What Killed the Banner Ad?

Written by Lauri Harpf


Continued from page 1

Don't camoflague your banners =============================

Many banners co-exist in harmony withrepparttar design ofrepparttar 101062 site they are displayed on. While this makesrepparttar 101063 site look better, it also prevents anyone from noticing whatrepparttar 101064 poor advertiser is trying to say. Instead of allowing your banners to fade intorepparttar 101065 background, do everything possible so that they will stand out. Make it clear that your banner is something that should be clicked, not merely stared at.

In practice, this goal can be achieved by utilizing Windows-style navigational elements, notes instructing users to "click here" and colors that contrast with those used onrepparttar 101066 site. The result won't look like something you'd want to frame and hang on your wall, but it will be effective.

Easy withrepparttar 101067 graphics ======================

Pictures of attractive persons or tropical islands may be nice to look at, but they also increaserepparttar 101068 time it takes for your banner to load. If your banner is placed nearrepparttar 101069 top ofrepparttar 101070 page and doesn't appear instantly,repparttar 101071 audience will scroll downrepparttar 101072 page and never see it. Images also take up quite a bit of space and may force you to limitrepparttar 101073 amount orrepparttar 101074 size ofrepparttar 101075 text used inrepparttar 101076 banner.

A good rule of thumb is that unlessrepparttar 101077 picture is somehow essential in convincingrepparttar 101078 user to click, drop it. When advertising a sweepstakes, adding a picture of a pile of cash can feel like a good idea. However, in many cases a text screaming "WIN $10.000" would be just as effective and would load up much, much faster.

Cut torepparttar 101079 chase ================

Banners are not TV commercials. You'll have to continuously fight to getrepparttar 101080 attention of your audience and you'll also need to fight to retain it. Long-winded advertisements that take ten seconds before even mentioning what is being advertised may work on TV, but not onrepparttar 101081 Internet.

Following these instructions, which essentially tell you to create banners that look simple and perhaps even a bit unprofessional might seem foolish. But simple, straight-forward banners that stand out get clicked on.

Banner advertising is not a beauty contest. It's a selling contest. Atrepparttar 101082 end ofrepparttar 101083 day, what matters is whether your banners helped you make a profit, not how cool they looked.

Lauri Harpf runs the A Promotion Guide website, where he offers free tips on how you can use banners, search engines and other methods to promote your site. His site can be found at http://www.apromotionguide.com/


Media Tactics: Getting Your Ads Where They Need To Go

Written by Kahlia Hannah


Continued from page 1

Billboards and signs should not be used as a direct way to lull people into using your product or service. These mediums should be used strictly to remind people that you are there and ready to serve their needs. Alone, a sign or billboard will not create much response, but used in conjunction with other methods, signs can generate a lot of impulse traffic that otherwise never would have come your way.

Using direct mail marketing can be a good tactic, but only if you are willing to stick it out forrepparttar long run. One mailing of sales letters or ads isn't exactly going to superglue your message to someone's brain. If you used follow-up mail, and coupon mailings as supplements to your direct mail campaign, a bigger response will be seen.

Remember when we were discussing newspaper ads, and I said to try placing your ad outsiderepparttar 101061 classifieds section? Well, there does come a time and a place to ignore my marketing advice, and that is when you know that your targeted market will be looking for YOU. Yellow pages and classifieds can be a great way to catch people searching for your kind of business, with little effort involved.

Telephone and canvassing can be even more intimate forms of marketing, although they are more time consuming and tend to be a little trickier. After all, there are so many phone solicitors out there these days that you might not get a less than enthusiastic, if not downright rude response.

So how do you choose which of these methods to use? Try as many as you think you can effectively do a great job with, and that won't put you over your marketing budget. The more places you are seen,repparttar 101062 more business you can potentially attrac

Kahlia Hannah provides marketing advice and popular promotion packages. See her low-cost direct marketing and PR deals at http://MarketingHelp.NET Reach Kahlia at mailto:kahlia@drnunley.com or 801-328-9006.


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