I was reading a column (online, of course) about online banner ads that really struck a chord with me, as it should with you. The columnist, Razorfish’s Matt Greitzer, fell in love with a banner ad for Howe Caverns because it accomplished precisely what a banner ad sets out to do. Upon seeing and connecting with the ad, Greitzer started investigating Howe Caverns. (I also think he loved it because it brought back warm and fuzzy childhood memories for him — which is an accomplishment of its own right, but not the one I want to focus on today.)
Bam! Just like that. Sounds simple, right? I think so too, but that’s also what I think people are forgetting — the simplicity.
Account executives are complaining right and left that all any advertiser wants these days is SEARCH. So we’re focused on all the ins and outs of search optimization, the numbers, the results, the hits, the trends, on and on. Don’t get me wrong — all of these are extremely important. But what Greitzer points out is that display advertising incites search too. Maybe not immediately with a click on the ad, but eventually with curiosity and harder-to-measure methods of searching. Greitzer mentions that many marketing execs are dropping banner advertising completely, and the professionals who commented on his column agreed. This is where your selling skills take the lead.
You can save these short-search-sighted clients with your secret weapon — prime placement. What Greitzer really admired about the ad he saw while reading a news site was how well-placed it was. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he says it was pretty, too, but the crucial element for YOU is right here: “My memory was recently triggered, however, by a well-placed and well-designed banner ad promoting the attraction. By ‘well-placed,’ I mean it was well-timed (summer Saturday morning) and well-targeted (shown to me, someone within driving distance, on a highly reputable national news and opinion Web site).”
Location, location, location. His column also made me think of Martha Stewart. (And not in terms of my usual daydream of arranging peonies cut fresh from her garden in Connecticut while she bakes me double-chocolate cookies, either.) There’s always talk about blurring the lines between editorial content and ad content, and Martha Stewart shined the spotlight there again when she reversed her views at MediaPost’s Future of Media Forum this week. Apparently, “she used to be ‘very angry’ about blurring the line between editorial and sales operations. But business realities and perhaps more consumer acceptance have softened her stance — to the point that ‘it doesn’t bother me anymore’.” She mentioned that she sees more and more ads are being placed with parallel content in mind. Sides of the fence aside, it is happening and has been happening, and isn’t that what a “well-placed, well-timed, well-targeted” ad boils down to anyway?
So wipe the dust off that banner ad and re-evaluate WHERE it should go for your clients. And remind them of this handy factoid: “When exposed to a banner ad, 26% of those interested will click, while 74% of those interested will ‘Google’ it later,” according to Atlas Research information.
[Sources: Greitzer, Matt. "Yes, Display Ads Can Work -- and Benefit Search as Well." And subsequent readers' comments. MediaPost's Search Insider. Sept. 11, 2009; Goetzl, David. "Stewart: Edit/Ad Lines Will Continue to Break Down." MediaPost's Media Daily News. Sept. 24, 2009.]
Friday, Sep 25, 2009
Courtney Huckabay