Banner Advertisements
[private].[/private]The banner ad is a graphic ad. It is our way, as internet marketers, to give our readers and potential customers a taste of traditional print advertisements. The main difference between the banner ad and a traditional newsprint as is that when a visitor clicks on the banner ad, it takes him or her directly to the advertiser’s website. Imagine if a newspaper ad could take a reader directly to a store!
Really, a banner ad is the same thing as a basic text link except that it has graphics to attract the eye. The basic text link is a bit of text that contains a hyperlink so that, when it is clicked on, it will take the reader to the advertiser’s website. The banner ad does the same, except it’s a bit more catchy & aesthetically pleasing.
There is generally text within the banner and the banner can also alternate between multiple images. It can be animated, flashy, and very noticeable.
So why would anyone want to use a banner ad when we have all of the other forms of internet advertising? Well, mainly because they just plain W-O-R-K. Check out some of the web’s hottest sites and you’ll see there are banner advertisements on every one of them.
Here are the two main reasons why banner ads are not only popular, but nearly essential:
The Click: Visitors visiting the site on which the banner ad is displayed will click on the banner and be redirected to the advertiser’s website. This is a visitor that would not have found the site otherwise. The hope is that, even if the visitor does not click on the banner, he or she would have made a mental note of the ad, your compay name, the URL, and maybe decide to go there at a later time. The click is the first hopes put leavng an impression on them is also a good alterior motive.
Branding: In the advertising world it is all about branding. When you develop a brand for your company and/or your product, you make yourself more memorable. You need to do this because, let’s face it, not everyone is going to click on your ad or purchase your product the first time around. The whole idea of branding is that when someone goes searching for a product like yours and has no real preference, he or she will tend toward what they are most familiar with and you want that to be YOUR brand. If they have seen your banner, you have a better chance of them coming to you.
The success of your banner ad will be measured in much the same way as your PPC performance (we’ll discuss this next). You will need to measure the click-throughs and the click-through rate, the number of impressions (page views of the page on which your ad is posted), and the cost-per-sale of your banner advertising.
How do you create a banner ad? If you are proficient in graphic design you can whip up your own in no time. Yes, basic banner ads are pretty simple to make. If you are not at all familiar with graphic design, you have a few options. You can:
Hire an advertising agency/banner designer: These people will bring loads of experience to your banner ad, including marketing experience to make the most of your ad, match it to what you are selling, and target it to the appropriate audience. You can pay anywhere from $5 to $50 or more for a professionally designed banner so shop around.
Here’s my favorite place:
Create it for free: There are sites that will create your banner ad for free. Either they will provide you with the tools to do it yourself or they will design it for you. These are sites that make money through advertising on their site, by posting banners of other customers on your site, or they are people who just do it as a hobby.
Here are just a few sites for free banner creation (if you know of any useful free ones please mention them on the forums so I can update tbis page):
CreateBanner: http://www.createbanner.com/
mybannermaker: http://www.mybannermaker.com/
MyBannerCreator: http://www.mybannercreator.com/
Displaying your banner is easier than you might think. There are three ways to get your banner ad out there so that others can see it. These are:
Pay publisher sites: You can pay other sites to display your banner. This can be very effective, but it can also be very costly and if you have a small budget, you might want to consider one or both of the other options.
Affiliates: We have already talked extensively about creating a winning team of affiliates and ensuring that you provide them with all the tools necessary to promote your site. These tools include banner ads, which are an incredibly convenient way for your affiliates to market your product. With an affiliate program, you can have your banner displayed for free and only pay if you make a sale. Very cost effective!
Banner exchange: This is basically the same as a traffic exchange except it is strictly an exchange of banners; I’ll display your banner if you display mine. You can search for sites to do a banner exchange with on your own, but this can be time-consuming. However, there are banner exchange programs set up and I suggest you take advantage of them. For every banner ad the exchange places somewhere you will have to place two or more banners on your site.
Here are some popular banner exchange sites:
Traffic Flame: http://www.trafficflame.com/
ClickBrokers: http://www.clickbrokers.com/
GreatBanner: http://www.greatbanner.com/
ExchangeAd: http://www.exchangead.com/
1800Banners: http://www.1800banners.com/
They key to creating an effective banner ad is to make it visually appealing. However, there are a few final tips I would like to leave you with to help you make the most of your banner ad campaign:
**Make sure your banner ads are posted on sites with related content.
**Be specific in your banner ad; advertise a specific product or service instead of the site itself.
**Create the link from the banner to the page with the offer, not your homepage.
**Place banner ads at the top of your website and recommend anyone displaying your banners does the same.
**Keep your banner ads simple.
Now, on to generating traffic via pay-per-click…
