Sharon Boggs–The Way I See It

5 Tips for Effective Banner Advertising

August 18th, 2010

I’m sure you have had your share of banner ads while browsing through the internet – they appear in the most inconspicuous of places and yet somehow always seem to know exactly what you’ve been looking at on the web over the last few days. Can you believe it’s already been 16 years since the Internet’s first banner ad made an appearance? That’s enough to make anyone feel old!

16 years means banner ads have been around for almost as long as the Internet has, but how effective have they been? With mixed results, it’s not easy to say. Some people swear by them, some people swear at them and most just completely ignore them! That may not sound so encouraging, but effective banner ads have been proven time and again to bring thousands of visitors and customers to a brand or product’s website, translating to a lot of attention and revenue for a company.

However, how easy is it to create an effective banner ad? The answer may surprise you. So many advertisers seem to have the wrong idea of what draws people to an ad. Throwing in tons of images, animations, sounds and buttons doesn’t attract people – it just annoys them! Knowing how to create a simple and yet effective banner ad is vital and the amount of money you put into designing a good ad will translate to a larger effect on the advertising campaign.

Here are some tips for effective banner advertising that are relatively easy to implement:

Know your audience and competition. Log onto competitors’ websites and browse through the hundreds of ads you’ll encounter. Pick through the ones you really like and the ones you can’t stand to look at. Note down any common factors and try to use/avoid those in your own banner design.

Keep it simple. Sounds in your ad are unnecessary and will just irritate viewers trying to focus on the main site they’re visiting. Try not to clutter your ad with images that will distract the viewer. Make sure the text is easy to understand and asks the users to click on the banner. This seems obvious but most advertisers forget to add a simple “click here” message that grabs viewers.

Keep file size small
This will help you ensure you only put the necessities and important details in your ad and keep it to the point. Avoid Flash like the plague. It’s annoying and makes a website slow to load, increasing chances of a viewer just getting impatient and navigating somewhere else instead. With the popularity of Flash-incompatible technology such as the iPad and ad-blockers, using Flash in your ad may mean it doesn’t get shown at all.

Use branding
Make sure your company name and logo features on the banner. It makes a good impression and helps viewers remember a brand.

Use text effectively
Consider asking questions to tease viewers on the ad. Studies have shown that asking questions increases click-through rate by 16% and that’s huge! Also use humor if appropriate. Viewers are more likely to click on something that’s thought provoking and entertaining rather than the same old mass-produced banners they see everywhere else.

With these simple tips, you can make sure your banner draws as many people as possible and doesn’t annoy or distract viewers so much that they get irritated by your brand just because of its bothersome banners!

Tags: advertising, banner campaigns
Posted in Advertising, Internet Marketing | No Comments »

Offline Marketing is Just as Important as Online Marketing

August 15th, 2010

Offline marketing and advertising is starting to become increasingly replaced by online marketing but most people don’t realize the problems this could bring to their business!

Firstly, we must define both these kinds of marketing. Online marketing (or Internet marketing) is basically the marketing of products and services over the Internet. Offline marketing is the marketing of products and services in the real world as opposed to just communicating with your customers over the Internet.

Both these kinds of marketing have their advantages and disadvantages. Internet marketing is used around the world as it saves the time and expense of going around and meeting with clients and customers. Your store is open 24/7 and your customers are free to shop whenever they want! You can now easily update your Updating with a simple click and sending of an email. Visitors can get access to up-to-date information on your website con every new visit. If you have a sale season going on, your customers will know instantly and can drop down and shop at discounted rates — hats off to email convenience! The cost of spreading your message is next to nothing. Emailing your subscription base is more often cheaper than sending a letter through the mail. But it turns out to be that the disadvantages of Internet marketing outnumber the advantages…

Online marketing may sound significantly cheaper than offline marketing but it is not. The cost of software, necessary hardware, website designing and maintenance, online hosting costs and the precious time spent — these are just few aspects that you need to look into while marketing via the internet.

On another note, how sure are you about your site’s security? Does your customer know the safety of your site? There are so many incorrect stereotypes about the security of the Internet out there and as a result, many of your visitors will not want to use their credit card to make a purchase. The fear of having their credit card and personal information stolen is a clear and present danger in the minds of your visitors.

Another factor is the demographics. Approximately 50% of people around the world now prefer online shopping and has a promising growth to it. Despite the fact that this percentage is likely to grow more in a couple of months and maybe a year, with online marketing you can easily reach out to millions of people worldwide, something perhaps isn’t possible with offline marketing – atleast not as quickly as internet marketing can do the trick. Though, yes the competition is tough, there are many people on the internet who might be marketing the same product as you are, but, the good part is you will still be noticed that’s the best part about internet marketing! Despite the fact that this percentage is likely to grow more in a couple of months and maybe a year, with online marketing you can easily reach out to millions of people worldwide, something perhaps isn’t possible with offline marketing – atleast not as quickly as internet marketing can do the trick. Though, yes the competition is tough, there are many people on the internet who might be marketing the same product as you are, but, the good part is you will still be noticed that’s the best part about internet marketing!

Though, of course there is no replacement for good old fashioned customer service. The majority of internet marketers lack customer service and inquiry response programs. As a result, many online visitors to your site will already have painted your site as a poor service provider before they have even contacted you. The majority of websites also have poor navigation, which makes it difficult for your visitor to find what they are looking for. Many sites were created with a marketing view, not a customer service point of view. The kinds of relationships you can forge with offline marketing cannot be reproduced online. Building a seller-customer relationship and creating real bonds is irreplaceable and builds a huge network of loyal customers that will come back to you time and again. This absolutely cannot be replicated with Internet marketing, really going to show that offline marketing is here to stay!

Tags: advertising, internet marketing, offline marketing, online marketing
Posted in Advertising, Internet Marketing | No Comments »

The Importance of Multiple Streams of Income

August 15th, 2010

In today’s economy, can you imagine what would happen if the sole breadwinner in your family lost his or her job? Because of the fragility of having just one main stream of income, multiple streams are both popular and highly recommended!

But what does ‘streams of income’ mean? An income stream is some form of cash flow that comes toward you for products you’ve created or services you’ve offered. Working at a job and getting paid for it is a stream of income. A writer produces a book, a product, which is a stream of income being generated by that product.

Multiple streams of income in everyday households are becoming more popular because of the vulnerability of having just one stream. For example, if one stream suddenly dries up – you lose your job, or your business fails – then you have another stream as backup and you aren’t completely broke!

Businesses that rely on and earn all their profits from a single product or service are more likely to experience economic ups and downs, making that service or product less profitable in the long run. To avoid this, today’s businesses use multiple streams of income to provide safety to their business and stop it from running into loss.

On the other hand, having multiple products or services to provide to consumers gives you the option of offering your customers or clients more choices. Take a water company for example. They earn their revenue many different ways: they sell bottled water or offer other water purification options, including faucet filters or larger, more developed filtering systems that offer clean, safe water to an entire household or business.

Yet another advantage of multiple streams of income is that when the economy becomes stable, you can use a couple of streams to pay specific bills, save them for retirement or use them to pay off debts! By having multiple streams of income, your savings funds will increase and these all add up to a better life during retirement. You’ll be able to save up for that yacht or luxurious trip to Italy that you’ve always dreamed of!

Developing multiple streams of income is not difficult, and this makes it even more popular in today’s world. Some ideas for multiple streams of income include:

1. Investing in real estate – this requires initial cash at the beginning, but the potential is enormous.
2. Running online stores such as an eBay store
3. Freelance writing
4. Home businesses
5. Website designing/graphic artistry, if you have the skills. You can pay for a few courses to learn how to use the equipment and software but after that, you can use your skills to generate money.
6. Making and selling products – people have earned money by simply knitting wool sweaters and selling them! Why can’t you?

The economy of today’s world is probably the most unstable we have ever seen. This stresses the absolute need for multiple income streams. They are the new economy and the only way to survive the current economic downturns!

Tags: entrepreneur, home business, online business
Posted in Home business | No Comments »

What is a Good Opt In Offer?

August 15th, 2010

Opt in offers are a vital part of today’s business as they play a crucial role in keeping customers and clientele interested in your business and new products. But first, what is an opt-in offer?

An opt-in offer is when a customer signs up to receive emails and updates about developments in your business. Think about a department store sending customers that have signed up a mass text message telling them about a current sale – that is exactly what an opt-in offer is!

Opt-In offers have a lot of advantages for both businesses and customers. Some of these include:

1. Widespread advertising of new products
2. Low cost because of modern technology – emails can be sent for next to nothing!
3. Easy profit as your customer can often be easily convinced to buy into offers
4. Once most customers ‘opt in’, and if the subscriptions prove to be useful, they will usually not opt out of these updates and this brings guaranteed profits to your business.

You can easily see why so many businesses choose to use opt-in offers, but what makes a good opt-in offer? Customers are so protective about their personal details and are tired of getting hundreds of junk letters in their mailboxes, cellphone inboxes and email inboxes. Businesses need to have attractive opt in offers which make sure that customers will not choose to quit these subscriptions. If customers start getting annoyed with your constant updates, they will opt out and this will make you lose money, so you need to make sure your opt-in offer is a great one!

To have a successful opt in offer, you must:

1. Offer benefits:
For example, you can offer a free course to your customers. Your course can contain text, audio, graphics – even video! Just send your subscribers a link to the web page where your course can be found because unlike e-mail, your website doesn’t put any restrictions on the size of your media!

Once you’ve developed the course, you can use ‘delayed auto responders’ to e-mail it to your subscribers at preset intervals, exposing them to your business and your offer repeatedly. And the best part is you’re contacting them with information they’ve specifically requested, so they can’t complain!

Another popular example of a benefit would be to offer a free e-book about the specific product your business is trying to sell. These do not need to be lengthy; they can be 8-10 pages long but should be well made. These can also be sent from one customer to another, so this is obviously a way of free advertising for your company!

Finally, offer members-only specials such as discounted prices and offers. This will encourage non-members to sign up for your opt-in offer for the free giveaways and discounts!

2. Make your opt in offer interesting:
Offer games, puzzles, crosswords and prizes on your opt-in offer website. This provides some entertainment for your subscribers and will interest them as they have chances to win free giveaways in a fun way!

3. Offer a discussion board for your members on the opt-in offer website:
This will help both you and your members – you can learn which products they prefer and they can have a place to meet each other and talk about everything related to your product.

Tags: entrepreneur home business, internet marketing, network marketing
Posted in Internet Marketing, network marketing | No Comments »

Is Google Dead?

July 25th, 2010

Since the introduction of Google in 1998, it has progressively become the world’s most popular search engine. Processing over one billion requests and twenty petabytes of data every day, the word has even worked its way into everyday usage and been awarded entries into various English dictionaries. Although it quickly surpassed more traditional search engines such as Yahoo and MSN Live, its rapid growth attracted a lot of criticism – specifically in the marketing and publishing industries.

With its acquisition of popular Web publishing program DoubleClick in 2007, the corporate monolith also acquired a large list of DoubleClick’s clients. The technology featured in the program allowed Google to utilize behavioral targeting to its fullest, drawing criticism from users that this invaded their privacy by tracking their behavior on the Internet.

Although 99% of Google’s revenue comes from its advertising programs, they come with many disadvantages and have received complaints about their difficulty of use. Because of concerns with click fraud, search engine optimization firms have criticized AdSense as a source of invalid clicks, driving up advertising costs for companies. Google also withholds payment on an AdSense account until it reaches $100, an amount that may take years to reach for smaller companies. Many accounts have even been shut down before they were due to receive their first paycheck, inciting a lot of fury from legitimate account owners and publishers.

With the introduction of Bing marketing, publishers breathed a sigh of relief. For a mere $5, users can import their settings from Google and can even expand ads and marketing efforts to mobile search ads. Bing lists all its demographics and is incredibly simple to use, especially when compared to Google.

Yahoo! also provides a host of options for publishers and businesses. Allowing users to create banner ads, advertise in search results, host their own website and even reach customers looking for local businesses, it seems to be more versatile than Google which is more oriented towards large businesses (which form a minority of overall marketing actions).

With their inability to combat click fraud on AdSense and the complicated method of setting up AdWords, a lot of users have left Google in search of something better and easier to use. Even DoubleClick, a program created specifically for marketing and Web publishing, is complicated to use and understand, with a non-intuitive interface which new users find difficult to navigate. The program has been linked to the spyware controversy since the cookies it adds track user actions as they travel across the Internet. Many commercial organizations such as Adaware and Symantec consider Doubleclick as malware and remove it when detected. It has also been criticized due to its lack of opt-out options for IP address-based tracking, which means advertisers can see where users are located and where their clicks are coming from.

Despite all the problems and criticisms associated with Google and its marketing options for businesses, it still seems to have the stronghold on small business Web publishing, although Bing is quickly rising because of the intuitiveness of its user interface and ease of use.

Tags: Google, marketing
Posted in Internet Marketing, Marketing Strategy | No Comments »