Banners have become a very
popular way of advertising your internet website to other internet surfers. Such
derivatives of banners have also spawned buttons. The standard banner size today is 468 x
60 while buttons are the tiny little 3D objects you see to the right of you, usually with
the standard size of 88 x 31. So, no,
banners are not physical banners you can place in front of your business of physical
presence which I suspect someone reluctantly bought from me one time after signing the
contract ... hence this section.
Banners are a very
advantageous and aggressive method in which to market your internet presence and
it's
recommended. [Spam is NEVER recommended.] However, there are a few
things you need to know before launching your campaign.
1) Will this be a free for all
run?
A free for all run or a
"site run" or a "run of the site" is a banner campaign that is not
necessarily tailored to your site. For example, if I signed up for such a campaign with my
banner, then I would be targeting no one in particular! I would, in effect, have no sort
of demographic in which to target but to everyone who happened upon the site hosting my
campaign.
2) Will this be a keyword
targeted run?
Keywords are my friend and if
you're serious about internet marketing, they need to be yours too. Keyword targeted
campaigns are the most expensive BUT, if you're savvy, they assure a more responsive
audience. Recently I launched two consecutive campaigns for a particular client. The first
was a SITE RUN while the next was a TARGETED RUN. The free for all landed them an adequate
response (because I designed their banner too ; ) ) BUT the keyword
targeted landed them over a 35% higher response. Lesson: Unless you're appealing to the
generic demographic of *Internet User* you'd do better to try and squeeze targeted
campaigning into your budget.
3) What does CPM and CT% mean?
CPM means simply "Cost
per thousand (views)." Some banner advertisers will tell you the CPM and then base
that on a minimum of, say, 30, 000. In other words, you have a CPM of $10 but you have a
30, 000 minimum. This means the least you could expect to pay will be ($10 x 30) $300 for
that particular run. Sounds like a good value right? Here's where your CT% comes in. CT
means Click Thru and that's what you need to pay attention to. The higher the CT the
higher your website exposure. A GREAT CT% would be 5%...the average on a run of the mill
network run would be perhaps .7%...Keyword targeting maybe 2%. This is where the type of
banner you have can really work for you!
4) What sort of banner can
pull the higher CT%?
In a word: Animated. Stats
have consistently proven that everything else being equal, the animated banner will pull
the most responses. Why this is is clear: Animated banners will catch the eye of the
surfer. Static banners are commonplace and not eye catchers. Animations are difficult to
make in keeping within the byte specs but if done, it's well worth it.
5) How much would it cost to
run my banner?
It varies from place to place
but generally expect to pay between $200 - $500 for a run of site banner ad for
about
30,000 - 60, 000 views. For a targeted (meaning keyword) banner run expect upwards of $50
per CPM, probably with a minimum of 30,000. It can vary GROSSLY.
6) How much would you charge
to make a banner and advertise it in a campaign?
You would need to let me know
what sort of run you'd want. Even if you already have a banner not needing any design I'd
be happy to help you out. Generally your banner would need to be less than 12K or 10K in
size, 468 x 60, and no looping animation. ( If you need a
banner go here.) For a campaign be sure to mention it in the comments section along w/
specifying if this is to be a GENERAL run or a TARGETED run. If targeted, specify the
keywords. In either case, specify your budget and/or your desired CPM's.
