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If you ask the Internet marketers of today, many if not most of them will tell
you that banner advertising is dead. They say that it's expensive, the click-through
rates are low and that unless you know exactly what you're doing, it is likely
that you'll end up spending more money than you'll make.
Surprisingly, just a few years ago the same people were rushing to invest their
money in banner advertising campaigns. In those happy days, the click-through
rates were at least ten times as high as they are now. What has happened? Has
the audience become more resistant to Internet advertising in general? Or perhaps
the whole concept of banner advertising has become obsolete and we'll need to
think of new ways of reaching people?
Perhaps, perhaps. There is certainly at least some truth to these claims, but
they are hardly the only reasons behind the current crisis. Personally, I think
that those responsible for planning the banner advertising campaigns are largely
to blame for what has happened. The difference between the successful banner
advertising of yesterday and the pathetic banner advertising of today is vanity.
Vanity? Sounds odd, but you'll only need to look at the banners displayed on
a few popular sites to see what I mean. They have a nice-looking background,
a beautiful picture or two, a professionally-designed logo, smooth animation
and bright, pleasant colors. In a nutshell, those banners are works of art and
that is exactly why they perform so badly.
More marketing, less graphics
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Unless you are trying to brand your business, your main focus should not be
on what your banners look like. Pay attention to how many sales you make and
how high your ROI is, forget the aesthetics.
Some readers may be worried that such an approach might damage their reputation
in the eyes of the consumers. Unless the ads look good, they might affect the
company's brand negatively. Large, well-known businesses definitely should worry
about that, but if you're a small business, you shouldn't over-emphasise the
importance of branding. You've probably seen hundreds or thousands banners in
the past weeks, but can you remember what even twenty of them looked like and
what company or product they were advertising?
Without any further ado, here are some tips on how to make your banners look
worse but perform better:
Don't camoflague your banners
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Many banners co-exist in harmony with the design of the site they are displayed
on. While this makes the site look better, it also prevents anyone from noticing
what the poor advertiser is trying to say. Instead of allowing your banners
to fade into the 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 on the site. The result won't look like something you'd
want to frame and hang on your wall, but it will be effective.
Easy with the graphics
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Pictures of attractive persons or tropical islands may be nice to look at,
but they also increase the time it takes for your banner to load. If your banner
is placed near the top of the page and doesn't appear instantly, the audience
will scroll down the page and never see it. Images also take up quite a bit
of space and may force you to limit the amount or the size of the text used
in the banner.
A good rule of thumb is that unless the picture is somehow essential in convincing
the 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 to the chase
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Banners are not TV commercials. You'll have to continuously fight to get the
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 on the 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. At the
end of the day, what matters is whether your banners helped you make a profit,
not how cool they looked.
About the Author:
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/ |
