How effective are your ads online?

Tuesday, 06. 9. 2009  –  Category: Enversa

New studies are pouring out that almost as many internet users search for content based on an ad as actually click the ad. What does this mean for your business? Two things actually. Since internet users are using your ad as a jumping off point, considerations need to be made in the design and layout of the ad, with an increased emphasis on the unique selling proposition. This is a real opportunity for you to create a sub niche within your business and dominate it. If you weren’t the first to market the product, then you could capture the entire share of your sub niche by owning and advertising a key phrase. The goal is positioning your business within the niche, and your ads are a integral part of that positioning. When a consumer triggers an extended search, your unique selling proposition should be the first thing that pops up, and it should offer an immediate solution to their problem.

Take the work from home job market for example. There are many sub niches within the work from home niche, including stay at home moms, stay at home dads, part time, etc. The list goes on as far down as you can divide it. Your ads need to target the niche and provide a custom solution to that category. You also need to create a specific landing page that speaks to the target audience, and build your online advertising campaign around it. Your online ads serve as a jumping off point for web searches for your business, and as a direct response mechanism for click throughs.

Your ads serve another purpose as well. Think about professional sports for a moment. How much money does pro football or basketball team invest in promoting itself in marketing? A pretty fair amount, in fact a large portion of the budget goes into promoting champion sports teams to a variety of consumers. The advertising creates an affiliation and familiarity with the team and its players. It’s almost contrary thinking, but your ads should not only be direct response oriented, but should be branding your name every time it pops up in front of a customer. Customers buy from people they trust, and if they see your ad and become familiar with the name, it creates a sense of trust. They know you, and therefore, may buy from you.

Business ads need to be carefully constructed to work on three levels:direct response, where the viewer clicks through to a landing page; brand building where the viewer becomes familiar with the product or service, at least through repetition; and engaging the viewer in wanting more information, enough to conduct an internet search. Crafting the right kind of ad is never easy. It’s an art and a science, and there are plenty of tools available online that can make any small business owner think they can construct the right kind of ad. After all, who knows the business like they do? Using the services of a professional online marketing company who have studied hundreds or even thousands of ads can cut the learning curve down considerably and build an online ad campaign that works on all three levels: branding, click through and triggering searches.

Tags: advertisers, Marc Pickren, online, search engine, websites