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If you are pondering over the benefits of the revenue spent on online advertising and marketing or wondering if it was a bad idea to attempt brand-building through your corporate blog, wonder no more. The Internet Advertising Bureau, in its latest report, has made it very clear that online advertising, for years the poorer cousin of print and TV commercials, has finally arrived.
Online advertising revenues topped $5 billion in the Q3 of 2007 and are expected to exceed $6 billion in Q4. Both are industry records and industry pundits predict it is just the beginning. Some analysts say online advertising revenues will double from more than $21 billion in 2007 to $42 billion in 2011. Others say that projection is conservative. Without doubt, this is an industry poised for exponential growth in the upcoming years as more and more companies are aligning budgets to reap the many benefits of online marketing.
The reason for the renewed interest in online advertising is simple: when done correctly, it is arguably the most cost efficient, effective, and accountable form of advertising around. Progressive marketers have learned this and are consistently intertwining traditional media with new media to create shockingly powerful marketing programs. But just like any other form of marketing, the key to online marketing is doing it correctly.
So what’s the secret sauce in a successful online marketing program? Understanding the client’s objectives and the websites capabilities are just the beginning of the process. Here are some ingredients of the recipe:
Local media websites have unique audiences
You might be surprised to hear that local media websites have unique audiences. I know I was. Local media websites are either doing an excellent job of providing their audiences with everything they need; or people must be very loyal to their news brand because they aren’t visiting multiple local media websites. The overlap numbers are generally less than 15% on most ad campaigns. We track this on every one of our client’s campaigns and see the same thing over and over again in markets all across the country. So what does this mean? An online media plan consisting of multiple local media websites will get excellent reach in the market.
And remember, that audience is predominantly local.
Online Advertising Campaigns Run Across Multiple Sites, Multiplies Results
Because local media websites have unique audiences, we build our media plans with similar Reach and Frequency tactics as broadcast buyers. To achieve high reach numbers in a market, we typically will include as many local websites as possible. Including 30 or more local websites on a market campaign can be a lot of work, but the payoff can be huge. Ironically, it’s usually the small sites on the plan that generally perform the best.
Online ads effect branding in a big way
People remember banner messages and they do respond to them in more ways than just clicking. Many recent studies have shown that online marketing and advertising is a key catalyst for brand recall. Because of this, we often include phone numbers or other direct response information on the banner ads themselves.
Use Banner Ads as a part of Your Online Advertising Efforts
While we never overlook the obvious benefits of online branding, at the end of the day, people DO click on banner ads. Well placed campaign on the right local sites at the right time with the right creative can see rates two to five times higher than average. The good news is that people typically don’t click on a banner ad unless they are truly interested in learning more about the message. This is all the more reason to have a compelling page on the other side of the click.
Start Online Advertising with the end game in mind
One of the biggest disappointments is a poor conversion rate after a “clicker” arrives on the linked website. Usually, that is due to the website itself, not the quality or quantity of audience sent to it. Fortunately, this can usually be easily remedied by matching a landing page to the online marketing message, which in turn creates a good customer experience. We rarely link a banner campaign to the front page of a client’s site, but rather produce a specific page that ties directly to the message or offer that propelled the consumer to click in the first place. So, starting with the end result in mind serves as a target of sorts for your online advertising efforts.
