Banner Advertising

Don't Abandon the Banner:

Banner Advertising Rap is Undeserved
 

When 71% of online visitors want advertisers to reach them

with traditional banner ads_[1] and banners were 33% of

online spending (Jan-June 2002),_[2] projected to $8.1 billion

in 2005,_[3] how do advertisers mind their budgets with

success despite decreasing click-thru rates?    

Testing and Conversion

"Less is more," advises Matt Ramirez, as Hello Direct moves

away from big skyscraper ads.  "Big, flashy ads did not work." 

Smaller, and a lot less flashy ads are the key to their success.

Laurie Beasley, Beasley Direct, suggests test quantities of

12+ creatives (six minimum ads; never fewer than three) to

test marketing & creative approaches, offers and price points

based on client goals.

Andrew Witty, President, I-MAX Direct, recommends a media

test with a sizable network to track and optimize with a cap

of 1 message/visitor/day. "The click-thru rate may be under

.5% today, but it's all about price."

Neil Barrett, Advertising On The Internet,_[4] summarizes

traffic success:

1.    Optimize placement

2.    Refresh creative often

3.    Use action words such as "click here" & offer information

4.    Keep the ad sizes to standard sizes and recommended file sizes

Optimize by negotiating for multiple placements, and "higher"

(more visible) placement in a site.  Everyone benefits with

improved placement.  A wide variety of creative sizes,

newsletter and solo email versions increase venues & frequency. 

Review payout to sweeten a deal.  One telecom advertiser

doubled site income using the CPA over the CPC payout and

fired up promotion & sales.

Pay more to target when run-of-site performs.  Conversions

often improve.  Working a niche is key to long-term success

for companies like ClubMom, explaining why sponsorship

dollars are 24%_[5] of online expenditures.

45% of banner advertising is sold on a CPM basis ($1-4)_[6]

while performance-based payouts (CPA) are on the upswing,

hitting 15%_[7] (Jan-June 2002).  Cost-per-click and hybrid

models, combinations of CPM, CPC, and CPA make up the

difference.

Banner exchanges, bartering by placing ads on your site for

those that do the same for you, are prolific.  Decide whether

devoting time & site real estate syncs with your marketing/

creative goals and management resources.  The best return

for your time invested is to handpick sites that synergistically

fit your goals and content.

Creative sizes vary from the well-known full (468x60) banner to a handful of standard formats (www.iab.net/standards/adunits.asp). Limit file sizes to 10-15k for maximum acceptance.

Lead generation through co-registration, text offers where consumers clicking on a checkbox agree to give up personal information delivered in fields, such as name, email, physical address, and phone for a CPC price, is a good "list-building tool," says Witty, who warns, "don't sit on that lead."  Prices average $.10-$.50+ per coreg.

Traffic can also be generated simply & successfully by textlinks, promotional copy underscored with a hyperlink. Strong traffic costs $.30-.50 per click.

Intrusive pop-ups have annoyed so many that some sites decline this format.  Many advertisers, however, use pop-ups effectively at their own sites to increase the numbers of completed forms. Many sites accept pop-unders, a subtler version seen as visitors exit.  Both versions are sold generally on a CPM basis.  Good quantities average $2 CPM.

Rich media creative ($30-40)_[8] is growing exponentially with increased capacity to receive large files with speed.  Two leaders of the trend in eye-catching creative are Eyeblaster & Shoshkeles.  See http://www.emerginginterest.com/ for the latest news.

Results can be tracked & analyzed instantly.  "Cookies" allow advertisers to track visitors.  Individual tracking URLs assigned to each site give credit where it's due.  Cookie duration varies from 30 days to lifetime.  Longer is the obvious site preference.

Oh, by the way, there is "little correlation between click-thru rates and sales conversion" according to a study by Atlas DMT[9].  In fact, 13% of visitors are repeat.  Banners proved to be an "effective tool to increase lifetime value" as conversion from previous visitors was 2.5 times greater than first-timers.

1 eMarketer 2002, WSJ Oct. 2001

2 IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report, Sept. 2002

3 eMarketer, Dec. 2002, US Online Advertising dollars

4 Kogan Page Limited, 1997

5 IAB Internet Advertising Revenue Report, Sept. 2002

6 eMarketer, Dec. 2002