Branding with banner advertising
Question from a reader
I want to promote my site and I am looking for the best marketing medium. I am being offered 5000 banner impressions for $25.00. Is this a good deal? Does banner advertisement even work anymore?
JD
Hello JD,
Often associated with the Internet's early days in the mid-1990's, banner advertisement was once all the rage of the webmaster community.
Cheap and easy to design, they were seen as the best way to market your product. A 5.0% click-through rate was easily achievable, as novice Internet users were curiously clicking everywhere. Those were the good days.
Nowadays, the reality is much different. The dot-com collapse and growth of spyware have changed our perception of banner advertising. The user is now savvier and informed; some of them even tweak their browser's settings to block visual advertisements from being displayed.
So your question is a bit tricky. I believe the value of banner advertisement doesn't rest only on numbers.
A correct answer would be defining your goals when using this medium, such as:
1. Do you want to create traffic on the spot, by enticing the user to click on your ad?
2. Do you want to create brand awareness, with a passive advertisement that doesn't ask necessarily for the click?
Let's look at number 1.
In the old days, gunning for a 5.0% CTR (click-though rate) was usual. Now, seeing banners on every website we visit is a familiar feeling, and unconsciously associate it as part of the website's layout.
Simply said, we just ignore it.
This is why the present CTR average is close to 0.02%. A perfectly designed banner in a perfect location might reach 0.05%, a good result. With your numbers above, this means your 5000 impressions will bring you at best 25 visitors. That's one dollar a customer.
While most of us would be glad to pay one dollar to win a new customer, you have to ensure your website's copy follow with the conversion. There is a good chance you won't convert all 25 leads, so your cost for your customer is likely to go up again.
Let's look at number 2 .
Dr. Usama Fayyad, a respected senior Yahoo! Vice President, mentioned in a study that contextual text ads saw a 249% increase click-through rate after a matching banner campaign was run. This means your user won't click on your visual ad, but will subconsciously record your brand. Next time he sees a textual link leading to your site, he is twice more than likely to click your link.
So to answer your question: it can be a good deal, as long as you know what you are getting into.
Bottom line is, consider banner advertising as a branding tool. If you have money to spare, give it a shot and take it as an experiment. If you are looking for an immediate return, then you are much better with other customized e-marketing options.
Hope this helps,
David