NONE: Re: ONLINE-ADS> How to SELL web advertising
Re: ONLINE-ADS> How to SELL web advertising
treknews_at_juno.com
Fri, 27 Mar 1998 22:08:41 -0500
>I may be missing the point here, but I wouldn't spend a second looking
>at things like click-throughs etc. Heck, I don't even know what half the
>terminology means.
>
>I advertise for one purpose only - to make sales. I judge media buys
>on one basis only - I count the sales and calculate how profitable that
>media buy was. All the figures inbetween mean nothing.
>
>So, how to SELL advertising. Show me how other advertisers have made
>the buy and seen SALES. In other words, show me it works.
I understand exactly what you're saying, but there is a significant flaw
in your reasoning, and that is:
"Web site banner ads don't close a sale."
I know - I can hear the collective "gulp" of this entire list as they
read this, all scampering for their pens, hoping their boss doesn't see
this message. But it's true. If you place a banner ad on my site, that ad
is not there to generate sales for you, and no web site owner in his
right mind could guarantee sales. Why? Because once a user clicks on that
ad, they are taken away from *my* site, and brought to *yours*. And it is
*your* web site that closes the sale.
Think of it this way. You are a visitor browsing my web site, and you see
an ad for widgets. Now, you need widgets - in fact you had planned to
make a run to the widget store this afternoon. But, figuring you can save
yourself some trouble, you click on the banner to order your widgets from
the advertiser's site.
You arrive at the advertiser's site, find exactly the right size widget
for your needs, decide that the shipping and handling fee is reasonable,
and you place your order. Bam! There's a sale!
But... what happens if the advertiser's site doesn't have the size widget
that you need - or that size is out of stock? Or what if the shipping and
handling fee is so high that it isn't worth it to you to buy that widget?
Is that the fault of my web site, where you happened to see the ad? No -
that's a problem with the advertiser's web site. This is a clear instance
of a web site banner ad delivering a customer, but the advertiser's site
failing to sell the product to the customer.
What I'm trying to say here is that, you can't judge performance
completely in terms of sales if you're dealing with the web. Because
every customer who clicks on a banner is a *possible* sale, and it's
entirely up to the advertiser to make them a definite sale.
And I have to say to those sites out there who have *ever* said "I'm
getting tons of click-throughs, but no sales, so you aren't delivering
good clicks", that you should probably take a look at your web site and
see where you can improve things. Yes, it's possible I'm not delivering
good clicks, but it's entirely possible that your site isn't selling the
product effectively.
Just my point of view, but I think many webmasters will agree with me on
this one.
Take care,
Jason Ellis
TREKNEWS.COM
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