Re: The next big thing

From: Svetlana Savitskaya <svs_at_csp.org.by>
Date: Tue 23 Jan 2001 12:54:51 -0500

PANTELIS DIMITRIOU <DimitriouP_at_sharelink.com.cy> WROTE:
> Since I am new both to this listserv and the world of
> online advertising, I have a question to ask which may
> sound dumb but here goes... Are banner ads dying? And
> if yes what do you think is the next big thing in
> internet advertising?

Hello Pantelis,

Banner advertising continues to stay a most effective
way to inform your potential customers about the
products or services you offer. A lot of people say
that banners are dead. But this kind of promotion is
still popular among advertisers. Its share is about 56
percent of the whole amount of money the Internet has
earned from advertising. The closest rival -
sponsorship - got only 26 percent.

How to advertise successfully with banners? Don't think
that'll be easy. First of all you must create a banner
itself. Make it no more than 15 K. This is the limit
for almost all banners exchange network in the world.
Otherwise you have no chance of your banner being shown
on other sites. This rule was adopted in order not to
irritate people who are downloading a web page. It
happened a long, long ago when Internet connections
were relatively slow, but up till now the rule is still
valid.

Always try to give viewers of your banner as much
information as you can. Remember that the number of
click-through rate (a digit which characterizes how
many viewers click on banners) has falling
significantly within the last few years. So, in order
to attract potential visitors to your web site you have
to show them something interesting. Get them intrigued
- and you get another visitor. But on the other hand,
it is desirable for the text and image of your banner
to have something in common with the information on
your site. There is nothing more stupid than using
so-called "effective bates" like girls in tempting
poses or a slogan like "Win a million dollars" for a
financial services site of or something like that. You
only need those visitors, who are really interested in
the information on your site.

Banners must be shown. That is why you have to either
buy advertising space on popular sites such as Yahoo!
or enter to a banner exchange network. The last option
is more preferable for small sites, which aren't going
to spend a lot of money on promotion (or, rather,
aren't going to spend any at all). But if you are a
solid and respectable company, we do recommend you
buying ad. space.

How to calculate effectiveness of your ad campaign? It
can now be measured using technology that records the
number of times a banner ad is viewed, as well as the
number of times users click through to the advertisers'
web sites. What kind of advertising you choose depends
on the aims of your site. If you are an online retailer
you would obviously be interested in attracting extra
visitors on your site. If you are just promoting your
product or service, advertising on the banner itself
would be the more preferable choice.

Of course, as faster web connections and increased
bandwidth become more widely available, many experts
are saying that a moving picture will be the future of
online advertising. But, for now, banners still have a
solid place among other types of web promotion. So, try
not to miss the opportunity they can give you.

Best regards,
Svetlana Savitskaya
Marketing Manager

WEB SPACE STATION
Web Design and Software Development
E-mail: svs_at_csp.org.by
http://www.web-space-station.com





Received on Tue Jan 23 2001 - 11:54:51 CST