If You MUST Use Banners...

...at least try and use them more effectively.

In his article "The X Factor: Why banners fail" Sean X. Cummings shares some valid theories on why our sidebar 160x600 ads get better click-through rates than the 728x90 located at the top of the page.

From the article:

One of the greatest failings of the banner format is that it is peripheral to the content and not interruptive.

We all evolved as predators. Why is that relevant? Predators evolved with peripheral vision that picks up movement better than what's right in front of you. Their peripheral vision picks up ticks in movement and changes in speed better than smooth, clean movement.

Ah, now you're starting to get it --
Have.
The.
Banner…….[pause]
React.
[pause]
[pause]
[pause] Move. [pounce] Like it's stalking prey.

The consumer's eye will instinctively glance to see what it is. Don't be impressed with your smooth, animated banner approved in isolation of the consumer. It looks nicer but will not achieve your main objective: the attention of the consumer.

The technique won't work for every business or every campaign. Sean adds "It's a very effective strategy depending on your business model. An impression does not mean that the consumer ever saw the ad, it just means that the ad server delivered the 'opportunity' to see an ad. Aim for peripheral focus in your ad creation and increase the effectiveness of your campaigns."

He ends the article with line -- which is valuable advise no matter which media you're using. "Don't create ads that annoy us."

Newspapers (Try To) Think Locally for Online Ads

Nice coverage in WSJ about challenges facing "The Dead Tree Society" as they seek to increase their share of local Web dollars.

Though the article focuses on Newspapers, one need only review the Borrell Associates chart to the left in order to realize Radio has the great potential for growth in Online Advertising.

Some of the article highlights...

Scrambling Cannibals

In an effort to make up for their plunging print-ad revenues, newspaper companies have been scrambling to train their sales teams in the intricacies of selling online ads to local marketers.
But in many cases they aren't selling a lot of ads and at least some of the new ads they are managing to sell are cannibalizing their print-ad revenues, industry analysts say. A common scenario is that a trusty local print advertiser -- a car dealership, say -- that used to spend $20,000 a year on advertising might now spend a quarter of that with the newspaper online and nothing in the print product. Thus, the newspaper company is now selling more digital ads, but the new sale is taking away from its bottom line.

Losing Their Edge

Whatever edge Newspaper may have had in capturing web revenue appears to have evaporated. Newspapers now control only 27.4% of the local online ad market, down from a 35.9% share in 2006, according to Borrell.

Cracks and Gaps

There are several reasons why newspapers so far have failed to crack this market.

• Online ads are far less expensive than print ads and thus offer lower commissions, making it difficult to get salespeople to focus on selling the digital products
• Newspaper is typically selling banner ads which don't meet the needs of local businesses
• Most local online revenue growth comes from small and medium-size local businesses -- a market segment that Newspapers have typically ignored

Read the entire article here.

How/Why Consumers Share Info

ShareThis.com has just completed an extensive study on sharing with Forrester Research. Forrester and ShareThis, teamed up to find out what and how people are sharing information online with one another. The study, which will be released next week, provides some interesting statistics around how people share online information --

• 69% of adults cite email as the primary source of sharing information
• Less than 1/3 of online adults said they learned about the new content from shared content sources such as YouTube, a wiki, or social networking sites
• 84% of people still use the traditional cut and paste method to share a URL or information
• 81% of adults claim that they share to help others -- believing a person will benefit from the information they share
• Sharing increases site traffic 2x, thus increasing ad dollars or revenue for publishers
• Men are more likely to share recommendations and videos than women; 77% of adult males and 74% of younger males shared news and web links
• Women are more likely to share products or ideas they like via easy or direct sharing methods (ie texting.)

You can read the full press release here.

Brilliant Billboards Could Be Leaderboards

Here's a great example of an outdoor campaign that could easily be translated into an online campaign using our 728x90 Leaderboard banners.

Click here for the full campaign series of billboards.

Even more interesting than the campaign itself is the backstory of how it all came together and was actually executed. Click here for the full story.

Which of your clients might benefit from the creation of a compelling storyline...
Missed romance at a traffic light with that cute guy driving a TOYOTA?
A long-lost friend spotted in the aisles at KROGER?
What other variations can you create?