In comparison to more traditional forms of advertising, the internet has become the medium of choice for many businesses and it’s easy to see why. The main attraction lies is the fact that it is highly accountable and measurable so marketers can gain direct insight into the return on investment of their campaigns. It allows you to get your message across in a creative way, while raising brand awareness and acquiring new customers.
While other mediums can prove difficult to track, by choosing to advertise online you are able to monitor exactly how well your campaign is performing. Advertisers get more flexibility as you can often adjust the campaign as you go along, if the results were not what you were expecting. This is particularly the case if you use advertising networks which optimise your campaign after a few weeks so that your ad only runs on the best performing websites.
At Black Pig, we have created purpose built landing websites for a number of clients and used tracking parameters to not only measure click-throughs, but to obtain valuable data on what activity the individual performs once they reach the website (whether registering their details or downloading a PDF for more information). This level of detail is vital for analysing the success of the campaign accurately.
There are a whole host of factors which can determine the success of your campaign. Before you do anything else, it is important to make sure your idea or message is compelling enough to motivate your audience to take action and click on the ad. Many brands are taking advantage of the developments in online rich media technology but you can still make an impact by keeping it simple with a clever message and eye catching design.
It may be worthwhile running some test campaigns to find out what works and what doesn’t. By negotiating small, short term media buys you can extend if it works well and this will allow you to develop a useful framework for subsequent campaigns. Maybe try different versions of the creative to see how people respond to slight variations. Does a skyscraper have a better response rate than a traditional banner?
It is important to think carefully about where you want your ad to appear. Do as much research as possible to determine appropriate websites for your target audience. It’s all very well opting for websites that receive huge amounts of traffic, but if nobody clicks on your ad then your efforts will be wasted. The more targeted your ad is, the better the response will be and the more likely you will be to reach people who have a genuine interest in your offering.
The internet now stands as the greatest and most powerful resource for people to educate themselves about products and services. Isn’t it time you started planning that advertising campaign to reach your audience online?
