Building An Effective Banner Campaign

Banner advertising can dramatically help you increase traffic to your web site. Banner advertising can be a very cost effective marketing solution and can help you to gain access to millions of internet users. It can also prove to be a huge waste of time, even creating a net loss rather than increasing your bottom line. So we'll try to guide you onto the path to true results and a very successful Internet Marketing campaign using banner ads.

First things first: What's it going to cost you? Assuming you're going to design and building your own banners, you can still loose money on the cost of advertising if you're not careful. Work out the estimated cost of each banner advertising campaign:

Cost-per-Visitor: If you pay $10 per thousand impressions ($10/CPM), and you get a 2.0% click-through (20 visitors), your cost-per-visitor is $.50 ($10 per 20 visitors).

Cost-per-Sale: Now you know about what you're going to pay per visitor. So what does that amount to per sale? Well, if 1 in every 20 visitors buys your product, your cost per sale is $10.00.

Total Sale Amount : $9.95 USD Paypal's Fee Amount : -$0.59 USD Net Profit Amount : $9.36 USD

So if each sale of your product produces a gross profit of $9.36, then your net profit per-sale will be -$.64 ($9.36 gross profit - $10 cost-per-sale). This campaign is not profitable!

As you can see, something has to change in order to make a profit. That's why it's important to track and calculate every campaign. So what went wrong with this example?

-Paying too much for the banner space?

-Need a better click-through rate?

-Need to charge more for your product?

The truth is that only you have the information required to decide but at least at this point you're in a better position to make a qualified decision.

Return on Investment Ratios: Your return-on-investment (ROI), before non-marketing expenses, is 0.0% ($0.00 total net profits with a $10 investment).

Experiment by advertising on multiple sites or using different banners if your budget will allow it. Find the perfect campaigns that yield the highest ROI.

A few terms to know:

» CPM - Cost Per Impressions (The "M" comes from the Roman numeral for 1,000). So $20 CPM represents $20 per 1,000 displays of a banner). An Impressions is simply each time your banner is shown.

» CPC - Cost Per Click. You pay an agreed amount for each click-through to your site.

» Click-Through (CT) - A click on an ad which takes the viewer to another site.

» Click-Through Rate (CTR) - This is the number of people who click on an ad (banner or text link) divided by the number of displays of the ad, represented in percentages. Example: 500 people click on an ad that has been shown 10,000 times, which works out at: 500/10,000 X 100% = 5%.

» Run Of Site (ROS) - This means your banner will be displayed on all or most pages of the site.

Buying or Creating your own banners: You can find a graphic designer to create your banner or you can simply learn to design and build you own. We have done both on this site and our research shows almost equal results when using identical conditions. We're not going to give tutorials on banner design but we will offer a few tips to help get you started.

If you decide to purchase your banners: Do your research. There are many so called ' graphic designers' that have very little training or experience with any type of graphics much less internet marketing or banner advertising.

Get any promises or guarantees in writing. Keep in mind that anyone can setup shop online and many have no idea what they're doing to say the least.

Do it yourself banners: There are several options when it comes to creating your own banners. Again, we're not here to teach you how to design and build your own, just to guide you in the right direction.

Here are a few things to consider:
» Think through your design.
» Decide on a format.
» Flash or Animated.
» Image or HTML.
» The best banner size.
» Image load times.


Image or HTML? Well, most of the banners we see are image based, whether .gif, .jpg of flash. But there is another very simple alternative. The HTML banner. You can even combine images and HTML to create incredible banners. A couple benefits of using a HTML banner are:

» HTML banner will normally load faster.
» On a HTML banner, you can promote many links.

Banners sizes:

468 x 60.....Full banner
234 x 60.....Half banner
392 x 72.....Full banner with vertical navigation bar
120 x 240...Vertical banner
125 x 125...Square button
120 x 90.....Button #1
120 x 60.....Button #2
88 x 31.......Micro button


A few tips:

Use attractive and attention grabbing images. Keep your text short and simple.

Use proven key words like "free" and "now". "Free" is a very powerful incentive for the viewer to click on the button. Even the words "Click Here" can increase your click-through rate. Use a large font size for your message text. Create different versions of the banner. Test different banners to improve your click-through rate.

Animate your banner, but use as few frames as possible to keep the file size to a quick loading minimum. Test new banners with a Pay Per Click network, before you use them in Pay Per Impression campaigns. Many sites display two different banners on each page, while others display the same banner at the top "top fold" and bottom "bottom fold" of each page. When given a choice, it's usually best to choose the top fold of page because the viewer is more likely to see your banner. You can expect to pay a lot less for "bottom fold" of page banner spaces.

Brian Hawkins - Entrepreneur, Internet Marketer, Online business consultant, Author. Site owner and administrator of several sites including: http://www.extremesitepromotions.com/ and http://www.csc4u.com/

Brian Hawkins - Entrepreneur, Internet Marketer, Online business consultant, Author. Site owner and administrator of several sites including: http://www.extremesitepromotions.com/ and http://www.csc4u.com/

In The News:


Google News
Updated : Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:48:34 GMT

SEC Launches Investigation in Jobs Heart Attack Rumor - The Mac Observer


The Age
SEC Launches Investigation in Jobs Heart Attack Rumor
The Mac Observer - 1 hour ago
by Jeff Gamet , 8:10 AM EDT, October 6th, 2008 The US Securities and Exchange Commission has launched an investigation into the false report that Apple CEO Steve Jobs suffered a heart attack.
SEC Probing Steve Jobs Heart-Attack Rumor FOXNews
Faux Citizen Journalist Report Gives Apple Stock a Tumble Marketing Vox News
Digitaltrends.com - editorsweblog.org - RedOrbit - Hollywood Reporter
all 23 news articles

Publ.Date : Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:59:12 GMT

8 Killed in California Bus Accident - New York Times


Sky News
8 Killed in California Bus Accident
New York Times - 48 minutes ago
By LIZ ROBBINS Eight people died and dozens more were injured when a charter bus bound for a casino north of Sacramento flipped over and rolled into a ditch Sunday evening.
Video: Bus Crash Kills 10 AssociatedPress
At least 7 killed, 38 injured in Greyhound bus crash Los Angeles Times
News10.net - KQCA, My58.com - KTLA - BBC News
all 1,220 news articles

Publ.Date : Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:00:08 GMT

Free Prescription Drug Samples Pose Risk to Kids - U.S. News & World Report


eFluxMedia
Free Prescription Drug Samples Pose Risk to Kids
U.S. News & World Report - 1 hour ago
MONDAY, Oct. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Free prescription drug samples distributed to pediatric patients may be unsafe, research suggests.
Study Says Drug Samples May Endanger Children New York Times
Study Shows Free Drug Samples Pose Health Risk For Kids dBTechno
Boston Globe - eMaxHealth.com - USA Today - eFluxMedia
all 43 news articles

Publ.Date : Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:06:45 GMT

Poland avoid World Cup ban after deal reached - CNN


Canoe.ca
Poland avoid World Cup ban after deal reached
CNN - 37 minutes ago
BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) -- Poland's suspended football federation reached a last-minute deal with the government on Monday that will allow it to avoid a suspension by FIFA and likely retain hosting rights to the 2012 European Championship.
Blatter says Polish soccer issues resolved The Associated Press
Fifa to drop Poland ban threat SkySports
Bleacher Report - Fifa.com - Reuters UK - guardian.co.uk
all 326 news articles

Publ.Date : Mon, 06 Oct 2008 14:10:53 GMT

OJ Simpson jury: Tapes did football legend in - New York Daily News


BBC News
OJ Simpson jury: Tapes did football legend in
New York Daily News - 8 hours ago
BY NANCY DILLON Jurors, including Dora Pettit (with mike), say they set aside personal feelings and based guilty OJ Simpson conviction on facts.
Video: OJ Jury: We Didn't Need Witnesses to Convict AssociatedPress
OJ Simpson Isolated In Jail For Safety WESH.com
San Francisco Chronicle - eFluxMedia - Los Angeles Times - KBTX
all 3,129 news articles

Publ.Date : Mon, 06 Oct 2008 06:25:31 GMT

‘Beverly Hills Chihuahua’ is the big dog at the weekend box office - Monsters and Critics.com


National Post
‘Beverly Hills Chihuahua’ is the big dog at the weekend box office
Monsters and Critics.com - 2 hours ago
By Patrick Luce Oct 6, 2008, 12:15 GMT It looks like Disney has another family hit with "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" barking up to the top spot on the weekend box office with an estimated $29 million.
Video: Madonna, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Janet Jackson AssociatedPress
Chihuahua' Is Top Dog at Box Office Entertainment Weekly
Washington Post - BBC News - Hollywood Reporter - Reuters
all 571 news articles

Publ.Date : Mon, 06 Oct 2008 12:25:05 GMT

Three Europeans Win the 2008 Nobel for Medicine - New York Times


New York Times
Three Europeans Win the 2008 Nobel for Medicine
New York Times - 1 hour ago
By LAWRENCE K. ALTMAN Three European scientists who discovered viruses that cause cervical cancer and AIDS share this year’s Nobel Prize in medicine.
Nobel winner pessimistic on AIDS vaccine International Herald Tribune
German, French scientists win Nobel Prize for medicine People's Daily Online
AFP - Wall Street Journal Blogs - Kaiser network.org - Scientific American
all 589 news articles

Publ.Date : Mon, 06 Oct 2008 13:20:56 GMT

RSS to HTML
Website Traffic Promotion


PARLOT::Ebooks, Scripts, Websites, and more...

Adsense websites

Are You Willing To Pay The Price?

Do you believe that there is a price to pay... Read More

What Does It Take To Become An Internet Marketer?

I have heard many people say all it takes to... Read More

3 Services Your Online Business Cant Live Without

It doesn't make any difference if you're promoting your own... Read More

I Don?t Smoke, But I Love a Good .sig!

.sig, or "Dot Sig" as it's affectionately known, stands for... Read More

Niche Marketing - Assessing The Potential Of A Niche

Potential niche products exist all around us, but how do... Read More

Scam And Scheme Free Advertising For Your Business Web Site

Since I own my own business web site and have... Read More

3 Simple Steps for Revealing Marketing Secrets of the Experts

Learn the easy method I use to reveal marketing secrets.... Read More

Internet Marketing: The Secret Magic Of Converting Your Website Visitors To Buyers

It is not enough to set up a website to... Read More

Internet Marketing Success is a Cumulative Effect

Being successful at Internet marketing does require doing the right... Read More

Why Your Online Advertising Traffic Leaves as Soon as It Arrives

Online advertising traffic leaves when advertisers don't make it... Read More

8 Excellent Ways to Sell Your Back-end Products More Successfully!

A back-end product is a product that you attempt to... Read More

Resources for Starting an Online Business

Anyone trying to start an Online business needs to have... Read More

Beat The Phenomenon Of Awful Sale Statistics

It is a purely shocking statistic, that only 4 in... Read More

Marketing Strategy

With the plethora of websites online and hundreds added each... Read More

Content, Content, Content.

Read any Internet marketing article, forum or tutorial these days... Read More

Twenty Ways To Profits Online

1. Offer to write exclusive articles (that means you only... Read More

Some Practical Guidlines for Getting Involved with Internet Marketing

This article addresses the 'how' and 'when' of getting involved... Read More

How a Multi-Faceted Approach to Site Promotion Can Secure Your Search Engine Positions

Copyright 2005 Tinu AbayomiPaulIn my last article on site promotion,... Read More

Paid Customer List On Autopilot?

How do you get a truckload of buyers eager to... Read More

Use Photos as Part of your Marketing Arsenal

Photos should be important parts of your marketing. The photos... Read More

Creating Your Internet Marketing Plan

For large corporations, a marketing plan is a huge document... Read More

A New Way to Profit From Your Content-Based Website

"It's a labor of love." That's how I've always described... Read More

The Worst Internet Marketing Strategy Ever?

Many people are downright frustrated.And when you look at their... Read More

Don?t Let Legitimate Email Marketing Campaigns Suffer A Junk Mail Fate

Volume-based filtering may be pre-sorting your marketing messages to the... Read More

Marketers: Are We Getting Dumb?

Good morning, you fellow marketers! Well, you do not have... Read More