Objective and Target
The
most important aspect of an effective Banner advertising campaign is initial
planning. What are you trying to accomplish with Banner advertising? How will
you measure success for this Banner advertising campaign? Will you be happy with
increased awareness (name branding) or are we only interested in
the number of leads generated, sales made or hits to the site? Who
is the target market? Who is most likely to be interested in your
product or message? Thoughtful planning is the foundation of any
Banner advertising campaign. If you are trying to build name recognition,
then you will want to fill your Advertising banners with your name and logo.
If you're looking for click through volume, your logo will probably
get in the way. Site category and geographic location are equally
important in target marketing. Targeting the audience effects the
direction of the campaign. If your target audience is teenagers
then, targeting Banner advertising at conservative sites might be useless.
Equally, if your key prospect is the no-nonsense business type,
you might want to allow quick access to decision-making data avoid
things like large animation graphics and humor. You must also consider
the limitation on file size and the physical size of ads.
Good Design
Creativity can easily make the difference between a 0.5% click
through rate and a 10% click through rate. Even if you only achieve
a growth from 0.5% to 1% you are doubling the effectiveness of your
campaign. Whether you are a well established business that can purchase
regular ads from your Banner advertising budget, or a teenager creating
a business with only free banner swap ads to use, you cannot ignore
the critical difference that creativity can bring. Creative design
does not have to mean flashy animations, but often just a few minutes
careful consideration. Effective design can easily mean two words
on a plain background. A good ad campaign typically involves a
series of new ideas and designs. Even good designs get stale because
they become commonplace. So have a range of different approaches
to increase your ability to get your message to a variety of targets.
Aspects of Colour
Colours can be a most important part of the design. Many studies
have indicated that people respond better to bright colors, such
as green, blue, and yellow, or certain color combinations, like
a rich yellow on dark blue. Also, some audiences respond better
to certain colors. For example, dark rich colors might appeal to
the sophisticated while bright and trendy colors can grab the attention
of the rest. White and Colors such as red and black, whilst they
might seem a bit basic, can be useful to provide a level of contrast
or distinction in the context of the ad. So always think about the
colors and the combinations of colors in conjunction with the target
market. Ask your partners for feedback on color choices.
The Message
Words sell...graphic design only displays the words in a visually
appealing way. Don't confuse the two. No amount of trendy design
will make a poorly written ad sell for you. Your message must have
the best chance of being read the first time, by using easy to read
fonts like Arial, Futura, Swiss, and Helvetica. There are occasions
when the more unique fonts will suit a particular situation, however
the text must then be simple and uncluttered. The words need to
quickly get the visitor's attention; this usually means the fewer
words the better. Common strategies include posing questions, using
cryptic messages and using directives. For example, a request to
"Click here " on you banner can often instigate action. Questions
and statements that arouse curiosity are often most effective. Most
surfers value the invitation to be curious, but equally don't respond
to blatant sales hype. If possible your message should compel your
recipient to respond. If you don't know how to write and design
a short, clever, compelling message, look around the net and find
someone who does, or who already has. You can be creative with words
but don't deceive. Deception and lies may get people to click on
a banner, but you'll get a mailbox full of rude E-mails, and nobody
will buy your product. Potential prospects can be turned off if
you are too clever, so leave out the pun. Remember that the ad reflects
you and your business. If they think your message is strange, then
thats how they see your business. If they think the words and the
images are creative then that will be their impression of you and
your company. So use the spellchecker. If the banner is for a new
product or service of an existing brand, don't mention the brand
or your customers will think they already know everything about
it.
Pointing your Banner
Which page? Internet ads don't always have to point to the home
page. Often you do not want the viewer to navigate through a series
of pages before they get to where you really want them to go. If
you want to create leads, then point the banner directly to your
forms. If you want to promote a new product, then point the ad to
the product specs page or to a download page. If you're promoting
content, then direct surfers directly there. Surfers will appreciate
the more direct approach and that helps increase customer loyalty.
Animation & Size
Animation is certainly one of the most important ways to get attention.
However poor animation is a signal to a potential visitor that your
site isn't worth going to. Animation also increases the file size
of a banner ad. and the risk that it will not load fast enough to
have any impact at all. The total file size for GIF animations should
be optimized by reducing the number of colours in the ad or by employing
inter-frame transparency. You can now buy good gif animation and
optimisation software cheaply for immediate download from secure
servers. Examples are: Giffy98 Animagic Gif Animator and most recommended
is Ulead GIF Animator 3.0. Looping must be used with caution, because
it can be annoying to surfers. Having the first or last frame delayed
for an extended time can minimise the annoyance. You can have it
loop only a few times and stop it on the key frame. The most popular
banner Ad sizes remain 400x40 and 468x60. Continue to test the results.
Don't ever rest on your laurels. An internet Banner advertising campaign
is always under review. You don't do a small test and then a big
rollout. With internet Banner advertising you should always be testing.
The most measurable form of advertising you can do is internet Banner advertising.
The very nature of the system allows you to easily monitor the performance
of every banner. Create a range of ads- some static; some animated;
some upbeat; some plain. Test them all separately under the same
circumstances. Choose the best and then work on creating a better one
to beat it. Whatever else you do, spend a little time getting your
banners right.
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