Do Web site banner ads work?

All of us who spend time surfing the web see plenty of banner ads. While these ads come in all types of sizes and designs, they share one basic function, if you click on them, you are then linked to the advertiser’s Web site or information.

An advertiser that is interested in posting banner ads on other sites has three options. The advertiser can:
• Arrange to display banner ads for other companies in exchange for space to advertise their banner ad.
• Pay publisher sites to post its banner.
• Pay an organization, usually a banner network like DoubleClick or Flycast, to post the banner on a number of publisher sites.

Now, do banner ads work? There are mixed reviews on the success of banner ads. Reporting on click-through rates vary from .02% to 10-15%. However, the real bottom line appears to be in knowing how to use them.

In an Ezine Article Guaranteed Banner Success By Sean Houser, Houser reports “Some people don't like the thought of banner ads but they do work if you know how to use them.” The article goes through the important steps in making a banner ad on their suggested route to having a successful banner ad.

In another Ezine Article Useful Tips To Improve Online Banner Ad Effectiveness the author makes very informative suggestions on developing a successful online banner campaign. A few of those suggestions are:

Instead of placing the banner on the home page of a website, placing it on one of the sub-links will actually give you a much targeted audience. You will not be wasting impression on people who would as it is not be interested.

Design your banners carefully. Do not reveal too much in the banner otherwise people will not click on it to find out more

The size of the banner must be kept between 5 and 20K. It is just possible that the banner may not load as quickly as the rest of the page and your target customer has moved on to the next page.

Animated banners always attract more attention than static banners

And the list goes on and the article wraps up with -

Properly researched and placed banner ads are highly effective. They are effective in branding a company name as well as driving highly targeted traffic to your site.

So, do banner ads work? It appears to all depend on the creativity and marketing capabilities of the developer!

Understanding the advertising capabilities of Bluetooth

If you are looking for a creative, cost-effective method to advertise, Bluetooth Mediaserver may be what you are looking for.

My first Bluetooth experience was only a couple of months ago when my 15 year old daughter enlightened me on the basics of Bluetooth. Soon thereafter, I began to read and study more on the opportunities of advertising via Bluetooth and my findings were amazing. If you are like me and are totally clueless about Bluetooth you can find out almost everything you need to know at http://www.what-is-bluetooth.com/. In a nutshell, according to What Is Bluetooth, "The technology of Bluetooth wireless is a short range communications method intended to replace the cables that connect portable or fixed devices while maintaining the highest levels of security."

Also found on the What Is Bluetooth site is 10 Benefits Of Bluetooth.

1. Wireless - As you probably already know, there are many benefits and advantages to using wireless devices. Along with improving safety as a result of eliminating wires you don't need, wireless also offers you plenty of other advantages. When traveling with your laptop or other wireless devices, you'll no longer have to worry about bringing connection cables.

2. Bluetooth is actually inexpensive - The technology of Bluetooth is cheap for companies to implement, which results in lower costs for the company. These savings are then passed from the company on to you.

3. Bluetooth is automatic - Bluetooth doesn't have you set up a connection or push any buttons. When two or more devices enter a range of up to 30 feet of each other, they will automatically begin to communicate without you having to do anything.

4. Standardized protocol - Bluetooth is standardized wireless, meaning that a high level of compatibility among devices is guaranteed. Bluetooth will connect devices to each other, even if they aren't the same model.

5. Low interference - Bluetooth devices almost always avoid interference from other wireless devices. Bluetooth uses a technique known as frequency hopping, and also low power wireless signals.

6. Low energy consumption - As a result of Bluetooth using low power signals, the technology requires very little energy and will use less battery or electrical power as a result. This is an excellent benefit for mobile devices, as Bluetooth won't drain the battery.

7. Sharing voice and data - The standard for Bluetooth will allow compatible devices to share data and voice communications. This is great for mobile phones and headsets, as Bluetooth simplifies driving and talking on your cell phone.

8. Instant PAN (Personal Area Network)- You can connect up to seven Bluetooth devices to each other within a range of up to 30 feet, forming a piconet or PAN. For a single room, you can also set up multiple piconets.

9. Upgradeable - Upgradeable is the standard for Bluetooth. There are newer versions of Bluetooth in the works, which offer many new advantages and backward compatible with older versions.

10. The technology stays - Bluetooth technology is a world wide, universal wireless standard. With it being as popular as it is, you can count on it being around for years to come. As more and more devices start to use Bluetooth technology, more manufacturers will be eager to make their products compatible. A chain reaction will occur, making Bluetooth the standard for cutting edge wireless.

I'm sure you will agree that this is awesome technology! Never before have brands, information providers, and retailers been enabled with the technology to send content and direct response advertising directly to a consumer's mobile phone. All consumers within relative proximity of a particular destination, retail store, or area can now be a pre-qualified target audience!

Have you tried social marketing?

According to the Social Marketing Institute , social marketing is the planning and implementation of programs designed to bring about social change using concepts from commercial marketing.

Social marketing was "born" as a discipline in the 1970s, when Philip Kotler and Gerald Zaltman realized that the same marketing principles that were being used to sell products to consumers could be used to "sell" ideas, attitudes and behaviors. Kotler and Andreasen define social marketing as "differing from other areas of marketing only with respect to the objectives of the marketer and his or her organization. Social marketing seeks to influence social behaviors not to benefit the marketer, but to benefit the target audience and the general society” (Weinreich Communications).

So what exactly does all of this mean? After diligently searching through tons of Web sites I found a great article on About.com - Strategic Social Marketing for Nonprofits by Nedra Kline Weinreich the president and founder of Weinreich Communications (also mentioned above)and the author of Hands-On Social Marketing: A Step-by-Step Guide. In this article Weinrich says “Social marketing uses the same tools and techniques of commercial marketing, but its purpose is to bring about positive health and social change. Social marketing's bottom line is behavior change.” The article is excellent and lends an avenue for a better understanding of what social change really is all about.

Today social marketing is rampant. See example social marketing campaigns at http://www.wwu.edu/chw/preventionandwellness/grantpages/socialmarketing.htm.

Let's discuss mobile marketing!

And – we’re not talking about moving billboards! Mobile Marketing in this discussion refers to marketing on or with a mobile device, such as a cell phone. Mobile marketing offers a new way of connecting with consumers.

Marketing on a mobile phone has become increasingly popular since the beginning of SMS (Short Message Service). Some feel that mobile marketing is intrusive, however over the past few years SMS has become a legitimate avenue for advertising. This is because networks such as the IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau) and the Mobile Marketing Association have set guidelines and best practices for mobile advertising.

While Mobile Marketing is still in its infancy in the U.S., it has expanded rapidly in Europe and Asia as a new channel to reach the consumer. Initially receiving negative response and considered as a form of spam, there are now 100 million advertising SMS sent out every month in Europe alone.

SMS services typically run off a short code, but sending text messages to an email address is another methodology. Short codes are 5 or 6 digit numbers that have been assigned by all the mobile operators in a given country for the use of brand campaign and other consumer services. One key criterion is that the consumer opts in to the service. The mobile operators demand a double opt in from the consumer and the ability for the consumer to opt out of the service at any time by sending the word STOP via SMS. These guidelines are established in the MMA Consumer Best Practices Guidelines which are followed by all mobile marketers in the United States.

Can we trust what we read in a blog?

Just this week I talked with an editor friend who has recently added blogging to his publications. In a casual conversation about the new venture, we began to discuss the types of conversations taking place through blogging and he expressed to me his excitement in this new venture. As we talked further, he told me recently he had attended a trade show seminar where a heated conversation had broken out over some very misleading facts. The person stating them truly believed what he was saying was the truth; however it was very bogus information.

Our conversation then shifted again and we began to discuss how many people are reading bogus information from blogs or other online sources and because they are seeing the information in print, they are taking it to be the gospel. This untrue, misguiding information is becoming a huge problem of being able to trust the information we find on the Internet.

In an online article Creator of web warns of fraudsters and cheaters (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2006/nov/03/news.newmedia). Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the Briton who founded the web in the early 1990s, says “if the internet is left to develop unchecked, "bad phenomena" will erode its usefulness.” He warns that "there is a great danger that it becomes a place where untruths start to spread more than truths, or it becomes a place which becomes increasingly unfair in some way". He singles out the rise of blogging as one of the most difficult areas for the continuing development of the web, because of the risks associated with inaccurate, defamatory and uncheckable information.

In another article Which reporting can we trust? (http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/blogspotting/archives/2005/09/sitting_around.html) the article discusses how it is the responsibility of the reporter to verify the information before use. The article states “With bloggers, our circle of contacts grows exponentially, and we have to sort out what to believe. The world doesn’t put information into neat boxes for us. Each one of us is an editor. It’s up to us to divide the information we come across into three piles: I’ve heard, I believe, I know.” This is the bottom line for trusting information in blogs – it is up to us to know it is factual before thinking or saying that it is so.


Sources:
Business Week (2005). Which reporting can we trust? Retrieved online February 10, `2008 from http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/blogspotting/archives/2005/09/sitti ng_around.html
The Guardian (2006). Creator of web warns of fraudsters and cheats. Retrieved online February 10, 2008 from http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2006/nov/03/news.newmedia

What sorts of emerging media are you exposed to and how do you feel about it? (Part two)

Until recently I didn’t pay much attention to the use of blogs. If they were being used much within my industry I didn’t realize it but all of a sudden they are all around me. Just a few days ago a friend within the industry sent me a message saying “My recent blog on gas stations advertising ethanol-free gasoline has struck a chord with a few readers. I thought you’d be interested to see what people are saying. http://www.fuelpub.com/interactive/2008/01/24/real-gas-sold-here-real-ignorance-too/”.

Today, as I attended a biodiesel conference in Orlando, Florida, I received an email with the subject line – Biodiesel Conference Blog Live. When opening the email, the message reads - “The National Biodiesel Conference & Expo is in full swing in Orlando, Fla. But if you can't be at the conference, we'll bring the conference to you! Check out all the day's highlights as they happen with the Conference Blog. You'll find out the latest in industry developments, including what new diesel vehicles will be on hand for today's Ride-and-Drive, and what the pulse is on industry issues like sustainability and fuel quality. The pictures and audio interviews will make you feel like you're there!

It’s amazing to me to see these blogs in use all around me. I’m glad that I now feel I can begin to use blogs as a marketing communication tool too!

What sorts of emerging media are you exposed to and how do you feel about it?

As I begin to explore more types of new media, I actually am becoming quite fascinated with the various types of emerging media. Over the last few weeks I’ve began dabbling in the use of blue-tooth technology which is quite fascinating. I purchased a new cell phone and my 15 year old daughter took it from me to activate the Bluetooth so she could share with me different ring-tones, etc. That was an education in itself and I'm not totally sure if I even halfway understand it but it appears to be remarkable technology. However, that topic will need to wait until I have a better understanding of its capabilities.

One emerging media, however, that I am starting to understand, partake in, and see the value of, is blogging. Blogs, in my opinion, allow an informal, unstructured, exchange of information that is an incredible opportunity for marketers. This new media opens a door to two-way communication and allows a “no barriers” feeling with participants which allows them to openly express their likes, dislikes, concerns, and ideas for improvement. Many top corporations have set up blogs which their CEOs/COOs actually take part in giving participants that “connected” feeling and are having great success with feedback.

One blog that I have found very interesting is the General Motors Corporation (GM) FastLane blog (http://fastlane.gmblogs.com/). This blog is set up to discuss GM vehicles but because of GM’s aggressive alternative fuel and advanced technology vehicle developments, the discussions of the blog ultimately end up on the alternative vehicle options; GM and its competitors’ involvement; and participant views on what Americans need to do to reduce our energy dependence and to clean up our smog-filled skies.

Another positive thing about blogs is that they bring together an abundance of information on the topic being discussed. With all of the information and the number of comments and different opinions, a visitor can get a lot of information on a topic in one area. However, it is always important to remember postings and comments in a blog are “opinion” based and not always “fact” based.