Media Buying Series (Which Ads to Run) – Part 2
In this section I want to view some of the many ways one can go about online media buying. After reading the first part of this series I hope we can agree about a couple of things: 1.) Online media buying is effective, and, 2.) For it to be effective your website (home as I like to call it) needs to be suitable for visitors. Deciding on what type of media campaign to run is a decision only you can make; tailored towards your specific website.
There are a number of opportunities available and picking the right one should not be too difficult.
Starting with the most basic form of media buying available…
Text Advertisements
The majority of text ads can be seen along side relevant search results and are displayed based on a keyword phrase. However, search engines are not the only way these ads can be viewed. Ad networks such as AdBrite.com and TextLinkAds.com specialized in placing ads near related content. The publisher and advertiser both have to agree on which ads can be ran.
Depending on how much you’re willing to spend on an ad campaign, you may choose to load $5.00 into a Pay Per Click (PPC) campaign with Google Adwords, Yahoo Search Marketing or Microsoft Adcenter – these are the top three traffic producing search engines online. When Yahoo first started to place ads along side their search results, it was a 100% auction based system (the advertiser with the highest bid received the # 1 spot). Now, the majority of search engines placing text ads include ad relevancy, landing page quality as well as keyword bid to be factors playing into ad rank. Most text advertising campaigns can be setup for a minimal cost with bids as low as $0.05 / click.
Display Ads
Display advertising is one of the fastest growing means of advertising online. Some say it’s failing, but it all depends on ad relevance. Yes, cheap banner popups unrelated to the visitor and site content will always suffer. However, the more we learn to target the consumer and understand his/or wishes, the better display ads will perform. The question always comes up…which display ads work best, and how do I place them? Again, deciding on which size and form of ads work best will always be geared towards your site. But, to be more specific, display ads have always came in a number of shapes and sizes…the most common are: 125×125, 120×90, 234×60, 468×60 & 728×90. Most ad networks will require you to have at least one of these (however, in dealing with a publisher directly – you can be as creative as you want). If you are not a designer, it’s best to have someone who SPECIALIZES in creating banner ADS (not just a designer) so they will be effective when you launch your campaign. A site I’ve used in the past is www.20DollarBanners.com. Try Google-ing “banner ad design” and choose one you like.
Please keep in mind, display ads are not always effective in dealing with action based campaigns. You’ll find that banner ads will have a considerably lower Click Through Ratio (CTR) vs. Text Ads…a visitor is more likely to click through when someone is telling them something vs. showing a few graphics. If done right, a banner ad can almost be equally effective. Just make sure the content shown in the banner is in sync with what is being viewed on the landing page.
Video Ads
In the age of YouTube, and with online users spending an increasing amount of time watching media…this form of advertising can be very effective. It can be done several ways: 1.) The video ad is created by the advertiser to display rich content…. or, 2.) An ad is shown momentarily inside a video created by a 3rd party – such as a newscast. Companies like Hulu.com, who show re-runs of popular TV shows and movies, are partnering with networks and monetizing them by displaying 20-30 second ads…the same can be said about newscasts on YouTube. Since the distribution of online content is increasing by the second, and the consumer is expecting it to be free, the only way to bring in revenue is through video advertising (excluding the standard on site ads).
Major search engines are even catching on to the idea of video advertising. On the Google content network you can choose to run custom video ads or display text ads inside You Tube videos. Yahoo & AOL also have similar programs one can opt into.
Interstitial Ads
This is another growing form of online advertising. As we see newspapers and magazines slowly make their way online, one way to capture the attention of the visitor (before they can view their desired content) is to place a full page ad in front of them. In fact, this is becoming a preferred method of advertising for websites because they are showing in the background and it does not interrupt the user experience. Also, the visitor has the option to skip over the advertisement…but their attention has been captured; therefore the branding process begins. Some sits have not caught onto the concept of interstitial advertising yet, so only a select group of networks allow you to run them.
E-mail Ads – Newsletter Advertising
One of the best examples I’ve seen of e-mail/newsletter advertising is the political ad warning you of impending danger “unless you take action”…and then at the very end they try and sell you an “emergency radio.” This is a common practice for political candidates and other non-profit groups who have you sign up for their “Free Newsletter.” However, since the newsletter is FREE…there has to be a SPONSOR. The sponsor will place an ad at the end of the newsletter stating “the bills have to be paid.” Regardless of the reasoning, these ads can be very effective since this person was willing to give out their e-mail (in the age of mass spam) and you’ve already captured their attention with your message; especially if the ad is closely tied to your topic. When using this method, be aware of all CAN SPAM laws and any type of necessary disclaimer notifying the consumer of a paid advertisement.
Site Sponsoring
Should you choose to contact a publisher directly (networks offer this as well) you may be able to become the Official Sponsor of a given website. Such as, “this information was made available by Tide.” Large companies do this all the time…and if you find a website who can cut you a deal at the right price…it can be extremely effective. This not only adds validity to your company (especially if the site is an authority on a subject)…but the consumer tends to develop loyalty with an advertiser “providing something.” Your ads will also be seen on a continual basis to regular visitors…vs. a random banner popping up here and there. Some websites choose to create an Our Sponsors section…and again, when you are “sponsoring” something the consumer already likes…they are more willing to put you in their trust column, so to speak.
Behavioral Advertising
In recent years, larger ad-networks have come out with a form of advertising called Re-Targeting. Basically, the ads are served due to visitor behavior such as: online purchases, browsing patterns, search engine queries…and, at times, demographic data. In past re-targeting campaigns I’ve ran…results have proven to be 15% better than a standard 1st time advertising campaign. Let’s say Network A has 15,000 publishers. One of those websites for Network A happens to be Visa. Visitor A lands on Visa’s website…views an ad promoting card sign ups, clicks on the ad, however, they don’t commit, and leave the site. But, Visitor A happens to be a news junkie and cruises over to CNN, which is apart of Network A…and Visa “re-targets” this user with an ad saying something to the effect of “Still Looking for a Visa?” Now Visitor A feels all warm and fuzzy inside without even knowing what took place. The whole time they are thinking, “wow, maybe I should sign up for a Visa”…and a familiar trigger fires in their brain. It’s called Smart Marketing, people.
Since we just covered the most common forms of online advertising, next I want to take you inside the networks and do a walk through of how this “media buying” thing is done. Until next time.
