Advertising & Branding
Is PPC More Important to a New Site Than SEO?
Jan 14th
The PPC vs. SEO Debate Continues
In a recent article, we looked at a debate over what is better between search engine optimization and pay-per-click. Of course both should be used typically, but on a recent panel at SES Chicago, participants were asked to pick a side to highlight the benefits of each compared to the other. It made for some pretty interesting conversation.
That conversation extended into our comments. The general consensus seems to be that you should use both when possible, but that SEO is better for the long term, and PPC is better for quick results. These notions were backed up by both Michael Gray and Christine Churchill, who were on opposing sides of the debate at SES.
Gray and Churchill both shared their thoughts in more detail in two separate interviews for WebProNews. Gray noted that Google is making changes that could have some effect on the success of organic rankings. One of these changes is the introduction of personalized search to all Gooogle users. You no longer have to be signed in for Google to personalize your results, and that means it is much more important to get that first click from a user. Gray talks about this and the other change, being Google’s banning of AdWords advertisers with what he thinks is not the best communication.
Churchill elaborated on the usefulness of PPC to people who are just establishing themselves on the web. The reality is that SEO takes time, and while it is of great importance and provides long-term benefits, it is very hard to be competitive right out of the box.
When you have a brand new domain name, a new site, and no links, you’re probably going to have a hard time jumping up in the rankings for any competitive keywords. PPC lets you do it and start getting your ROI quickly. She also talkSEO is an absolute must when dealing with new web sites. None of the search engines are going to rank you very high in the organic searches if you are not meeting their criteria. And…the Organic search results are 24 hours per day ads. Not so with PPC, unless you are dealing with an unlimited budget.
PPC should be used after SEO to target special sales, or services. It is a great way to help searchers locate your products when they are on sale, or your services when a special price can be obtained.
One thing to keep in mind, however, as Gray touched upon, and some other readers suggested, PPC can be used up front to help you determine the directions to take your SEO efforts in. You can use PPC quickly to determine what keywords convert better, and use that to your advantage in your optimization practices. ed a little bit about flexibility vs. control between SEO and PPC.
Branding – For Better or Worse
Jan 13th
The point of a brand is to create an instantaneous association in people’s minds. The Nike ’swoosh’ brings to mind footwear, athleticism, and Michael Jordan. The Toyota ‘bull’ logo evokes images of compact cars, foreign business competition, and new ways of doing things. The name Budweiser reminds us of everything from the actual beer to those clever talking frogs, and the ‘wassup!’ advertisements.
These are cases of successful, memorable branding. Michael Jordan is retired from professional sports, the frogs haven’t been on television in years, and wassup has almost faded from day to day use in the American pop culture vocabulary. However, every one of these elements remains identifiable, and mentioning them to most people will get the typical, ‘oh yeah!’ response to memories of clever marketing, cementing the image of the brand in the viewers’ minds.
Branding is the creation of these memories. However, recollections of a product being indisputably linked with a particular name, image, or slogan can be a double-edged sword.
MCI Communications was one of the most successful challengers to the AT&T ‘Bell Monopoly’ consortium between the late 1960s and early 1980s. MCI managed to push through the breakup of the Bell coalition and allow new players to enter into the field of telecommunications. MCI pioneered many telecommunications innovations, such as Single Mode Fiber Optic Cable, when other companies were content to rely on existing standards. They were one of the first companies to provide the now standard idea of ‘in-network’ calling, where MCI customers got discounts when calling other MCI customers. MCI was one of the big, significant players in the telecom world, so why isn’t their name still synonymous with innovation?
Because it is now synonymous with the words Worldcom, Enron, and scandal.
In 1998, MCI merged with another company to become MCI Worldcom, launching a widespread televised and online advertising campaign featuring notable actors such as Sam Neil of Jurassic Park fame. The MCI brand became inextricably linked with the Worldcom brand. Then, on June 26 2002, the Securities Exchange Commission launched a full inquiry into reported auditing and financial irregularities, resulting in allegations of fraud. By July 21st, less than one month later, it was revealed that Worldcom stock was inflated by $11 billion, and the company entered into chapter 11 bankruptcy. MCI was ultimately bought out by Verizon, and the legacy of a once innovative telecom company was left in the same repository as Arthur Anderson, Enron, and the other big financial fraud stories of the early 21st century.
While this is an extreme example, it is a caution worth considering for anyone interested in making a brand name for his or her product in today’s market. The world is more connected, more informed, and more critical than ever, and while a legacy of good choices can create a strong brand, a reputation for poor or improper decisions can and will conspire to bury a once successful company forever.
Many times, no one can predict what will make a brand into a particular success or failure overnight. However, every company can take three common sense steps to protect their brand and the products it represents.
1. Promote a Quality Product
Quality talks – if a product works, then it has a certain degree of merit that puts it ahead of competition. If a company puts the time and effort to get a quality product onto the market and markets the brand in such a way that the actual qualities are stressed, people will remember.
As an example, Tylenol is an effective painkiller for post-surgical use. It is not a homeopathic remedy relying on word of mouth and supposed benefits, but has demonstrable, measurable effects on human pain and healing.
2. Be Informed About the Brand’s Use
Knowing not just what one is putting out, but what is being done with it in the market, is crucial to proper branding. To continue with the example of Tylenol, many advertisements stress that doctors frequently prescribe it, more than any other over the counter analgesic. Knowing that doctors were using their product allowed Tylenol to make a powerful claim and keep the information in people’s minds.
3. Be Prepared to Take Responsibility for the Brand
As seen in the MCI case, scandal led to the irrevocable decline of a once-powerful brand. Conversely, Tylenol managed to take what could have been a public relations nightmare and came out stronger than ever as a result. When Tylenol executives found out that tampering had led to poison getting into the product supply, poisons that killed Tylenol consumers, they pulled every current Tylenol product from the shelves of stores. They investigated each of their production facilities, solved the problem, and then launched an informative campaign letting people know when and why it was safe to come back to their product. This disaster could have led to the death of the company, but the executives’ willingness to take responsibility and act, rather than covering up and denying fault, saved-a brand that is still powerful to this day.
Again, these are examples of extreme events. Only a tiny fraction of companies ever take their investments down the path of fraud, and almost no one will have to deal with their product becoming a poisonous vector. However, they illustrate the case that a brand is a powerful association for people to make, and that like any part of a business, it requires information and action in the proper degrees.
What Does This Mean to Me and My Website
Normal advertising just informs the consumer about a product and a company’s brand identity. With digital advertising, the consumer can be more involved in the brand image. In this interactive domain, a company can listen to consumers who make comments on their website or blog and act on negative feedback before it becomes uncontrollable. They can try out different advertising strategies to learn which products they should continue to develop and which new features a product should have.
Effective digital branding allows you to identify a singular position and establish your distinctive voice in the marketplace and incorporates all three of the above-mentioned branding points. You’ll be promoting a quality product. You’ll use social media strategies to keep informed about your brand’s image and you’ll take responsibility for your brand, to guide and shape it to its best advantage.
Branding takes time and thought. Digital branding takes time, thought and an interchange with your consumers. Engaging your customers in your brand in a relevant way is the key to successful online branding.
Internet Advertising: What You Need to Know For Your Business
Jan 13th
Internet is a place which is visited by almost all of us each day. It is the best way to search for things which you are not able to find with the help of other sources. Thus, internet is the best place to advertise one. Internet provides you with all possible options for your search while you take aid of a search engine. Internet ads may be placed on the pages of these search engines or different web pages of different sites. The cost of internet advertising is decided o the size of your ad.
Hence, if your ad is huge you will have to pay a huge amount too. The basic tool of deciding the cost of your advertisement is the number of pixels that it has used up. You have to pay cost per pixel to the website or the search engine that you put up your ad on. Other criteria for deciding the cost are the popularity of the website, daily visits to the website or the webpage. Pay per click can also be criteria for paying to the website or the search engine that has your advertisement.
Internet advertising is not easy though. You need to update your ad quite frequently as there are many regular users that have to visit the same page, much number of times. Thus, to maintain the novelty, the advertisement should be renewed after a short while. You can give a project to advertisement companies instead of managing the ad yourself.
Theadvertisement companies post the advertisement on the desired websites, keeps the advertisement updated from time to time, lets you know about the upcoming websites and search engines. The company also provides you with statistics telling you the number of clicks that our advertisement has had. You can mange your advertisement company project and see to it that they do what they promise in the following ways:
1. keep a check:
Keep a check on the company and stay in contact with them. Ask them to keep you updated with the work they are doing with your ad. Check the work they are doing from time to time. Manage time to make visits to the companies to get new ads done.
2. give them ideas:
Many times, these companies put up not up to the mark ads on to the internet and we don’t even bother to keep a check on them. So, we should give personal visits to the company and get the ad updated from time to time to get maximum results.
3. make them work:
As you have paid them, you need to get out maximum work out of them. Tell them your idea and ask them to come up with maximum ideas and quotes that can be a part of your advertisement. You can give the rough ideas and tell them to frame these quotes for you. Witty quotes may help attract maximum results.
Last but not the least; see to it that you provide all the services that you are boasting about in the ads. This may help you increase your customers.
Is Your Website Springing A Leak?
Jan 10th
Imagine that you own a beautifully designed yacht. It looks great on the surface of the water, with superb lines, gleaming decks, a well-appointed galley… but you’re having real trouble getting out of the harbor and you can’t figure out why!
You investigate, and you find that beneath the surface your beautiful boat has a number of slow, silent, leaks. None of them are big enough to sink you on their own, so there’s no obvious immediate crisis – just a constant drain on your efficiency and your speed.
I’ve been reviewing Web traffic reports for over 10 years, and I believe that this analogy applies very well to almost all business websites. Very few sites are so terrible or have something so wrong with them that they’re clearly a disaster. Yet just about every site has some area where it’s quietly losing traffic, losing potential business or the opportunity to create relationships – or failing to attract visitors in the first place.
If you’re not regularly reviewing your traffic analysis, you can’t know for sure if your site is leak proof. In this article, I’ll show you a few of the most common areas where you can look for – and fix – those silent leaks.
1. Leaks in your Brand & Positioning
The excellent folks at MarketingExperiments online research laboratories have shown that clearly articulated and differentiating value propositions have a critical effect on Website conversion rates.
(The conversion rate is the measurement of visitors fulfilling your desired outcomes – which might include calling you, buying a product at your site, signing up for your newsletter or blog feed, etc.)
Your value proposition should be front and center on your home page. It should answer the classic question: “Why should we do business with you instead of your competition?”
Although this question isn’t a Web strategy issue in itself, it is one that many people struggle to answer. But the lack of a compelling opening message can be a major impediment to your online success.
How to check for this leak: Even if they don’t enter your site at the home page, most visitors who don’t know you will go there as the second page they look at to find out more about you and your business.
If visitors are taking a quick look at your home page and then immediately leaving, something is wrong. Your copy is failing to pique their curiosity or to answer their questions: “Can this company meet my needs?” and “Should I explore further?” You have a leak!
2. Leaks in Visitor Engagement
Popular theory says that you have 10 seconds to engage a visitor – i.e. convince them to stay on your site before they click away in search of something more interesting.
While I don’t believe that it’s quite that simple, there are some definite ways to get rid of visitors fast before they’ve had a chance to really check you out.
The best of these is probably the infamous splash page – the entry page to your site that your Web designer persuaded you to have because it “does cool stuff”. Hopefully there’s a “Skip Intro” button somewhere on the page!
In all my reviews of traffic reports I’ve seen a consistent leak of up to 30% of visitors leaving from this page alone – before they’ve ever seen who you are or what you offer.
How to check for this leak: Easy – look for the splash page in your traffic reports and see how many visitors exit at that point. If it’s more than a small percentage, you have a leak – take the page out today!
The other major area where you should watch for leaks in visitor engagement is in what are called “landing pages”. These are inside pages of your Website which turn out to be the first page that a visitor sees, usually because you have some well-indexed content that they’ve found in a search engine.
Here it’s absolutely critical to understand the visitor’s mindset. Each visitor is at your site looking for something specific, they may well have found you by accident, so they may have no idea who you are – and worse, no interest in you.
The first page that they see on your Website must engage them immediately in accordance with their needs, and it must have enough context to draw them into other areas, and to want to find out more about you. It’s not enough to give great information on this page – they’ll soak that up, and then leave.
How to check for this leak: Hopefully your traffic reports are sophisticated enough to show you which keywords bring visitors to each specific page of your site. This shows you each visitor’s “mindset”.
If visitors are leaving a page very quickly, then it probably isn’t satisfying their informational needs, so you should review the content.
If visitors are reading the page (your traffic reports should show the time spent at each page) and then leaving, you’ve given them what they wanted but failed to draw them into the rest of your site. This can be fixed with more compelling navigation and calls to action.
Either way, you have a leak!
3. Leaks in Directions & Outcomes
I’m constantly amazed by the number of Web pages that give great information and content – and then just end abruptly – perhaps with some navigation tabs if you’re lucky!
Steve Krug in his excellent book “Don’t Make Me Think!” describes how crucial it is to direct visitors to the next step that you want them to take. If you don’t do this, and rely on your visitors to figure this out for themselves, there’s a strong chance that they’ll make a different choice than the one you want – or they’ll leave your site altogether, creating leaks in your potential revenue stream.
Every page of your site needs strong calls to action that stand out visually and click directly to where the visitor can fulfill the outcome that you want (e.g. “buy now!”, “sign up for our newsletter / RSS feed”.) Pages can have more than one call to action, and there’s nothing wrong with repeating them on longer pages so that they’re always within eyeshot.
And by the way, “Back to top” is not a call to action!
How to check for this leak: If your traffic reports show this information, look at the paths that visitors take through your site – where do visitors go next from each page? If many of them are exiting the site and / or they fan out across many pages with no clear pattern or direction, you have a possible leak.
4. Leaks in your Credibility Building
MarketingExperiments research has also shown that powerful, specific, and authoritative testimonials can have a major impact on your site’s conversion rates.
Consider this statement: “Documented results show that just a few hours with [ expert ] can increase lead generation by 125%”. Imagine how much stronger that assertion would be if there were some examples of the “documented results” and some customer quotes to that effect.
However, including a page on your site called “What Customers Say” doesn’t do it – I can safely say that visitors don’t go to those pages. And it’s not just traffic reports that tell me this – whenever I ask a live audience “Would you click this link?” there’s always a resounding “No!”
How to check for this leak: This is a much more subtle leak to detect, but it’s an important one. The question here is whether you are potentially losing business because your site fails adequately to establish your value and credibility.
My recommended approach is to review your site for credibility-building content such as client lists, testimonials and case studies. You need to spread your testimonials through your site, using short one or two line excerpts that are relevant to the content of each page – whether it’s about a product or a service, or the value of subscribing to your newsletter or blog.
Make sure that all of this material is linked to from other pages so that it’s easily found by visitors. If you then experience an increase in calls, or in the quality of your leads, then you might have just fixed a leak!
5 Online Marketing Resolutions for 2010
Jan 10th
We may already be a week into 2010, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to starting making resolutions.
Resolve to give your online marketing efforts a boost this year by recognizing areas for improvement and putting in place a plan to make positive changes.
To help you get started, TopRank Online Marketing has come up with New Year’s resolutions for 5 different online marketing channels: Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media, Email Marketing, Pay-Per-Click and Mobile Marketing.
1. SEO:
I resolve to focus more on maximizing visits and conversions from organic searches.
With SEO efforts, it’s easy to get caught up in one goal: getting found via the search engines. But ranking in the search results is only half the story. If potential customers aren’t clicking through to your web page – or other piece of digital content – the ranking doesn’t mean much. Plus, due to variances in what each of us sees in the search results for the same query, rankings as metric are no longer as useful. Personalized search results according to location and web history means your site might rank high for one person, but not another.
Maximize the success of your online marketing efforts by analyzing your metrics report to determine which pieces of digital content are highly visible but producing less than ideal traffic results. Then take some time to ask yourself these questions:
* What competitive search results are your potential customers seeing? Assess the title tags and meta descriptions of competitive search results. Are competitors offering customers a free case study or a complimentary product sample? Then consider ways to make your own title tags and meta descriptions out-entice the competition.
* Does your content live up to the promise put forth in your title tags and meta descriptions? Put yourself in your customers’ shoes: When you first visit your web page or other digital content from an organic search, is the content you find relevant? Potential customers don’t want surprises; they want a solution to the problem that caused them to search in the first place. And they want it as promised.
Not only will searchers respond more favorably to customer optimized titles and meta descriptions, but the increase in clickthroughs will, no doubt, be noticed by search engines and may influence subsequent rankings.
2. Social Media:
I resolve to set goals and track the results of my social media efforts.
There’s no denying that social media is more difficult to justify in terms of ROI compared to other online marketing strategies. But that’s not to say it’s impossible – or that tracking results should be placed on the back burner. And without goals, it’s pretty difficult to measure success. In 2010, put forth even more effort to set goals for social media participation and tie results back to specific tactics.
There are a host of free or near-free tools available to gauge brand mentions and traffic from social media channels. In December, we highlighted 5 of these social media monitoring tools.
Tracking results via social media monitoring tools is just a start. Those results must be tied back to business goals. Potential goals might be:
* Develop better customer relationships
* Reputation management
* Identify and energize brand evangelists
* Increase brand awareness
* Increase relevant visitor traffic
* Improve standard and social search engine visibility
* Build up a list for email marketing
* Increase leads or sales
Without setting specific goals upfront, social media efforts can’t be definitively quantified so be sure to implement a Social Media Roadmap and all or social bases will be covered.
3. Email Marketing:
I resolve to integrate my email marketing with other online marketing channels.
Regardless of what the naysayers may say, email marketing isn’t going to disappear as a result of social media in 2010. In fact, email will continue to play a significant role in most online marketing mixes this year. A study from Silverpop found nearly half of marketers surveyed plan to increase email marketing budgets in 2010.
That’s not to say email marketing efforts shouldn’t evolve with the times. Integrating email with social media is on par to be a popular resolution for 2010: A recent eMarketer report found 40% of executives surveyed will make integrating the two tactics their top marketing initiative this year. Another 25% of respondents have already implemented an integrated strategy.
Pledge to take email marketing to the next level by encouraging email subscribers to not only forward content via email, but also to get social with email and share it via Facebook, Twitter, Digg and other sites. Conversely, conduct a poll on Twitter or your blog, and encourage followers and readers to subscribe to your e-newsletter for the results.
4. PPC:
I resolve to maximize conversion rates by testing different versions of my ads and landing pages.
Most companies using self-serve pay per click programs fall victim to “set it and forget it” habits. They’re busy with numerous other marketing activities or don’t have the time to really get to know the native bid management platforms and test/refine campaigns. Even if PPC efforts are reaching set goals in terms of conversion rates, there’s always room for improvement. You’ll never know until you try.
Consider these three ideas for testing different elements of your PPC campaigns:
* Test multiple ad versions that highlight different benefits of your product, service or company. For example, one could tout cost-savings benefits, while another emphasizes a convenience aspect.
* Use A/B testing to try out two different headlines on your landing page. Again, each could speak to a different benefit (i.e., cost savings vs. convenience). Google Optimizer is a great tool for this.
* If you’re targeting a competitive search term with many competing ads, consider launching two different campaigns simultaneously. Each could offer a distinct piece of fulfillment – a free case study and a product coupon, for example.
A few tools for testing include:
* A/B Testing resources: (Google Website Optimizer, 7 Free Resources)
* Multivariate Testing service: (Omniture)
* Heatmap & User Testing tools: (CrazyEgg, Clickdensity, Clicktale, userfly andEyetools)
5. Mobile:
I resolve to rethink my website design for mobile users.
If your site isn’t already optimized for handheld devices such as cell phones, now is the perfect time to re-assess your site design and how users find your site through mobile search – particularly for B2C companies.
In October, ABI Research forecast that mobile sales of physical goods in North America would reach $750 million by the end of 2009, a 117% annual growth rate. Consumers are doing a lot more than purchasing downloadable cell phone ringtones and games from their mobile devices. These days, clothing, electronics, books and a host of other items are being purchased through mobile commerce. Additionally, social network participation through services like foursquare, Facebook and Twitter are growing dramatically, creating additional opportunities for promotion and traffic to the mobile version of your company web site.
When optimizing web pages for the mobile web, consider a few tips:
* Keep fonts in their most basic format
* Eliminate advertising to conserve screen space
* Take out images unless they are absolutely necessary
* Remove Flash, Java or any plug-in content unless absolutely necessary
Online Marketing Efforts in 2010
As you make your own personal New Year’s resolutions to drop a few pounds, start a savings account or join a gym, don’t forget your online marketing efforts. Each year provides a fresh start and endless possibilities, so take advantage.
What resolutions do you plan to make in 2010 to improve your online marketing efforts?
PR Trends 2010
Jan 10th
* Branded Content *
Branded content will become an important part of PR in 2010
Branded content is essentially a fusion of advertising and entertainment, says Wikipedia. Marketers upped the dollars spent on branded content in 2009 – double what was spent in 2008. Branded content snagged 32% of overall marketing, advertising and communications budgets. And the numbers are expected to jump significantly in 2010.
So what is branded content and why will it be a PR trend?
The notion of an advertiser or company producing some engaging content for the consumer in order to sell something is nothing new. That’s why soaps and sponsored radio shows did so well back in the 60s.
The Web 2.0 world is about permission and attention. People don’t want to have messages thrust at them. But they do want to communicate with companies and brands so they can get information they want or need.
The idea is to listen to online conversations and establish what interests your community. Is there a need for certain information? Can you creatively provide that info in an engaging way? Storytelling in articles, with images and video, is one of the best ways to produce branded content. And that’s a PR skill.
GroupM has partnered with Yahoo! to produce branded video content – 5-10 minute “webisodes” that usually feature story lines around a specific product (a show about someone driving cross country in a Toyota Hybrid, sponsored by Toyota, for example) with plenty of product placement.
Being able to creatively brand interesting and valuable online content that attracts readers and viewers might just turn out to be the best way to the consumer’s hearts and minds.
* The Future of PR *
Social Media is no longer a fad, or something to try out. It will become an integral part of PR programs in 2010. And PR people have to master social media and use it strategically to be effective.
Nothing backs up predictions like cold, hard facts.
SMPR graph
Joseph Thornly posted this graph from Google Trends that shows searches for public relations have been declining since 2004. Interest in social media and social networking started to pick up in 2006, grew slowly through 2007 and 2008 and really gained ground in 2009. In December 2009 searches for social media and social networking passed the number of searches for public relations.
The news reference numbers are just as interesting. News about social media grew rapidly in the first half of 2009 and passed PR about mid year. Social media and social networking are neck and neck in news volume.
Of course we don’t know who does the searches, or exactly what they’re looking for, but it does give some insight into what people are currently interested in. And social media seems to be the winner.
The Econsultancy report on social media and PR revealed that only about half of the companies who participated in their survey are “satisfied” with their agency’s level of social media and online PR knowledge. Only 13% are “very satisfied”. More than one quarter are dissatisfied – 16% being “mildly dissatisfied” and 11% “very dissatisfied”.
It seems we need to up our game. A poll of 450 PRSA Counselors Academy members listed mastering social media as one of the most important things for PR practitioners to do in 2010.
* Companies will realize social media can’t be outsourced to PR *
As we move into the next phase of social communication online the idea of outsourcing your social media activity to a PR agency makes less and less sense.
Most corporations, on the other hand, only know how to talk in the soothing, humorless monotone of the mission statement, marketing brochure, and your-call-is-important-to-us busy signal. Same old tone, same old lies. No wonder networked markets have no respect for companies unable or unwilling to speak as they do. Cluetrain Manifesto
So where does PR fit into this scenario?
An important part of social media success depends on how well you have listened to your audience. Do you know what their concerns and interests are? Do you have a content strategy that speaks to the needs of your community? Are you telling stories that resonate with people who might be customers? PR is good at doing those parts of the program. We can strategize and advise. We can find influencers and develop the content strategy. We can formulate and craft interesting pieces of content.
We know that the most powerful influencing factor today is a recommendation from ’someone just like me.” Dell’s campaign about the interesting entrepreneurs who use Dell products is a perfect case in point. It’s an integrated campaign that makes great use of social media. PR was very involved with picking the people to feature and crafting the stories.
Another good example occurred all of two years ago – clever PR content created $1million in leads for a downtown condo development in Kansas City. They profiled current buyers at the Metropolitan and created three human interest stories about the buyers that attracted like minded people.
According to the social media and PR report from EConsultancy.com only 13% of companies are ‘very satisfied’ with the social media services they get from their PR agency.
We need to figure out where we fit in the mix and do what we do well.
We can create the branded content that will pique the interest of the right people. Then it’s over to the company or organization to foster the relationships. People don’t want to speak to the PR agency. They want to speak to the actual people at the company.
“Learning to speak in a human voice is not some trick, nor will corporations convince us they are human with lip service about “listening to customers.” They will only sound human when they empower real human beings to speak on their behalf.” Cluetrain Manifesto.
Advertising Professional Certification
Jan 4th
The Google Advertising Professional Certification is the credential earned by an individual or a business that masters the Google Adwords product system to the standards set by the Google search engine company. The Advertising Professional Certification is created for professionals currently working with, or intending to work with, Adwords accounts. Google will provide those earning the Advertising Professional Certification with an advanced Adwords system called “My Client Center”, an official logo that reads: Qualified Google Advertising Professional, and Google Advertising Professional program promotional credits.
“My Client Center” allows the advertising professional to view and manage up to 1,000 accounts at once. The promotional credits are granted for new accounts brought in. Those with the Advertising Professional Certification receive more credits than those without the qualification.
Those wanting to earn the Advertising Professional Certification must sign up for, or already have, an active Google Adwords account as well as pass the Google Advertising Professional Certification exam with 75% or higher. The exam costs 50 US Dollars (USD), is available in ten languages, and is done completely online. The exam is timed for exactly one and a half hours and the timer cannot be stopped, which means the exam must be completed in one sitting.
The preparation for the Advertising Professional Certification exam consists of eight lessons with practice quizzes. Anyone just interested in learning about the Adwords system, whether seeking the Advertising Professional Certification or not, can take the lessons. The lessons are all free of charge.
The lessons are available in the choice of either text or multimedia format. Topics covered include an explanation of what Adwords is, policies and guidelines for creating ads, creating ads with keywords, budgeting and targeting issues, and calculating the advertising return on investment (ROI). The content in the lessons is constantly updated so that even those with the Advertising Professional Certification can keep learning more about the Adwords program.
Different Types of Website Advertising
Jan 4th
Website advertising is a big business, whether you’re advertising your website on other sites, hosting ads for other sites and vendors, or both. Online advertising takes a more of a cooperative approach than other types of advertising. With online advertising, competitors aren’t afraid to share their traffic with other websites, as that usually translates to more traffic for them. Whether it’s in the form of an ad banner, a pop-up ad, or a hyperlink, website advertising has proliferated the internet, and changed the way we surf.
One of the oldest and most recognizable forms of website advertising is the ad banner, which is typically in the form of a horizontal box headlining the web page, but can also appear along the bottom of the page or vertically on either margin. Using graphics, text, and sometimes flash or audio, ad banners beckon viewers to click on the ad, which will then transport them to another site.
The two main factors to consider when deciding which website you should host your ad banner on are the amount of hits the website receives, and its demographics. For example, while a website that receives a high volume of traffic may increase the odds of your ad banner being seen, an unrelated demographic may decrease the odds that it will be clicked on. A website that attracts the right demographic, has a fair amount of traffic, and charges reasonable ad rates is the ideal space to host an ad banner.
Pop-up ads and pop-under ads are windows featuring ads which open automatically when you visit a website which hosts them. Pop-up ads open in front of the main website you’re visiting and obscure its pages, while pop-under ads are slightly less obtrusive and open behind the main window. Pop-up ads are notorious for annoying web surfers, as the viewer must click the “X” on the corner of the window – which is often purposely obscured – in order to close them. Most contemporary browsers and firewalls include a setting which blocks pop-up ads from appearing.
The easiest form of website advertising to design is a text hyperlink, which is simply a word or phrase that links to another website when clicked on, and is sometimes underlined or a different color. Hyperlinks are not always used for advertising, however, and are often used by bloggers or other online writers to reference material on another website. The more “incoming” links that a website has, or the more websites that link to it, the more relevant the website is considered by search engines, which consequently rank it higher amongst other websites of its kind. Because of this, many websites participate in “link exchanges,” which simply entail websites linking to sites which link to them.
Advertising
Jan 4th
Advertising promotes a product, service or event to its target audience. A target audience is the portion of the general public that products, services or events were created for to fill a desire or need in the marketplace. Advertising is written by advertising copywriters and finished with artwork by graphic designers. The channels advertising is run through to reach its target audience includes Internet, print, broadcast, outdoor and point of purchase (POP).
Point of purchase advertising materials are located in stores and often consist of large cardboard displays located in the aisle in which the product is stocked. This type of advertising is designed to grab the attention of the shopper and direct him or her to the promoted product. There may be a coupon to further encourage a purchase. Outdoor ads are those on buses and bus shelters, benches, billboards and other outdoor locations. They have to compete with their surroundings to get the attention of passers-by and must be simple, eye-catching and straight to the point.
Broadcast ads are television and radio commercials. While television commercials draw attention to the promotion of products and services by the use of pictures and sound, radio ads must reach the target audience solely through the power of sound. Direct response television commercials don’t just promote a brand for consumers to look for next time they go shopping, but rather have a direct call to action message such as “Call 555-4321 NOW to receive your gift-boxed deluxe set of Mr. Sharpe Custom Edge Chef’s Knives for the amazing price of only $19.99! The first 200 callers will also get the Professional Quality Chef’s Knife Sharpener absolutely free, but you must call right NOW at 555-4321 to qualify for this amazing, time limited bargain offer!”
Print advertising refers to ads in printed form such as those in magazines, newspapers and fliers. The copy and artwork must work together to hold the reader’s interest. Advertisers advertise their products or services in publications that are read by their target audience — that is, the people most likely to want, need and buy their particular product or service. Print advertising can also include community directories such as those published by a city’s chamber of commerce, posters designed to advertise and promote an upcoming event and direct mail promotions mailed to consumers’ homes.
Internet advertising includes ads on websites, whether these are the small click-on types or the colorful banner advertisements at the top of a website. Internet marketing is the use of websites to market products or services to consumers or other businesses. Email marketing reaches potential customers through emails containing product information and special offers.
Different Types of Business Advertising
Jan 4th
Business advertising is available to fit every type and size of company. A piece of advertising for a business could be as simple as a single sheet flier made on any computer or as complex as a 35-page case study published in a booklet. Some of the many different types of business advertising include television, radio, print and online.
Online advertising is popular today, as it can be used by small as well as larger businesses. There are also many different kinds of online business advertising. Virtual storefront, or e-commerce, companies often use banner and pop-up ads on their website. Pop up and banner ads are the colorful graphics that appear on web pages to capture the reader’s attention and introduce them to special offers and products. There are many different styles, shapes and sizes of pop-up and banner ads; their design keeps evolving to avoid software that eliminates their visibility.
Pay per click (PPC) business advertising is popular with small- and medium-size businesses. The cost of PPC can be easily controlled and targeted to get the most of each online advertising dollar spent. PPC advertisers pay only when someone clicks on their ad. The ads appear on websites or pages built around key words; people interested in certain products use key words or phrases to search for items on the Internet. For this reason, the pay per click ad method is also known as search advertising.
The potential customers clicking on the PPC ads are considered qualified traffic. Qualified traffic means that the people aren’t just browsing the Internet, but are searching for specific items. For instance if a PPC ad has the headline “Save 25% on a Hawaii vacation package now” a person clicking on it is specifically interested in purchasing travel bargains.
Printed business advertising materials include everything from informational brochures to newspaper and magazine ads. Companies often distribute brochures at trade shows or other business events. Newspaper ads usually reach a local or regional audience, while magazine ads often have a national reach. Big businesses often print larger ads than small companies do since print advertising is priced by the amount of space the advertisement takes up in the publication.
Radio and television advertising is mainly done by larger businesses, as the cost of broadcast time is usually quite high. A common length of time for radio and television commercials is 30 seconds; these ads are called 30-second spots. Broadcast business advertising reaches a large audience and is often very successful for goods sold nationwide or even worldwide.