Declare Yourself

As the presidential election nears, Declare Yourself created by Norman Lear kicks off its advertising campaign as an effort to get younger votes educated and register to vote for the 2008 presidential elections as well as local elections taking place. In order to capture the interest of this demographic the year’s campaign has a long list of online support giants, including Yahoo, MySpace, YouTube, Google and Friendster. Declare Yourself will be featured on MySpace’s Impact Channel featuring a link to voter’s registration making it simple for first time voters to find and fill out form. In addition it will help create content, video contests and special projects in this new channel aimed at people who are or want to be activists for various issues determined during the election time. Also supporting the effort is Clear Channel and Comedy Central, which will provide public service announcements, celebrity appearances and online efforts regarding the topic. Although Lear is using multimedia content to connect with this specific demographic his biggest priority in his efforts is with that of good corporate citizenship.

Let them do the advertising for you

Social Networking sites such as MySpace are full of young people (and some older) looking for new and innovative ways to personalize their “space.” Many MySpacer’s choose to personalize their page with images from their favorite movies, TV shows, bands, books, comedians, actors and actresses.

Sony Pictures has teamed up with Photobucket.com to create branded Spider-Man 3 skins for the Photobucket’s popular slideshow tool. The tool allows users to upload their own photographs, which are then organized into a slideshows and displayed in a Spider-Man 3 branded window. Users can post the slideshows on their own MySpace pages and blogs as well as on their friend’s pages.

Now social networkers, who are already searching for ways to associate themselves with their favorite products, can do the advertising for you. They are already looking for ways to showcase the things they love. This is a great way to facilitate the word of mouth advertising and hopefully create a buzz throughout the social networking space.

Consumers’ Choices Benefit Online Advertisers

A unique online advertising method benefits casual game players as well as advertisers. Players are allowed to choose the type of ads they will receive, using a technology called Sponsor Select. This helps the viewer, since they are not annoyed by ads that are of no interest to them.



The arrangement provides advertisers with viewers that are, by their own admission, interested in the type of products they are advertising. It is much more efficient to spend ad dollars on viewers who are already pre-qualified in this manner. Ads would seem much less intrusive since the consumer had, in effect, asked for them. This puts them in a more receptive mood, making a purchase more likely.

Additionally, viewers may feel a stronger connection and loyalty toward the advertisers when they are given this choice. Hello, long-term brand equity!

Off-line Ads Fuel Online Searches

A survey by the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association found that traditional forms of advertising sparked online product searches. The poll found that 47.2 percent of shoppers are more likely to go online after viewing a magazine ad, according to a MediaPost article.

This is great news not only for traditional forms of news and entertainment, but also for marketers. Marketers now know a starting point for reaching an audience. They need to not only focus on online advertising, but also should focus their attention on magazines, newspapers and T.V.

This poll speaks to the strength of having an integrated marketing strategy, one that reaches an audience from various types of media vehicles. Myopia in the marketing world is the shortest route to failure.

E! Uses Virtual Slots to Advertise Online

E! Entertainment Television is promoting its new reality show, Paradise City, by way way of an online "advergame," a game that resembles a Vegas slot machine. According to MediaWeek, the slot reels will feature cast members’ faces rather than fruit. Players who hit the jackpot will receive gossip and information on that cast member. Since Paradise City’s target audience includes young, web-friendly viewers, the game is a natural fit.

It is an interesting way to expose people to the show, and will allow players to form a bond with characters before they even view the show. A recent brand-impact study found that after playing a game, consumers are more likely to remember the brand and to associate specific brand attributes with it.

Advergames are a growing industry, with multiple benefits. If people correlate your product with fun and other positive feelings, they will be more likely to purchase your product in the future, or in E!’s case, watch its show.

Gone in Three Seconds

A great blog by Joseph Carrabis on iMedia Connection recently discussed the time users take to evaluate whether or not they will continue to look at a particular page.

NextStage conducted the research and found that the first 3 seconds are the most critical. This is called the “attraction” stage, in which users are deciding whether the information is interesting and want to continue perusing.

This is an interesting concept in relation to online advertising because this means that placement and ad content must catch the user’s eye within that 3-second time frame otherwise it will be lost. Knowing this will force advertisers to be more exact about where ads are placed on a page. It will also force them to be more creative about the content of the ad to achieve that "wow" factor.

And Then there was One

History has gone through cycles of consolidation and decentralization. The Internet world is no exception. News Corp. and NBC are looking to capitalize on their combined talents rather than go it alone. This joint video-venture site has yet to be named but it is going to be one of the largest ad platforms to hit the Web, according to a MediaPost article.

Extensive distribution deals with company like Microsoft's MSN and Time Warner's AOL will allow this site to reach 96 percent of the U.S. Web audience. This reason alone has got advertiser scrambling to become part of this phenomenon. For advertisers, the ease of going to just one site to reach the majority of a viewing audience will change the way advertisers do business.

The article also stated that it's unclear the roll that pre-rolled ads would play in this new site, but with so much hype surrounding it the possibilities are endless. When considering ad placement and media buying don’t discount this new platform.

Start-Up looks to Revolutionize Online Advertising

It doesn’t even have a fully functional Web site yet, but there are articles and blogs about the impending technology that Peer39 will bring to the market later this year. The stealth company has “proprietary algorithms that can help turn just plain data into real usable information to dramatically improve the effectiveness of advertising,” according to an article from BeyondVC.

Peer39 is an online ad marketplace start-up based in New York City. The company just received $3 million from Dawntreader Ventures. If this technology is truly “revolutionary,” then this could be a huge business for Peer39, which could sell this item to marketing firms, ad agencies, and corporations alike.

Who's in Your Final Four?

As the March Madness frenzy for college basketball fans begins, CBS Sportsline prepares to provide fans with online live streaming video of the tournament games. With the free player titled "March Madness on Demand" they believe to capture an even bigger audience than last year when they first decided to do away with the subscription fee and use an ad-supported model free of charge to it consumers. Along with this model they have also made plans to double the size of its video feed capacity, increase the size of the video, and improve the quality by increase the bit rate.

As consumers turn to digital media to discuss, dissect, and even follow up on the action online video continues to increase in popularity. Advertising during big events has turned companies away from the traditional TV spot focus and drastically increased the size and price of using online advertising.

Effective Online Target Marketing

From the perspective of the consumer it's too much. The clutter of ads popping up everywhere when you're on a site. There are banners, floaters, and many others. From a marketing standpoint it's easy to understand the process. How do you get the most important information in front of the user? Easy, place it where he has no other choice but to look at. This process replicated time and again by the multitude of marketers can lead to over saturation.

So the discussion becomes how do you target an audience effectively? The answer, it depends on the goal of the campaign. In a study conducted by TACODA and Next Century Media, contextual targeting (based off of subject interest) and behavioral targeting (specific group identification) should not be used interchangeably.

So if the goal is to launch new messages, ads based on specific subjects worked best, but if the message already has a sturdy foundation behavioral targeting can help sustain the campaign.

With this being said, marketers need to stay afloat of what consumers are researching and where they are going on the Web. The use of web analytics can be a huge support to help track consumers and help marketers form and place better, more effective marketing campaigns.

Read the whole story here.

Podcast Advertising- Get In Now

Podcasts are a growing advertising medium with 90 million iPods purchased through the end of 2006 and 80 million dollars spent on advertising on podcasts last year. eMarketer forecasts this number will increase fivefold within the next five years.

Podcasting is a niche marketing channel, reaching those who want to hear about a very specific topic. Sometimes it is difficult to ensure that the podcast will be viewed, since there is such a variety out there. However, when the podcast is promoted in a company’s other online media, such as company blogs and Web sites, it is more likely to be watched.

So when deciding which podcast to advertise in, you should see how the podcast is promoted. For instance, MindComet has a podcast that can be easily found on its Web site. You need to look at what’s out there and choose the best place to advertise now, before the market becomes over saturated.

You can always create your own podcast to promote your products, which, if done properly, can greatly benefit your brand. If your podcast is unique and interesting, people will return to watch the next one. There are nearly 90,000 podcasts for viewers to watch, so when creating a new one be sure it is unique, reliable, and eye-catching.

Harnessing the power of Rich Media Advertising

Rich Media advertising involves using audio and graphics to bring users an interactive experience, which is very effective because it engages the viewer. This method of advertising can perform two different functions: direct response and brand awareness.

Pixelbridge gives three main reasons why rich media is great for advertising:
1. It is interesting and entertaining.
2. Users control the experience. More than television ads, users can interact with the ad and seek additional information, or simply close it whenever they please.
3. It is more flexible than other forms of online advertising. It doesn’t have the file size limitations of banner ads and can incorporate higher quality animation and sound.

Also, it allows advertisers to measure consumer interactions with the ad, including the rate and time of interactions, as well as video plays. Tracking consumers in today's online world is key for advertisers who want to get the best bang for their buck because knowing where consumers are going on the Internet allows you to place ads that will have a high frequency of being seen.

Affiliate Marketing vs Pay Per Click

Pay Per Click (PPC) is becoming less cost effective since prices of keywords are rising. This is occurring because of increased competition for keywords in the marketplace. As a result, some marketers are turning to affiliate programs as an additional revenue source, according to an iMedia Connection article.

Affiliate marketing can be more cost effective than PPC because the advertiser is only charged after a sale is made, rather than just when someone clicks on the link. This switch could help reduce click fraud as well. There are a number of reasons people click on a link, such as browsing or perhaps by accident not realizing the link was an ad.

It is important that affiliate sites are content driven, instead of ad centered. These sites generate more qualified viewers. It also creates a positive relationship with affiliates, and treats them as strategic partners.

Many affiliates will have PPC campaigns of their own, so it's better to combine forces than to compete. This synergy allows everyone to win, marketers get increased sales, and the affiliate gets a commission for referring them to you. What marketers have to realize is that opening up their business is not always a threat, sometimes it's an opportunity to improve upon the way they do business.

Consolidating Online Media Buying

Advertisers can now target ads to run in newspapers and specific markets by using Web based buying systems such as Google, according to a News.com article. When radio and television stations have unsold inventory, they can sell the remainder online at the last minute. They can sell at a local level, which would be impossible otherwise. It's about consolidation, a one-stop site instead of calling every station. Other benefits of this method include: decreased prices, and allowing smaller companies opportunities they would not normally gain.

Google is leading the pack and has plans for a test involving more than 100 advertisers and more than 60 newspapers. Its automated advertising system for radio, Google Audio Ads, now works with 700 stations in 20 metro markets. This system is efficient, cost-effective, and flexible, since Google allows advertisers to shift ad campaigns around easily between markets and different sections of the newspapers.

This is the way of the future, and it is only a matter of time before all media buying is done in this fashion. Smaller companies can now compete with larger ones due to a level playing field. Corporations also need to understand, which Google has mastered, the ubiquitous business mantra of "change or die." If companies want to survive they need to realize that marketing is not static, but dynamic and fluid in nature.

Newspapers making front page in online advertising

The Internet is so accessible and expansive in today’s fast-paced world it displaces some of the traditional forms of media, in particular the cornerstone of American reporting—newspaper.

Today people have traded in eating breakfast and reviewing world events for the paperless versions. So newspapers evolved, they added color to increase circulation, they added different sections to reach a wider audience. Now, with so much reliable information, newspapers must compete in the online forum in order to avoid extinction.

Competing isn’t just throwing up a Web site that mirrors the printed version. It’s offering value to the consumer, it’s offering something that consumers can’t live without. An article from AdAge.com stated that Tribune Co., publisher of the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, announced a plan to make all of its online general-merchandise classifieds free. The news came as a surprise because newspapers have historically charged for classifieds.

While it’s only a small step, it is a step in the right direction. Newspapers have to do something to compete with sites like Craigslist, which has always offered free online classifieds, according to the article. The forward thinking of Tribune Co. should serve as a rude awaking for other news corporations that are seriously lacking in the ability to compete with cheaper, more effective Web sites.

Bigger isn't better (at least in online advertising)

It’s about getting intimate. Prior to the rise of the Internet, media buying was easy-CBS, NBC, or ABC, you pick?

Now, with the vastness that is the World Wide Web, users access information, video, and make purchases from numerous sites. This is where placing ads on some of the smaller sites can be extremely effective. “Consumers have gained control over the content they view online and advertisers need to adjust their strategies,” said Josh Crandall of Media-Screen.

Of course, to keep it simple most advertisers like to use Google and Yahoo, according to imediaconnection.com. The good news for advertisers, as Merrill Lynch reported: branded advertising will have growth of 21 percent next year.



But as online ad spending increases, the best place to put those ads is not the “celebrity” sites, but the small, long tail Web sites. Media-Screen found in a study that these "smaller sites provide new ways to position ads where users want to see them." The study found that 42 percent of sites with less than one million unique visitors per month advertise products of interest to their viewers. However, sites with more than one million visitors accomplished the same with only 39 percent.

Following this logic and using the smaller sites to advertise, users who have very specific interests can prepare for more advertising. Media buyers, now have to do their homework on ad placing instead of using a “peanut butter” approach to reaching a target audience.

Search Engine Ads: The new hot spot

A national study of advertisers by Outsell, Inc., has predicted that in 2007, spending on search engine ads will increase by 39 percent. This is the fastest growth of any online advertising method. Companies will increase online spending by 18 percent, and all advertising in the U.S. will grow 5.8 percent.

Print advertising, while still holding the largest portion of ad dollars, is losing share to the growing area of online ads. Click fraud has caused 49 percent of advertisers to reduce or plan to reduce their pay-per-click spending. However, it is only expected to fall by one percent in 2007. Advertisers’ use of cost per action ads online will increase by 8 percent, and online sponsorships will rise 12 percent.

These statistics further prove that the online medium is where advertisers should be focusing if they want to beat the competition. As with everything, there must be a balance so that this method of advertising doesn't become overused to the point where it is no longer effective.

China: Land of the Rising Online Ad Spending

China has always been know for its astounding 1.3 billion people, but with so many huge sporting events coming to China in the near future like the 2007 World Cup and the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, China is going to be known for online advertising.

The forecasts vary but according to a MarketingVox article, VNUnet reports that China’s ad spending will grow 50 percent from $731 million this year to $1.79 billion in 2008. A second opinion from Analysis International has China increasing only 35 percent to $816 million.

Despite the wide disparity in the forecasted numbers, China looks to be a big player in online ad spending. With these statistics posted, companies from around the world might want to ride the wave of China’s increased reliance on the Internet.



Resources:
imediaconnection.com
MarketingVox
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/print/ch.html

More Traffic, the Better

As many of us know, traffic inflation is on the rise in 2007 and it's not going to go down anytime soon. It’s hard to imagine but sometime soon online traffic will compete, if not exceed, off line advertising costs. For sites that do not show in organic rankings and therefore are not always visible to consumers, getting traffic to the site is of high importance in order to meet their goals of having a Web site. Those that do spend the money for traffic will be noticed and treated with respect. A few ways to add value to the traffic that does make it to your site is to treat these clicks as people as that is what they are representatives of. Consumers are coming to your site with a desire so updated content and calls to action are key. Make your site a place where users will want to spend some time on, just landing pages and ads galore won’t get you very far. Optimize and prepare for low cost traffic to end. Stay tuned for ways to generate short and long-term strategies for driving traffic.