Why advertisers are to blame for lousy web sales

From: Janet Attard <attard_at_businessknowhow.com>
Date: Tue 18 Dec 2001 14:21:37 -0500

Here's a perfect example of why advertisers have
no one to blame except themselves and maybe their
agencies for lousy results from web advertising.

I saw an banner ad for a product I was thinking
about buying, so clicked on it for more information.
There was a good price (the price was readily
visible, which as a consumer/online shopper I like.)
There was a good special offer with it - at least a
perfect one for me, since what was being tossed in
with the sale was exactly the type of article I knew
my husband (who I was looking for a gift for) would
like.

But after a brief description of the product and offer
was this sentence:

"This special deal is available only at the [brand
name product] Store, and only until November 1, 2001."

Mind you, I just clicked on that banner this morning
(Dec. 17, 2001). And I then clicked the page closed.
No purchase. Online sale lost. I'll go look
for something similar - possibly from a competing
manufacturer - in a local retail store.

Now, where was the agency that placed that ad on sites?
Did they READ the ad? How about the advertiser? Did THEY
have anyone reading the ad? But guess what? Web publishers
and the economy and a lot of other non-relevant things
are the ones that will probably be blamed when few if any
sales are made. And there will be even more attempts to
chisel down the prices for web ads.

Maybe if both advertisers and their agencies actually
looked at the ads that were placed and talked to sites,
they'd get better results.


--Janet Attard (attard_at_businessknowhow.com)
Author, The Home Office and Small Business Answer Book
Content development, web development, surveys, online
directories
More than 13 years experience building online content
and community sites
http://www.businessknowhow.com and http://www.careerknowhow.com





Received on Tue Dec 18 2001 - 13:21:37 CST