Banner advertising is a great way to start attracting interest in your products or services. It's a more expensive method than blog commenting or using online professional networking sites, but the results typically come much faster because banner ads really are just advertising.
Banner ads are graphical images that act as advertisements to entice site visitors to "click through" to get more information. These horizontal rectangles are displayed at the top or the bottom of a website, and work well for generating traffic and branding.
Launch your banner ad strategy by conducting a search on Google for all of the places where you can buy banner advertising. Use a combination of short ("affiliate marketing") and long-tail keywords ("affiliate marketing opportunities in Atlanta") to come up with all of the sites related to your business that accept banner advertising.
Click on the sites that come up within the first one or two pages of search results. If the sites have banners showing at the top or the bottom of the page, add them to your list of potential targets. Once your list is done, visit all of the sites and contact them to obtain their banner advertising rates.
Advertising Networks
Don't limit yourself to huge websites. While most large websites and search engines sell banner advertising, many smaller, more targeted websites also sell such space online in exchange for a fee. You can also purchase banner ads via one or more advertising networks that sell this type of advertising across multiple sites.
Here are seven advertising networks that you can use to spread your ads across numerous websites at once:
Google Adwords: Display ads on websites within the Google Content Network based on keywords and demographics.
Yahoo! Advertising: Allows you to place your banner ads on websites across Yahoo!'s network.
Adify: Select from one of many different advertising networks from Adify to find specific niche markets where you can place banner ads.
Commission Junction: A large network of ad publishing websites where you can connect with to display banner ads on websites, e-mails and RSS feeds.
ValueClick Media: Another platform that caters to advertisers of all sizes and across all industries.
AdOn Network: Provides target banner ads based on a user's browsing history.
Ad Brite: Lets you purchase banner advertisement spots for a flat monthly fee or on a pay-per-click (PPC) basis.
When buying banner ads, you should know the difference between Cost-Per-Click ("CPC") or Cost Per Thousand Impressions ("CPM"), both of which are used when selling such advertising. Here's a definition for each:
CPC: You pay for each person who clicks on your banner ad.
CPM: You pay for every one thousand displays of your online ad. For example, if you were to pay $4 CPM, and if 1 percent of people seeing the ad were to click through to your website, then you would get 10 visitors for $4, or pay the equivalent of $0.40 per visitor.
With banner advertising, you'll probably get the best response from websites targeted to your particular subject area. You can also tailor your campaign to a local audience by targeting those sites that cater to people in your geographic region. An area chamber of commerce site or a local newspaper's online presence, for example, could be good banner ad candidates for an affiliate marketing firm in search of local associates. There are two different types of banner ad campaigns.
They are:
Branding campaigns that are used to get a company's name out to the public. They usually coincide with promotional advertisements in other venues, such as print, radio or television. These campaigns are focused less on the immediate or short-term results, and more on increasing the firm's brand awareness over time.
Click-through online ad campaigns are used to connect with a specific audience in a direct manner. These campaigns include a call to action that gets people to click through to your website and helps you target your audience more accurately.
As a new business owner, you'll be using click-through banner ads to attract others to your products or services.
Banner Creation 101
Next you will create your online ad, or use ones that you already have, to advertise your site on other companies' websites. The ads are 460X68 pixels in size and tend to be heavy on graphics, versus text. The idea is to attract a site visitor's attention and make him or her click on your ad to learn more, win a prize, get a free report on an important topic, and so forth.
Here are a few important guidelines to keep in mind when creating your online ads:
Use a targeted strategy: Don't waste money throwing banner ads all of the web in hopes that something will stick. Make sure they are on websites that fit your market, and link your online image ads to keywords in searches rather than just taking a "random" approach.
Get attention in a professional manner: Gaudy can work online, but a better strategy is come up with an attention-getting banner that doesn't look like a hard sell, or too garish. Check out some of the online ads on sites like Mashable.com and TechCrunch.com for examples.
Hire someone if you need help. Like any marketing strategy, creating online ads takes some finesse. Avoid some of the early learning curves by hiring a firm to develop and place your ads for you, if you have the budget for it. Or, use available banners that a company that you are associated with provides.
Test out different methods: Use a variety of banners and track their click-through rates to figure out which are working, and which need to be replaced. Concentrate only on those ads that work best, and tweak your banner ad strategy regularly to ensure you are getting the best possible results.
Always include a call to action: Don't assume your potential clients will know to "click here" for more information. Tell them what to do using works that invoke an immediate action.
Don't try to be understated: Banner ads have been around for a long time, and we all know that their aim is to sell products, services, memberships, subscriptions and other items. Make sure your viewers know exactly what the ad is for, and what they can expect if they click through.
Be forthright: Telling viewers that clicking your digital ad will put them in the running for a $100 gift card, and then not delivering on that promise, is just bad business. Be realistic and honest with your ad and you'll stand a much better chance of success in the banner ad arena.
Switch out your banners: Don't let them get stale. People online are used to fresh, relevant marketing messages, so be sure to update your digital ads regularly.
These are just a few tricks that you can use to ensure a successful banner ad campaign. Experiment with your options, test out different ads and closely track all of the responses that you get from your efforts. Integrate your banner ads into your overall marketing strategy and it won't be long before you are signing up new customers for your home business.
MatchedRate.com is a Match Rate PLUS Agent who has been marketing products and services online since 1999 to build a monthly residual income. To find out more about the Match Rate PLUS patent-pending residual income business model, go to: http://www.matchedrate.com/.
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