Advertise Online – But Where! – Part 2
21 Feb 2009 by Dick Branston
A week on from my first blog on debating the value of online advertising, I have done some more thinking and some more reading and come up with an answer to the question of where to advertise online.
The answer is everywhere. OK a slightly facetious answer that isn’t that helpful but the point I’m making is that advertising online does work despite what some surveys may say and that you should spread you brand around.
And the Internet Advertising Bureau’s ‘Receptivity of the Online Audience’ report agrees. Sorcha Proctor, IAB’s research manager, says “(our) study highlights the need for retail brands to get in front of Internet users at every point of the online customer journey and emphasises the need to respect consumers if they want them to engage effectively with their marketing messages.”
It is not a coincidence that online ad spend is rapidly catching TV. It is because the audience is there in their millions and as the Internet is a more interactive experience, users are naturally more engaged in what they are doing when online and therefore are more likely to respond to advertising. This is particularly true of advertising that can be intelligently targeted, something that TV and print ads cannot be.
Talking about engaging advertising, Yahoo has announced that it is to roll out its ‘Rich ads’ format after a successful trial. The new ads offer a more extensive search ad platform incorporating engaging features such as images, logos and video. According to Yahoo, the brands that tested the concept experienced up to 25% increases in click-through rates.
Interestingly, the Yahoo developments come just days after a report suggested that Google PPC click through rates had dropped by nearly 10% since the company introduced rival bidding on trademarked terms.
Maybe Yahoo has stolen a march on Google and is poised to win back some precious ground. Either way brands should be staying faithful to advertising online. It is a winning strategy.
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