Hitting the mark: online advertising tactics that work. (Internet Advertising).Think Internet advertising Delivering ads to Internet users via Web sites, e-mail, ad-supported software and Internet-enabled cellphones. Also called an "ad network," Internet advertising organizations act as a middleman between the advertiser and the Web sites and software publishers that display the ads. just doesn't work? Think again. Sixty-two percent of respondents to a recent Research.net survey report that online advertising helps them make buying decisions. Today's savvy Internet advertisers have embraced the idea of focused information in targeted markets with the goal of building long-term relationships--and it's working. Here are some tactics that range from fairly simple and inexpensive to the more pricey Pricey Term used for an unrealistically low bid price or unrealistically high offer price. pricey Of, relating to, or being an unrealistically high offer. An offer to sell a security at $50 when the current market price is $47 is pricey. and time intensive. SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION Designing a Web site so that search engines easily find the pages and index them. The goal is to have your page be in the top 10 results of a search. Optimization includes the choice of words used in the text paragraphs and the placement of those words on the page, both visible and hidden The Research.net survey found that 73 percent of respondents use the Web to find out about new products, and the search engine is their research tool of choice. So, your first line of action should be to focus on your own Web site. Search engine optimization is one of the easiest and least expensive online marketing tools--it's all about getting your name to the top of the search engine rankings Search engine ranking is a measure of the online promotional success of a web page or website. Most search engines default to ten organic or natural listings per page. Many include sponsor links before or to the right of the results. . Following are techniques for increasing search engine optimization. Once you select some tactics, be sure to stay on top of best practices so they don't become obsolete. Search Engine Watch Search Engine Watch (SEW) is a website that provides news and information about search engines and search engine marketing. [1] Search Engine Watch was started by Danny Sullivan in 1996. , www.searchenginewatch.com, provides tips and information about searching the Web and analysis of the search engine industry. Directory Listings: Most search engines have Yellow Page-like directory listings by subject. Many are free and just require basic editorial approval. Check out Google's Business directory as an example http://directory.google.com/Top/Business. Page Optimization: Text treatment on your own Web site can make a big difference. For example, the HTML HTML in full HyperText Markup Language Markup language derived from SGML that is used to prepare hypertext documents. Relatively easy for nonprogrammers to master, HTML is the language used for documents on the World Wide Web. title field (the name of a page displayed at the top of a browser window) is important and influential with most search engines, so is the actual text or HTML body of a page. A strong page will have a title with keywords (such as, "Orange County's Best Restaurant Tax Accountants") and the body of text should reinforce these keywords. Improve search prospects by adding descriptive keyword meta tags An HTML tag that identifies the contents of a Web page for the search engines. Meta tags are hidden on the page, but they, as well as all the HTML code on a page, can be viewed by selecting View/Source or View/Page Source from the browser menu. to the coding of the home page. Descriptive file names and URLs also are helpful (e.g. /tax-laws/2002/oc-restaurant-tax-services.htm"). Web pages that do not have ".htm" or ".html" file extensions are problematic for search engines. Search Engine Submissions Search engine submission is how a webmaster submits a web site directly to a search engine. While Search Engine Submission is often seen as a way to promote a web site, it generally is not necessary. : Once your site is optimized for search engines, you should notify the search engines. The more frequently your site is updated the more frequently your site will be crawled by search engines. Crawling identifies and indexes new information on your site. Make sure that all of your important pages can be crawled. A cottage industry cottage industry: see sweating system. of services and products exist to help manage this process. Keyword Text Ads: Purchasing keyword text ads on search engines also has proven effective. The concept is that an advertiser can purchase a set of keywords for a given time period that will give them presence at the top of the search results. Rates depend on the market size for a given keyword. Google offers tips at www.google.com/ads. Link Partnerships: The more sites that link to your site, the higher your rankings will be. Search engines interpret links to your site as an indicator of public endorsement. Reciprocal linking A reciprocal link is a mutual link between two objects, commonly between two websites in order to ensure mutual traffic. Example: Alice and Bob have websites. If Bob's website links to Alice's website, and Alice's website links to Bob's website, the websites are reciprocally linked. partnerships between complimentary sites will help boost your popularity and are free. TEXT LINK ADS Text Link Ads is an Internet marketing company which acts as an intermediary for websites to sell text links to companies, a form of search engine marketing. External links
Text link ads consist of text only and a link to the advertiser's site. They can be found on Web sites and in listserves and e-newsletters. Historically these have performed well. Also, they are less expensive and require little creative preparation. Their effectiveness may stem from their descriptiveness and modest presence. New ad technology also allows advertisers to update their text links at any time. E-MAIL e-mail: see electronic mail. in full electronic mail Messages and other data exchanged between individuals using computers in a network. NEWSLETTER ADS Research has shown that both banners and text link ads do better in editorial newsletters than on the corresponding sites--fewer ads, better-targeted content and more involved readers. Also, this is "push" marketing--your message lands directly in potential customers' mailboxes. And if you tie your advertising content to the e-newsletter's, you've increased the precision of your aim. When negotiating rates, be aware of open rates, or percentage of delivered e-mails that the recipients open. Daily newsletters have low open-rates, while rates for weekly and monthly ones are much higher. Although results are harder to track in text-only newsletters than in HTML newsletters, experts agree that ads in text newsletters are effective. Ask the company you are purchasing an ad from about tracking mechanisms for text newsletters. OPT-IN E-MAIL See opt-in. MARKETING LISTS Many publishers have opt-in lists that permit advertisers to email ads directly to consumers. Be cautious. For every success, there may be as many failures that end up hurting the trust built between reader and publisher. As an advertiser, it is better to have an ad go inside an editorial newsletter. Or, if possible, have a direct e-mail sent by the publisher (e.g. From: XYZ XYZ interj. Informal Used to indicate to someone that the zipper of his or her pants is open. [ex(amine) y(our) z(ipper).] magazine; Subject: Special Tax Course Offer for XYZ Readers). BANNERS Small businesses should focus first on ads that require the least amount of creative preparation. But, given that banners have a somewhat bad reputation at this point, there might be some good bargains available. Look for monthly sponsorships with targeted complementary sites and audiences. It is better to have fewer impressions in front of the right audience than to have many in front of an unidentified audience. To improve your click-through rate The number of times a link on a Web page is clicked compared to the number of times it is displayed. Advertising royalties paid to Web sites are often based on click-through rate (CTR), and the amount paid per click-through is considerably higher than the cost of an ad that is displayed , try asking a relevant and provocative question in your banner for which the audience will have to click to get the answer. AD NETWORKS Companies such as Double-Click, GetRelevant, Commission Junction Commission Junction is an online advertising company owned by ValueClick. They are specifically in the affiliate marketing industry. Commission Junction is the largest affiliate network in north America, powering almost 50% of the top 500 web retailers affiliate marketing and Lot2l place ads in remnant space across many sites. They also offer performance models such as clicks, signups, e-mail addresses See Internet address. e-mail address - electronic mail address and purchases. Advertisers specify affinity groups A special interest group. This is a marketing term for a group of people with similar interests. such as music, cooking, financial, general business and sports. However, beware of fraud, especially with click deals. Sometimes the provider unknowingly has "partners" who create programs that generate fake clicks. TARGETING A smart tactic to help small businesses target ads is to look for complementary associations with members who need your services. CalCPA members should seek out affinity groups of potential customers such as the National Restaurant Association, American Bar Association American Bar Association (ABA), voluntary organization of lawyers admitted to the bar of any state. Founded (1878) largely through the efforts of the Connecticut Bar Association, it is devoted to improving the administration of justice, seeking uniformity of law , American Management Association, online communities for independent consultants and at-home workers, financial education sites such as Motley Fool and more. Although there are many sites to consider, the best will be the ones with a well-defined audience and one which realizes that your ad and services will be appreciated by their audience. VIRAL MARKETING An online advertising approach that functions somewhat like word-of-mouth. The "viral" refers to how quickly it propagates, but its purpose is not to cause damage like a computer virus, but to make an offer available to the masses. Don't discount the tried and true viral marketing--essentially the word-of-mouth concept. "E-mail This Article" or "Bookmark A stored location for quick retrieval at a later date. Web browsers provide bookmarks that contain the addresses (URLs) of favorite sites. Most electronic references, large text databases and help systems provide bookmarks that mark a location users want to revisit in the future. This Page" options can prove enormously effective. Also, request visitors to leave their e-mail address at your site and begin to build a contact database. For example, you could send your customers a Tip-of-the-Week newsletter filled with relevant, helpful content. EXPERIMENT AND DEMAND When advertising online, have someone own the process and watch over your campaigns diligently. Many sites tend to forget about an advertiser as soon as the campaign launches. Require access to up-to-date metrics and the ability to tweak To make minor adjustments in an electronic system or in a software program in order to improve performance. See calibrate. 1. tweak - To change slightly, usually in reference to a value. Also used synonymously with twiddle. your creatives. If you think a campaign is failing, ask for "make-goods." If you don't think the terms are fair, ask for a discount and also ask for insurance, such as minimum performance objectives (impressions, clicks). The same holds for the initial pricing. There's no denying that millions of people are on the Internet every day, at home and at work--including your existing and future customers. The goal is to be there when they need you. RELATED ARTICLE: Reinventing Your Internet Advertising Stratgey. Deanna McCrary Two years ago, Internet advertisers blasted everybody. Viewers were inundated in·un·date tr.v. in·un·dat·ed, in·un·dat·ing, in·un·dates 1. To cover with water, especially floodwaters. 2. with banners and buttons resulting in overload and cynicism. Today, experts say that to capture Web surfers' attention, advertising needs to be focused and delivered to people who already have an interest in what your business provides. * Know your audience Pamela Thompson, owner of Show Your Stuff, a strategic planning Strategic planning is an organization's process of defining its strategy, or direction, and making decisions on allocating its resources to pursue this strategy, including its capital and people. firm for CPAs that specializes in identifying and enhancing the use of resources, advises small business owners to first identify their target market--whether that's a specific niche, industry or location. Next, she says, you'll need to pinpoint the Internet sources, such as sites and newsletters that attract your target market. Survey your customers often about what Internet-based resources they are using. Check out association Web sites such as www.associationcentral.com and http://info.asaenet.org/gateway/OnlineAssocSlist.html. For example, if you offer a service for automobile dealerships, find out the most popular industry organizations, associations and Web sites targeted to automobile dealerships and get listed on their sites. * Invest Wisely "The trends are toward mastering measurability," says Patrice Varni, vice president of membership marketing at San Francisco-based Topica, a provider of solutions for e-mail newsletter publishers. Experts say small to medium-sized businesses should examine their demographics and target ads to a particular locality. And to save time and money, choose only one or two methods at a time to invest in and track. * Do Your Homework To help you determine if you should advertise on a particular site, you'll want to analyze Web traffic reports and ad delivery metrics. For larger Web sites, the Audit Bureau of Circulation for the Internet, www.abcinteractive audits.com, offers independent, third-party verification TPV (Third party verification) is a process of getting an independent third party company to confirm that the customer is actually requesting a change or ordering a new service or product. of online activity and provides assurance to the advertising community of accurate reporting. Many consultants and agencies such as www.sfinteractive.com, can help increase your customer base, better brand yourself online or get you search engine optimization. To find a consultant, search for "search engine optimization" or check out sites such as www.clickz.com, which are run by online marketers. Also, Business 2.0, www.business2.com/webguide, features categories and links to firms, articles and directories of online marketing specialists. In short, today's online advertising is all about building trust. "It boils down to trying to build relationships," says Varni. "How do you do that? Provide value and communicate your benefit in every way you can." Robert Spears is a San Francisco-based online media consultant. Formerly the general manager of Business 2.0 online, he now helps companies define and implement their Web and e-mail strategies. Spears can be reached at robert_spears@hotmail.com. |
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