It's important to measure ROI when spending marking dollars. Tactics change (both in price and effectiveness) over time, so I regularly evaluate them to see if I can find the ones that will give my clients the greatest bang for their buck.

Today, I'm thinking about online banner advertisements. Why? Because, for all their faults, online banners are one tactic that allow the advertiser to gather hard data on their effectiveness. When I place a banner on a site, I can tell how many people respond - allowing me to make better advertisements. I can even measure the quality of the response once people click thru to my site - allowing me to develop a better mousetrap on the other end.


If you purchase online advertisements, I'd love to read your answers to these questions:

(1) Why are you buying banner ads? What is the purpose?

(2) Branding: Do you place any value on the fact that people may see your advertisement, but never click on it? How much value?

I'd be interested in this study: What percentage of people actually notice a banner advertisement, regardless of whether they click on it?

(3) Response: What Click-Thru-Rate is acceptable?


What am I trying to figure out?

If I buy 1,000,000 banner impressions at $1 CPM (easy math), I'm paying $1,000. If the CTR is 0.3%, then I'm getting a response from 3,000 people (assuming one person doesn't click on my ads more than once, though that'd be another interested study). In essence, I'm paying $0.34 for the opportunity to communicate with each person that clicks on my banner. How does this compare to other forms of marketing?

And related to this... Let's say my 1,000,000 banners are seen by 30,000 unique individuals. Do I place any value on the branding that happens when someone sees my advertisement, but doesn't respond? How does this compare to other forms of marketing?

Sometimes companies have trouble finding enough customers - bad problem. That's not me.

I have a 'good problem' - I have too many customers and not enough product to sell them.

What am I talking about? Online advertisements. I represent some of the best gaming blogs on the internet. Things are going great. I think I'm keeping them happy - filling up their ad inventory with high-paying creatives.

But I need more.

I need to, at least, double my available impressions. Triple would be nice. And I need to do it now. I keep turning away advertisers and it's killing me.

So...

If you have a quality blog, and if you would like an ad manager, please get in touch.

What is quality?

* Critical Hits: critical-hits.com
* Dungeon Mastering: dungeonmastering.com
* Gnome Stew: gnomestew.com
* Johnn Four's Roleplaying Tips: roleplayingtips.com
* Jonathan Drain's d20 Source: d20.jonnydigital.com
* Kobold Quarterly: koboldquarterly.com
* Musings of the Chatty DM: chattydm.net
* Treasure Tables: treasuretables.org

Pen & Paper RPGs. CRPGs. XBOX. MMORPGs. If you blog is about these things, in part or in whole, I want to talk to you.

EDIT: Problem officially solved. Thanks for the responses and suggestions, folks.

.

You're a game publisher. You want to promote your products, and want part of your strategy to include an element of online advertising. But... you want your ads to be seen by the people who are most likely to respond, and you don't want to break the bank to reach them.

This is what Ed Healy (that's me) would do:

(1) On the day you release a new product, purchase a small amount of advertising on Facebook and StumbleUpon. You can get a small, but respectable response from both sources with only $7.50:

Facebook allows you to target your ads to a given country, state, city, and gender. You are also able to target certain keywords—roleplaying games, for instance—so that your ads are only seen by people who are likely to be interested in your products. Even better, you only pay when people click on your advertisement, and you get to decide how much you pay per click.

You can have your ads point to your home page, or online store. Even better? Create a Facebook Group for your business, which your customers can become ‘members’ of. For your main product lines, create a Facebook Page so your customers can become ‘fans’ and help you spread the word. Post announcements and run your RSS feeds through these tools in order to keep your customers engaged with your company. Target these pages with your ads.

StumbleUpon ads are similar to Facebook ads. However, people don’t see your advertisement—they simply show up at your web site. As with Facebook, you pay for each time someone clicks. The added benefit to SU advertising is that the user can ‘thumb up’ your site, increasing the likelihood that others will find it as well. It’s the closest thing to for-pay viral marketing you’re going to find.

It’s important, with StumbleUpon advertising, that your site grabs the viewer’s attention and makes him want to stay. Consider designing a landing page specifically for your SU campaign—maybe offering SU visitors a discount for purchasing your product.

(2) There are a number of great gaming blogs on the internet. I happen to represent (full disclosure, and all) seven of them. Here’s “the list”:

* Dungeon Mastering: dungeonmastering.com
* Gnome Stew: gnomestew.com
* Jonathan Drain's d20 Source: d20.jonnydigital.com
* Kobold Quarterly: koboldquarterly.com
* Musings of the Chatty DM: chattydm.net
* Roleplaying Tips: roleplayingtips.com
* Treasure Tables: treasuretables.org

For $17.50 per month, your advertisement will be seen 500 times on each site. Honestly, there’s no need to go much further than this, unless you have the budget. Use this modest amount of exposure for branding—to keep your company and products in front of your prospective customers and to encourage them to visit your website.

Read a little more about advertising on these gaming blogs here.

So, that’s it. Let me know what you think of this plan. Have you ever used Facebook or StumbleUpon ads? Are you a reader of the sites I listed? Sound off, and game on!

NOTE: This is mostly a marketing pitch. :)

As some of you know, I'm the Advertising Manager for SLCN.TV. It's a great company, with some great programming. I'm especially fond of Meet an Author, which is hosted by my good friend Adele Ward.

SLCN.TV is the largest television network in Second Life, with over a third of residents viewing our programming. More than 200,000 viewers tune in the SLCN.TV each week. We're so confident in the power of SLCN advertising, that we're offering new advertisers the following introductory offer.

COST: $100 (L$25,000)

YOU WILL RECEIVE ONE MONTH OF ADVERTISING ON:

(1) One of our network channels (your choice): shopping, music, business, lifestyle, sports, or community.

AND

(2) One of these great shows (your choice):

- 2nd Question: Second Life's first quiz show, focused on science.
- Giant Snail Racing: Just what it sounds like - giant snails racing for prize money.
- Meet an Author: Discussions with authors about their work and the art of writing.
- Meta Makeover: Improving your home, business or sim.
- Metanomics: The premiere show on business in virtual worlds.
- Music Academy: Focus on classical music appreciation, education and performance.
- Real Biz in SL: What real world businesses are doing in Second Life.
- Sail On: Second Life boat racing.
- SLASCAR Racing: NASCAR in Second Life.
- SLSBA Slimboarding: Snowboarding in Second Life.
- That S'Life: Events and businesses throughout Second Life.
- Tonight Live: The premiere culture and entertainment talk show.

This is a limited time offer, as prices well below our normal rates, and available slots on a given show may go quickly, so act today.

CONTACT: Normal Rayna <-- Me, in SL.

OK, marketing pitch is done...

I will be giving a talk at GenCon Indy this year about advertising: Advertising: Effective Brand Communication. There are so many topics that can be covered in a talk like this, I need your help determining which ones to focus on.

Here are some broad areas...

(1) Print Advertising: Discussing a short list of things people should consider, such as headlines, graphics, typography, etc.

(2) Audio Advertising: Producing quality audio ads and placing them on podcasts, radio.

(3) Online Advertising: Banner advertising and what to look (out) for.

(4) Video Advertising: Tips for a quality video ad.

I'd like the talk to help companies understand that there is a reason behind advertising - generally, you want people to buy something. However, you must always use advertising that supports your brand, or you're working against yourself.

Anyway, I could use your help in this way...

(1) What do you want to know about advertising?

(2) What do you see are the topics at that junction between advertising and brand management?

(3) What tools can I give someone in 43 minutes that will encourage them to think differently about their own advertising and how it impacts their company?