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Posts Tagged ‘advertising’

How do you participate? Most people are familiar with the contextual advertising programs offered by the major search engines—Google’s AdSense and Yahoo! Search Marketing’s Content Match. Other prominent contextual advertising networks include Kanoodle’s Context Target, IndustryBrains, AdSonar, and ContextWeb, to name a few. Blogger.com is a major network for contextual ads for blogs. To find a more complete list, check out the Resource section at susansweeney.com.

Although contextual advertising and search advertising have many similarities (use the same pay-per-click pricing, targeted, based on keywords), contextual advertising is different from search advertising. Contextual advertising has a significantly lower conversion rate than search advertising primarily due to the fact that when someone is searching for something, he or she is definitely looking for that item and is likely more interested in purchasing; the searcher is considered a “shopper.” If someone is reading an article on something and clicks through on an ad he or she finds interesting, the reader may or may not be in the purchasing mode; the searcher is considered a “browser.” You will always convert more shoppers than browsers.

As with search advertising, when you are doing contextual advertising it is important to manage your campaigns. Plan your budget, diligently choose appropriate keywords, determine the appropriate bids for each of your keywords, and monitor and measure your results.

“Rich media” is a term used to describe a wide variety of media experiences that offer an enhanced interactive experience. Rich media would include things like streaming audio, streaming video, applets that allow user interaction,
and special effects. There are a number of programming technologies that are used to deliver this rich media functionality, and these are continually releasing new features and bells and whistles in keeping with the explosive growth of this medium.

DHTML, Java, Javascript, and Flash would be among the most popular rich media programming technologies. Rich media is appealing to advertisers for a number of reasons. Brand recognition and message association can be achieved very effectively by using audio, video, and animation. Marketing content can be embedded in entertaining content and educational content for those consumers who don’t want advertising; hence, the significant growth in “advertainment” and “edutainment.”

Marketers totally understand that consumers want to be in control and they do not want to be marketed to. Marketers understand that marketing should be so appealing that consumers want it and invite it into their lives and devices. Nielsen/NetRatings AdRelevance reports that rich media has risen steadily and significantly over the last five years. The rich media advertising is certainly more appealing to the consumer—more entertaining, more informative, more relevant, and more timely.

Advertisers used many techniques to try to change things. Various sizes and placement techniques were tried. Animated banner ads saw a little increase in click-throughs. Drop-down menu banner ads were somewhat effective. Many techniques were employed, but with the exception of a few key areas, banner advertising continued to be viewed as generally ineffective. Targeted advertising on niche content sites was and still is very effective. For example, a meta-index or directory related to ski hills in Vermont would be a very effective site for a ski hill in Vermont to place a banner ad. Keyword banner advertising and geo-targeted banner advertising were still very effective.

The third generation of online advertising is seeing a resurgence. We are seeing a growth in popularity of high-impact rich media ads. The size and placement of ads has changed significantly. The major search engines have very effective keyword advertising programs that are continually being enhanced in terms of targeting. The demand by marketers for greater accountability in the return on investment they get for their ad dollars spent is being met. The results are encouraging them to invest more in this medium. Effective techniques are available for consumers who demand greater control over their media and marketing experiences.