Online Advertising Voodoo

We've Moved!

MindComet — Mon, 04 Feb 2008 21:28:00 +0000

Just a quick note - we have consolidated our blogs, and Online Advertising Voodoo will not be updated in the near future. However, feel free to visit our other active blogs for engaging content. Online Advertising topics will continue to be covered on Viral Voodoo, Gen Y Voodoo, and Online Marketing Voodoo as well as our marketing podcast, Internet Marketing Voodoo.

Widgets!

MindComet — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 17:37:00 +0000

Millions of Myspace users create personalized pages with the help of free internet applications known as widgets. These widgets make it simple for users, allowing them to copy and pasta a designated code to add a particular feature to their page. Currently advertisers have been using these applications as a free way to advertise on the online giant. Myspace has become aware of this and is now banding widgets that contain any ads. One of these includes , a widget well known to the myspace community. It was recently taken down after the firm decided to include a “SpiderMan 3” widget as a part of it slideshow features. Another company using widgets as a part of their recent advertising campaign is Cingular. The digital campaign, “Cingular Sounds,” allows users to create music lyrics for their page with the help of widgets. Whether or not Myspace should allow for the use of advertising widgets is a hard question. They need to look out for their own good, but also must stick with their views on providing users with a social media space they can fully personalize.

Declare Yourself

MindComet — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 18:56:00 +0000

As the presidential election nears, Declare Yourself created by Norman Lear kicks off its advertising campaign as an effort to get younger votes educated and register to vote for the 2008 presidential elections as well as local elections taking place. In order to capture the interest of this demographic the year’s campaign has a long list of online support giants, including Yahoo, MySpace, YouTube, Google and Friendster. Declare Yourself will be featured on MySpace’s Impact Channel featuring a link to voter’s registration making it simple for first time voters to find and fill out form. In addition it will help create content, video contests and special projects in this new channel aimed at people who are or want to be activists for various issues determined during the election time. Also supporting the effort is Clear Channel and Comedy Central, which will provide public service announcements, celebrity appearances and online efforts regarding the topic. Although Lear is using multimedia content to connect with this specific demographic his biggest priority in his efforts is with that of good corporate citizenship.

Let them do the advertising for you

MindComet — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 19:42:00 +0000

Social Networking sites such as MySpace are full of young people (and some older) looking for new and innovative ways to personalize their “space.” Many MySpacer’s choose to personalize their page with images from their favorite movies, TV shows, bands, books, comedians, actors and actresses.

Sony Pictures has teamed up with Photobucket.com to create branded Spider-Man 3 skins for the Photobucket’s popular slideshow tool. The tool allows users to upload their own photographs, which are then organized into a slideshows and displayed in a Spider-Man 3 branded window. Users can post the slideshows on their own MySpace pages and blogs as well as on their friend’s pages.

Now social networkers, who are already searching for ways to associate themselves with their favorite products, can do the advertising for you. They are already looking for ways to showcase the things they love. This is a great way to facilitate the word of mouth advertising and hopefully create a buzz throughout the social networking space.

Consumers’ Choices Benefit Online Advertisers

MindComet — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 13:58:00 +0000

A unique online advertising method benefits casual game players as well as advertisers. Players are allowed to choose the type of ads they will receive, using a technology called Sponsor Select. This helps the viewer, since they are not annoyed by ads that are of no interest to them.

The arrangement provides advertisers with viewers that are, by their own admission, interested in the type of products they are advertising. It is much more efficient to spend ad dollars on viewers who are already pre-qualified in this manner. Ads would seem much less intrusive since the consumer had, in effect, asked for them. This puts them in a more receptive mood, making a purchase more likely.

Additionally, viewers may feel a stronger connection and loyalty toward the advertisers when they are given this choice. Hello, long-term brand equity!

Off-line Ads Fuel Online Searches

MindComet — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 13:49:00 +0000

A survey by the Retail Advertising and Marketing Association found that traditional forms of advertising sparked online product searches. The poll found that 47.2 percent of shoppers are more likely to go online after viewing a magazine ad, according to a MediaPost article.

This is great news not only for traditional forms of news and entertainment, but also for marketers. Marketers now know a starting point for reaching an audience. They need to not only focus on online advertising, but also should focus their attention on magazines, newspapers and T.V.

This poll speaks to the strength of having an integrated marketing strategy, one that reaches an audience from various types of media vehicles. Myopia in the marketing world is the shortest route to failure.

E! Uses Virtual Slots to Advertise Online

MindComet — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 16:05:00 +0000

E! Entertainment Television is promoting its new reality show, Paradise City, by way way of an online "advergame," a game that resembles a Vegas slot machine. According to MediaWeek, the slot reels will feature cast members’ faces rather than fruit. Players who hit the jackpot will receive gossip and information on that cast member. Since Paradise City’s target audience includes young, web-friendly viewers, the game is a natural fit.

It is an interesting way to expose people to the show, and will allow players to form a bond with characters before they even view the show. A recent brand-impact study found that after playing a game, consumers are more likely to remember the brand and to associate specific brand attributes with it.

Advergames are a growing industry, with multiple benefits. If people correlate your product with fun and other positive feelings, they will be more likely to purchase your product in the future, or in E!’s case, watch its show.

Gone in Three Seconds

MindComet — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:45:00 +0000

A great blog by Joseph Carrabis on iMedia Connection recently discussed the time users take to evaluate whether or not they will continue to look at a particular page.

NextStage conducted the research and found that the first 3 seconds are the most critical. This is called the “attraction” stage, in which users are deciding whether the information is interesting and want to continue perusing.

This is an interesting concept in relation to online advertising because this means that placement and ad content must catch the user’s eye within that 3-second time frame otherwise it will be lost. Knowing this will force advertisers to be more exact about where ads are placed on a page. It will also force them to be more creative about the content of the ad to achieve that "wow" factor.

And Then there was One

MindComet — Fri, 23 Mar 2007 14:28:00 +0000

History has gone through cycles of consolidation and decentralization. The Internet world is no exception. News Corp. and NBC are looking to capitalize on their combined talents rather than go it alone. This joint video-venture site has yet to be named but it is going to be one of the largest ad platforms to hit the Web, according to a MediaPost article.

Extensive distribution deals with company like Microsoft's MSN and Time Warner's AOL will allow this site to reach 96 percent of the U.S. Web audience. This reason alone has got advertiser scrambling to become part of this phenomenon. For advertisers, the ease of going to just one site to reach the majority of a viewing audience will change the way advertisers do business.

The article also stated that it's unclear the roll that pre-rolled ads would play in this new site, but with so much hype surrounding it the possibilities are endless. When considering ad placement and media buying don’t discount this new platform.

Social Search Engines: A New Way to Search

MindComet — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 18:10:00 +0000

With the rise of the Internet came an opportunity for advertisers to reach audiences via a new vehicle. Then the rise of the search engines gave a different, more targeted approach to the way advertisers could reach a certain segment.

As is a necessity of sorts, evolution leads to opportunity. Social searches emerged on the scene and became a huge trend in 2006, according to David Gilby in a MediaPost article. Social search differs from traditional search engines because it adds human intelligence into the search process, according to the article. This means instead of allowing an algorithm to match keywords, a social search allows a user to connect with a live "expert" on the topic, which produces more useful and relevant results.

This is another big opportunity for advertisers because if a search engine can now pick up on the intention of a search then more personalized product ads can be placed in order to entice individual consumers.

Start-Up looks to Revolutionize Online Advertising

MindComet — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 16:52:00 +0000

It doesn’t even have a fully functional Web site yet, but there are articles and blogs about the impending technology that Peer39 will bring to the market later this year. The stealth company has “proprietary algorithms that can help turn just plain data into real usable information to dramatically improve the effectiveness of advertising,” according to an article from BeyondVC.

Peer39 is an online ad marketplace start-up based in New York City. The company just received $3 million from Dawntreader Ventures. If this technology is truly “revolutionary,” then this could be a huge business for Peer39, which could sell this item to marketing firms, ad agencies, and corporations alike.

Advertising Predictions

MindComet — Thu, 22 Mar 2007 13:52:00 +0000

Source: eMarkter.com

Who's in Your Final Four?

MindComet — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 19:18:00 +0000

As the March Madness frenzy for college basketball fans begins, CBS Sportsline prepares to provide fans with online live streaming video of the tournament games. With the free player titled "March Madness on Demand" they believe to capture an even bigger audience than last year when they first decided to do away with the subscription fee and use an ad-supported model free of charge to it consumers. Along with this model they have also made plans to double the size of its video feed capacity, increase the size of the video, and improve the quality by increase the bit rate.

As consumers turn to digital media to discuss, dissect, and even follow up on the action online video continues to increase in popularity. Advertising during big events has turned companies away from the traditional TV spot focus and drastically increased the size and price of using online advertising.

Creativity - Key to Reaching Voters

MindComet — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 18:46:00 +0000

With all of the traditional consumer advertising out there and the explosion of consumer generated media, would-be presidential hopefuls are going to have a challenging time getting their message - and name - heard. According to political experts, even if you are a party front-runner such as Hilary Clinton, Barack Oboma, John McCain, and Rudy Guilani must now display creativity in their ads and strategies. With the rise of online advertising, even the current White House administration must change its tactics if it wants to reach an increasingly inattentive audience.

People have become so used to wild, crazy ad campaigns that many are tuning out traditional, "boring" methods of communication. Now, more than ever, viewers want to be engaged and entertained by advertising. Viral messaging and its distribution is key, and it all starts with creativity. If the ad is "boring", no one will talk about it and it will remain unseen.

Many candidates are now using Web video, YouTube and online chats, and how they use these resources will become crucial to their overall strategy. The Internet is great for testing ideas, whether commercial or political. It is easy to remove or change things if response is less than positive.

Use of social networking sites by candidates will say a lot about them. Posting on YouTube is risky, since viewers can post and read negative comments about the candidate. It either demonstrates a candidate’s confidence and cool factor, or their lack of foresight. Videos on personal web sites are easier to control, but this may signify a disconnect from the people.

All in all, candidates appear to be listening: "new" media spending is expected to increase from 5% to 15–20% of the campaign budgets for this election cycle.

Landing Pages Often Underutilized

MindComet — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 18:01:00 +0000

Once someone clicks on a banner ad, they go to one of two places: a landing page, or the company’s homepage. If they are sent to the homepage of the company, viewers may be unable to find what they had been promised or enticed to see. They have so many options and paths to take; if they have to search hard for it, they will just leave.

Landing pages generate results, including sales and downloads, so companies should take advantage of this. They are perfect for short term campaigns, since the landing page can be customized a lot easier than the homepage can.

So how do you make the most of your landing page?
-Action: The best landing pages are action-oriented, making it clear what action is expected. Make it easy for the visitor to convert as well.
-Specific: Page content should be concise and specific. Remove the navigation bar if possible. Keep the viewer focused on the action you want them to accomplish. Allow viewers to read the most important elements without scrolling down.
-Consistent: Landing pages should be consistent in feel to the homepage, to prevent confusion and reinforce the brand. Additionally, landing pages should always be consistent with the ad in style, subject, and mood. Many banner ads fail because of this disconnect.
-Activity: You need to define you conversion activity clearly before designing the landing page. What do you want people to do when they get there?
-Target: Construct the page based on the specific demographics of your target audience.
-Format- Lead the eye towards the conversion exit, and focus all attention on it. Try not to distract the viewer with sidebars. Make forms easy to complete as well, including allowing viewers to tab from field to field.
-Test: Show your landing page to a small user group and get feedback.

Performing these tasks should lead to a landing page providing the optimal response rate.

Effective Online Target Marketing

MindComet — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 22:44:00 +0000

From the perspective of the consumer it's too much. The clutter of ads popping up everywhere when you're on a site. There are banners, floaters, and many others. From a marketing standpoint it's easy to understand the process. How do you get the most important information in front of the user? Easy, place it where he has no other choice but to look at. This process replicated time and again by the multitude of marketers can lead to over saturation.

So the discussion becomes how do you target an audience effectively? The answer, it depends on the goal of the campaign. In a study conducted by TACODA and Next Century Media, contextual targeting (based off of subject interest) and behavioral targeting (specific group identification) should not be used interchangeably.

So if the goal is to launch new messages, ads based on specific subjects worked best, but if the message already has a sturdy foundation behavioral targeting can help sustain the campaign.

With this being said, marketers need to stay afloat of what consumers are researching and where they are going on the Web. The use of web analytics can be a huge support to help track consumers and help marketers form and place better, more effective marketing campaigns.

Read the whole story here.

Podcast Advertising- Get In Now

MindComet — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 18:01:00 +0000

Podcasts are a growing advertising medium with 90 million iPods purchased through the end of 2006 and 80 million dollars spent on advertising on podcasts last year. eMarketer forecasts this number will increase fivefold within the next five years.

Podcasting is a niche marketing channel, reaching those who want to hear about a very specific topic. Sometimes it is difficult to ensure that the podcast will be viewed, since there is such a variety out there. However, when the podcast is promoted in a company’s other online media, such as company blogs and Web sites, it is more likely to be watched.

So when deciding which podcast to advertise in, you should see how the podcast is promoted. For instance, MindComet has a podcast that can be easily found on its Web site. You need to look at what’s out there and choose the best place to advertise now, before the market becomes over saturated.

You can always create your own podcast to promote your products, which, if done properly, can greatly benefit your brand. If your podcast is unique and interesting, people will return to watch the next one. There are nearly 90,000 podcasts for viewers to watch, so when creating a new one be sure it is unique, reliable, and eye-catching.

Harnessing the power of Rich Media Advertising

MindComet — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 18:00:00 +0000

Rich Media advertising involves using audio and graphics to bring users an interactive experience, which is very effective because it engages the viewer. This method of advertising can perform two different functions: direct response and brand awareness.

Pixelbridge gives three main reasons why rich media is great for advertising:
1. It is interesting and entertaining.
2. Users control the experience. More than television ads, users can interact with the ad and seek additional information, or simply close it whenever they please.
3. It is more flexible than other forms of online advertising. It doesn’t have the file size limitations of banner ads and can incorporate higher quality animation and sound.

Also, it allows advertisers to measure consumer interactions with the ad, including the rate and time of interactions, as well as video plays. Tracking consumers in today's online world is key for advertisers who want to get the best bang for their buck because knowing where consumers are going on the Internet allows you to place ads that will have a high frequency of being seen.

Advertising To Hispanics Online

MindComet — Wed, 28 Feb 2007 17:59:00 +0000

The Hispanic population is growing rapidly in the United States. Therefore, they will be consuming more products and services than before. Also, the wealth of these individuals has increased, and so has their Internet usage. Advertisers need to stay ahead of the trend and get online along with this market segment.

According to a national consumer survey by Simmons, 38 percent of Hispanics find online ads useful, compared to 24 percent of non-Hispanics. Also, 72 percent of Hispanic Internet users use search engines to learn more about new products and services that they had heard of elsewhere. The study also found that Hispanics are now spending more time online as compared to reading magazines or newspapers. Consequently, some ad dollars should be transferred from print to online media, when seeking Hispanic viewers.

By planning your strategy carefully, you can market effectively to this highly profitable, and increasing, segment of the population.

Avoiding Targeting Myopia

MindComet — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 15:34:00 +0000

Marketing covers a broad topic of goals such as acquiring new customers, ROI, and improving customer longevity. Once you have defined the goals then you must narrow down how to measure them.

Marketers have been successful in pursuing these goals mainly direct response goals not branding ones through contextual, behavioral, geographic and search online ad targeting. Advertising.com does an ongoing survey of U.S. web publishers and found that in 2005 19.2% of respondents cited that branding was a main objective of advertisers and this year it’s a 41.5% objective.

With such a focus on direct response, marketers may be neglecting other forms of targeting. An emarketer report estimates that behavioral target online ad spending will increase to $1.5 million in 2007. This type of targeting helps marketers get better results from less impressions, and emarketer.com found users prefer this type because it better suits their needs. Of course each type of targeting has its place, so choose wisely but certainly choose more than one approach and focus on engaging the audience.

Affiliate Marketing vs Pay Per Click

MindComet — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 19:07:00 +0000

Pay Per Click (PPC) is becoming less cost effective since prices of keywords are rising. This is occurring because of increased competition for keywords in the marketplace. As a result, some marketers are turning to affiliate programs as an additional revenue source, according to an iMedia Connection article.

Affiliate marketing can be more cost effective than PPC because the advertiser is only charged after a sale is made, rather than just when someone clicks on the link. This switch could help reduce click fraud as well. There are a number of reasons people click on a link, such as browsing or perhaps by accident not realizing the link was an ad.

It is important that affiliate sites are content driven, instead of ad centered. These sites generate more qualified viewers. It also creates a positive relationship with affiliates, and treats them as strategic partners.

Many affiliates will have PPC campaigns of their own, so it's better to combine forces than to compete. This synergy allows everyone to win, marketers get increased sales, and the affiliate gets a commission for referring them to you. What marketers have to realize is that opening up their business is not always a threat, sometimes it's an opportunity to improve upon the way they do business.

Consolidating Online Media Buying

MindComet — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 19:06:00 +0000

Advertisers can now target ads to run in newspapers and specific markets by using Web based buying systems such as Google, according to a News.com article. When radio and television stations have unsold inventory, they can sell the remainder online at the last minute. They can sell at a local level, which would be impossible otherwise. It's about consolidation, a one-stop site instead of calling every station. Other benefits of this method include: decreased prices, and allowing smaller companies opportunities they would not normally gain.

Google is leading the pack and has plans for a test involving more than 100 advertisers and more than 60 newspapers. Its automated advertising system for radio, Google Audio Ads, now works with 700 stations in 20 metro markets. This system is efficient, cost-effective, and flexible, since Google allows advertisers to shift ad campaigns around easily between markets and different sections of the newspapers.

This is the way of the future, and it is only a matter of time before all media buying is done in this fashion. Smaller companies can now compete with larger ones due to a level playing field. Corporations also need to understand, which Google has mastered, the ubiquitous business mantra of "change or die." If companies want to survive they need to realize that marketing is not static, but dynamic and fluid in nature.

Affiliate Marketing Provides Big Spenders

MindComet — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 18:18:00 +0000

Consumers who click on affiliate links spend more money than other Internet shoppers, according to a study from comScore Networks. Also, they are 17 percent more likely than the average Internet user to have yearly household incomes over $75,000.

This could be because the people who are most willing to jump to another site to buy something are the ones who have the most money to spend. They would view the links as a helpful convenience. People who cannot afford to buy much are more likely to consciously ignore ads unless they are looking to purchase that item now. This could vary by individual, but if you have extra money, you are more likely to buy whenever the opportunity presents itself. Therefore, merchants should consider their target audience’s discretionary income before deciding to work with an affiliate.

Newspapers making front page in online advertising

MindComet — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 14:41:00 +0000

The Internet is so accessible and expansive in today’s fast-paced world it displaces some of the traditional forms of media, in particular the cornerstone of American reporting—newspaper.

Today people have traded in eating breakfast and reviewing world events for the paperless versions. So newspapers evolved, they added color to increase circulation, they added different sections to reach a wider audience. Now, with so much reliable information, newspapers must compete in the online forum in order to avoid extinction.

Competing isn’t just throwing up a Web site that mirrors the printed version. It’s offering value to the consumer, it’s offering something that consumers can’t live without. An article from AdAge.com stated that Tribune Co., publisher of the Chicago Tribune and Los Angeles Times, announced a plan to make all of its online general-merchandise classifieds free. The news came as a surprise because newspapers have historically charged for classifieds.

While it’s only a small step, it is a step in the right direction. Newspapers have to do something to compete with sites like Craigslist, which has always offered free online classifieds, according to the article. The forward thinking of Tribune Co. should serve as a rude awaking for other news corporations that are seriously lacking in the ability to compete with cheaper, more effective Web sites.

Putting Thought Behind KEI

MindComet — Wed, 14 Feb 2007 14:55:00 +0000

KEI is important to understand when it comes to determining the keywords for your site and paid search. KEI stands for "Keyword Effectiveness Index" which represents how competitive keywords are based on the number of times they are searched for in the search engines. I've read the higher the KEI, the better chance you have of getting ranked for that keyword. Well sure, thats because most likely, nearly no one is searching for that keyword so its not competitive. My answer when determining KEI would be to choose keywords with high KEI's as well as ones with low KEI's and high searches. You'll be competing for them but isn't that half the battle of being number one?