shown to the public. Typically, this will cost you about 2 -15 cents per impression, and if you want your banner ad to show up on another website at least a thousand times, your cost would run around $20 – $150. That’s not bad, except a busy website can easily produce a thousand impressions within one fourth of a day!
Conditions
In addition to cost inquires, you’ll also want to know where your banner will display. Ideally, your banner ad should be placed in a readily visible area of the website – not hidden or buried deep into a directory structure where no one really clicks unless they’re hideously bored! You’ll want your banner ad in the forefront where everyone will see it – and to guarantee your preferred position, you may have to negotiate costs.
You’ll also need to ask about other conditions surrounding your advertising adventure. For example, you might need to sign a contract, pay with a specific credit card, restrict your banner ad to a certain size, or follow other limitations. Before you commit to an agreement, you want to be absolutely sure you understand what you are or aren’t allowed to do with your banner ad.
Banner Design
Designing a banner can be tricky business and some folks leave it to professional artists. You can certainly choose this route, but you can also “cheat” by using a free online banner creator instead. Using the free service at CoolText (http://cooltext.com/), you can select a typeface you like, and make a few adjustments in the size of the letters, maybe the color, and perhaps the texture of the letters as well.
After making a few changes to the options provided and submitting the form, you’re presented with a presentable banner image. Save this image by downloading it to your hard drive and email it to the lucky website that you’ll advertise on.
E-zine Advertising
E-zines, or newsletters, are another viable advertisement avenue that shouldn’t be ignored in favor of website advertising. There are countless e-zines that accept advertising – text advertising that is, and you can set up your e-zine advertising campaign just like you set up your banner ad campaign:
- 1. Find a list of e-zines related to your product or service.
- 2.Introduce yourself in an email to the owners of these e-zines and ask how you can advertise in their newsletters.
If you’re not quite sure what to say in a text ad, just think of what you’d write for a classified ad. Start with your signature and expand on it. Just don’t be intimidated by the plethora of available e-zines. Visit the E-Zine List instead and search for an appropriate newsletter by name or by keyword! Current events can be found in our E-zine Advertising News section.
External Resources:
1. Online Marketing Inside Out
2. The Complete Guide to Google Advertising
3. The Hidden Truth Behind Effective Advertising in Today’s Cut Throat Market
