| Online Advertising-Your
Benefits |
You can be reached 24 hours a
day.
- 11pm in New York is 1pm in Japan the next day, so
when you are about to go to sleep, Japanese are busy
working. In the evening when people are browsing the
internet in Japan, people in San Francisco are still
fast asleep. Wouldn't it be
great to have some good news waiting for you at office
first thing in the morning?
While you're sleeping, people around the world are still
doing business. Let your web site keep you from missing
out on the action.
Your company's
name will be displayed in front of prospective customers
when they are searching information related to
your products and services.
- More and more professionals are using internet to
get information for their daily work. Once you register your web site with portals or
search engines you will have more opportunity to present
your site to prospective customers. If they like
it and understand it, they are sure to bookmark it and
keep coming back.
You'll have a
head start on your competition.
- There are still relatively few companies who have
used online ads actively. If
you act now you'll
have a jump on your competition. If not, there's a good
chance they'll get the jump on you.
Corrections or
additions can be made anytime.
- If you choose to advertise in something like the
yellow pages, you'd have to wait an entire year before
making any changes. You can make changes in brochures
quickly, but that can be costly. Web sites are so
interactive that changes can be made quickly and
cheaply, so your customers can be made aware of any new
developments right away.
Save on printing
and mailing costs.
- Making brochures can be very expensive. Add to that
the postage, which can be as much or more than the cost
of the brochures themselves if you are sending them
overseas, and you've got yourself a pricey bit of
advertisement which may even end up in the circular file
unread. You can reduce these costs greatly by
advertising on the web.
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Exposure on the Web can open new doors for
your business
If your goal is to deliver your message to a targeted
audience, nothing is more effective than the Internet. The adage "build it
and they will come" rings true with the Web. It enables you to deliver
direct messages to your audience and develop relationships with individual
consumers. Not only that, it is extremely cost effective when performed on a
large scale. But if you lack fresh content or other resources for the multitude
of surfers online—they won't stay—and they won't come back.
Demographics show that the Web boasts quite a desirable audience. According to
Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), 65 percent of Web users have an annual
household income above $50,000 and 75 percent attended or graduated from
college. Approximately 42 percent are female, and the average user is 34.9 years
old. According to market sage Jupiter Communications, growth on the World Wide
Web is exploding. The company projects that online revenue will reach $7.7
billion by 2002.
By targeting your content through highly focused advertising
environments, you can reach the market you want. The Internet is loaded with
sites catering to specific interests. It's highly probable that there is a site
out there that closely matches the interests of your target audience, and is
looking for advertisers.
What can an online ad do?
An online advertisement can create the maximum effect if your marketing efforts
involve any of the following strategies: introducing, branding, promoting a
product or service, generating leads, announcing new products, or establishing
an online presence. The ad meets the eyes of potential customers head-on. And
whether they click on your ad or not, you still get exposure, which in-turn
builds brand awareness and company recognition among a general audience.
Real, measurable benefits
The greatest advantage of Web advertising over traditional media is the ability
to track, via impressions, the number of people who see your ad. Impressions are
the number of times a reader is exposed to your banner. Other forms of media can
only provide estimates based on circulation or a projected number of TV viewers
or radio listeners.
If your goal is to build awareness, you should strive to
maximize the number of people who see your ad. But remember that the number will
vary depending on the scope your audience. Obviously, the more specific the
targeted audience, the lower the overall numbers will be, but your ad will be
more effective among those it does reach.
Advertising objectives can change with your campaign. Be sure
to evaluate your goals at the beginning of each new ad campaign.
Generating response, usually defined as driving traffic to
your site, is especially important if you are launching a new product or online
presence. If your main goal is driving people to your site, you must make your
banner message enticing. Point out a special offer, grab their attention, or
spark their curiosity. Don't highlight a product's benefits—this can be done
effectively once the visitors reach your site. Make their visits worthwhile:
when people find something relevant at the end of a click, they're more likely
to click again.
Generating response goes a long way with creating awareness,
so be sure to include your logo in the banner.
Measure the click through rate
Traditionally, direct response is the most quantifiable form of advertising. But
even direct-response ads can't compare with what you can accomplish on the Web.
On the Net, you can measure not only how many times your ad is delivered, but
also the number of clicks the ad generates. The percentage of impressions
resulting in clicks is your click through rate, which is a good indication of
response.
Typical click through rates for banner ads range from one to
five percent. The rates are affected by many factors, including what is
advertised (the breadth of your product's appeal), how it's advertised (the
quality of your ad), and where the ad runs. Some sites offer daily click-through
reports so you can evaluate each ad's response rate and modify your program for
maximum efficacy.
Don't rely entirely on click through rates when judging your
ad's effectiveness. You should also look at page hits (that is, the average
number of pages visitors see when they reach your site) and any action or
interactivity on those pages.
Drive sales
Web ads can effectively convince people to take action when they visit your
site-to make a purchase, enter a contest, fill out a survey, or otherwise
volunteer information. This technique is often called conversion. To achieve
conversion, your banner must persuade people to do something once they reach
your site. Be sure the advertised action appears on the first page they reach.
Conversion occurs only when your site delivers what your ad promises.
To drive sales to a general audience, try to establish a need
for your company's product or service. To drive sales to a targeted audience,
provide a clear, immediate solution that potential customers can't do without.
The Internet hasn't changed the basic premise of advertising,
but it has added a new dynamic twist to what we know as traditional advertising
strategies. To get the most out of your Internet advertising, you need to
understand the Web and advertising. Keeping up with the Web advertising market
isn't easy but the potential benefit is huge. Make sure visitors have a reason
to come to your site, a reason to stay at your site, and a reason to come back.
Then stay on top by tracking and maximizing the results.
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