Banner Ads – Thumbs Up? Thumbs Down?

"Banner ads are tried-and-true forms of advertising that can deliver great results while driving a return on investment," says Kim Stearns in an article at MarketingProfs. So why are advertisers so hesitant to use them?

It might be, she conjectures, that serious businesses look askance at the sheer volume of silly ads promising free iPods or asking readers to participate in inane surveys. "It's a shame that such an important online-advertising avenue has been tainted for so long with such content," she notes. Especially since banner ads can be an effective part of your marketing mix.

The key to success, Stearns argues, is to treat banner ads like billboards:

Say it in eight words or less. Assume your online audience is speeding past at the equivalent of 75 mph. "If you want to have any chance of communicating with viewers," she says, "you'll have to make it snappy."

Stick to a single visual element. Ideally, this works in concert with your copy to tell a complete story.

The Po!nt: Just as you wouldn't load a billboard with marketing copy or a complicated layout, don't burden your banner ad with more information than a viewer can process in two or three seconds. Says Stearns, "This is exposure. This is an impression. That's it."

Source: MarketingProfs

Undercover Websites

Some organizations go to great efforts to build beautiful looking websites that few people easily discover.

That’s because search engines like Google, Yahoo! and Bing “crawl” the Web looking for keywords their users are entering. The more words your site has that correspond with your users’ searches, the more likely you’ll end up high in the rankings of their search results. Conversely, a poorly optimized site will fall near the bottom of the heap.

SEO: An introduction

Search Engine Optimization starts with a carefully structured website, utilizing clean code and elements while keeping text out of graphic or Flash-based components, since this text is not readable by search engines.

DLA’s team uses key words (specific to your company and industry) within the content of the site. Well-written websites integrate the key words as often as possible without sounding redundant. We also use these words in meta tags (hidden code).

The trick is to determining which key words are the most important to include. Because DLA has web analytics encoded on nearly every client’s website, we are able to monitor these key search terms and make sure the sites are achieving maximum performance.

Finally, having a large number of other sites link to your website increases overall traffic to your site as well as boosts your search engine ranking. Start by making sure your site is listed on the links pages of any organizations you’re a member of such as the Chamber of Commerce, Ad Club, Medical Society or Homebuilders Association. In addition, you can swap links with other relevant / supporting businesses. For example, a homebuilder could have links to a siding company, floorcovering business and landscape group.

As we build our clients’ websites, we take great efforts to ensure that they receive superior rankings within a variety of search engines. Are you confident that YOUR site is being found by prospects? If not, give us a call at 309.693.1421 and we’ll talk about how to optimize those searches.

The Lowdown on Logos

The most common color for logos is blue with approximately 80% of all marks using some shade of blue. Source: Business Week

WOOF!

Are you barking up the wrong tree? You might be.

If your current advertising efforts aren’t producing the results you’re hoping for, it could be because your ads are in the wrong place and are missing your target audience.

We can help evaluate your current advertising plans and provide recommendations on how to maximize your budget. After all, your days are busy enough – do you want to spend your time researching the most effective advertising vehicles? Or would you rather let us do that for you so you can stay focused on what you do best?

Back to Basics

I’ll keep this one short and sweet. Whether you have kids or not, it’s back to school time. So maybe that’s a good reminder to get back to basics for your marketing. Here they are:

• Make a plan.
• Don’t forget to follow the plan.
• Work with a marketing firm you trust.
• Evaluate and revise the plan as needed.
• See results.
• Don’t quit just because you see results.
• Reap the rewards!

That OTHER Advertising Medium

I often talk about the more obvious forms of advertising (TV, radio, billboards, direct mail), but there’s another one that we use on a regular basis – for both our clients and our own promotional efforts. And that’s advertising specialty items. Pens. Magnets. Chip clips. You know … give-aways that have your logo on ’em.

So that I don’t disclose our clients’ proprietary projects, I’ll share some of the things that have worked for DLA. First of all the items must say QUALITY. We’ve used the same coffee mugs for more than a decade. The only way I can describe them is as “man mugs” – they’re definitely not delicate tea party mugs that crumble in your hands. These mugs aren’t afraid to hold a solid cup of joe.

Second, the items must be NEEDED. Like everyone else we give away pens. But we again, we defer back to quality. We’ve had clients ask for more pens. We’ve also heard of people hoarding and hiding them. That tells us that we’ve chosen a quality product!

Third, the item should have a LINK to your business. This year we gave our clients branded coffee. While coffee itself isn’t tied into our business, anyone who knows us knows that we’re driven by caffeine. We also created a custom label that furthered that link to who we are.

Our Go To Guy

For several years, we’ve worked with Dan Turk of Lee Wayne. So I asked him what items are hot this year. “Thumb drives are huge right now and have really come down in cost. They are available from 256 mb all the way up to several gig. Another cool item is the Webkey. Just plug it into your computer and it automatically directs the user to your website.”

One of the great things about working with someone like Dan is that although he can share the latest trends, he and I have worked together long enough that we can come up with some powerhouse ideas for our clients. And since the average cost-per-impression of an advertising specialty item is $0.004, it’s certainly worth considering. Give me a call to see what ideas Dan and I can come up with for you!

Nice guys finish ... where?

We've all heard the phrase, "Nice guys finish last." But as it turns out, baseball manager Leo Durocher actually said, "The nice guys are all over there – in seventh place." *

Which one sticks with you more? Obviously, the one that flows better and gets across the point most effectively. That's how it is with great advertising, too. Whether it's the tagline, the catchy jingle or a powerful graphic, it's all about creating advertising that is memorable.

When it's time to communicate your next important message, let us help you create something that sticks.

* Source: Reader's Digest

Why volunteer? Why not!

When watching the always-inspiring St. Jude Telethon Saturday night, one of the key board members was asked, "Why do you do all that you do?" Her answer was, "Because I can."

What an amazing and thought-provoking answer. There's something that each one of us can do, whether it's for St. Jude, our children's school, a community literacy program, the local food pantry or an elderly neighbor. But the point is that we each have the ability, the talent and at least a tiny bit of time to make someone else's life just that much better.

My question is ... What can YOU do? And will you?