NONE: Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Too much content?
Re: ONLINE-ADS>> Too much content?
Andy Bourland (andy_at_andover.net)
Tue, 06 May 1997 09:24:50 -0400
At 08:23 AM 5/6/97 -0400, Jason Baer wrote:
>
>Like many sites, azfamily.com is working on wrapping relevant content
>around advertising messages. We hope that these microsites will
>generate solid results by keeping the marketing process immediate and
>tidy (and on our server).
>
>A question keeps popping up, however? How much content is too much
>content as it relates to ad-supported messages? Does anyone know of
>some on-line information studying ideal length of pages (word count),
>or reliable estimates of average sessions (page count or time) for
>users?
I think it's a trial and error proposition, Jason. We have done several
microsites for advertisers with mixed results.
If you check out the front page of Dave Central
(http://www.davecentral.com), you will see that we have two "Dave's
Featured Downloads" areas set up. One links to a single page microsite,
another to a 5 page microsite. We label these as "sponsored information" to
make sure that people know that they are, in fact, going into an
"advertorial" or "infomercial" content area that is paid for by sponsors.
For confidentiality reasons, I can't disclose the results for these
particular advertisers, but let's just say we need to evolve this medium a
little further. Both advertisers were open to experimenting with an
approach to advertising that went "beyond the banner" and offered a better
presentation of their product than a typical banner campaign could provide.
One thing for sure: the people who actually visited the microsites were
much more highly qualified and likely to download than those who may have
clicked on a more compelling, if not mysterious banner ad.
What motivated our trek into microsites was a comment from one of our
advertisers (commenting about their results on numerous sites over the past
six months or so) that they were experiencing a 60% abandonment rate after
the first page. In other words, if you assume that 2% of all people who saw
an ad clicked on it, the net was more like .8% who actually did something
like registering or downloading or going further. Pretty pathetic.
We still haven't found the perfect solution, but we try to work with our
advertisers to ensure a clearer link -- visually and content wise --
between their banners and the resulting middle page.
Looking forward to hearing more from others on this topic...
Andrew Bourland http://www.cooltool.com
VP Online Business Development http://www.davecentral.com
Andover.net http://www.mediabuilder.com
508.635.5300 (v) http://www.slaughterhouse.com
508.635.5326 (f) http://www.softseek.com
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