Tips How to Advertise And Get the Benefits
After the advent of online selling sites, shopping has been made so easy that it can be done within the comfort of the home. Online selling gave rise to online advertising also known as iAdvertising, which is proving to be the best way to reach a larger audience within a short time using less money.
There are many options available on the Internet to get started. Creating a website and then placing its link on different websites is one of the ways. Pages can be submitted to the search engines after applying search engine optimization techniques. Websites offer various payment methods. Some take money for simply placing an ad or link on their website, some take money only if a visitors clicks on the link or website and some take money only if the visitors visits a link and have bought something or availed some service. There are options available for the type of ad being placed. There are pop-up ads, banner ads, wallpaper ads, polite ads, video ads, etc. Businesses with really low budget can send mails to targeted customers.
There are many options available on the Internet to get started. Creating a website and then placing its link on different websites is one of the ways. Pages can be submitted to the search engines after applying search engine optimization techniques. Websites offer various payment methods. Some take money for simply placing an ad or link on their website, some take money only if a visitors clicks on the link or website and some take money only if the visitors visits a link and have bought something or availed some service. There are options available for the type of ad being placed. There are pop-up ads, banner ads, wallpaper ads, polite ads, video ads, etc. Businesses with really low budget can send mails to targeted customers.
The age-old tradition of advertising in yellow pages directories is always a success. All businesses from small to big register themselves in the yellow pages and have sworn to be benefited from it. People can look up for contact numbers, addresses and services offered directly from the pages.
Newspaper is the next best thing. First analyze the audience to be targeted by age group, sex, and location. Choose the local newspaper and section where the ad should be placed depending on the audiences to be targeted. The classifieds department of the local newspapers have special offers, find out in detail about the pricing structure for the size of the advertisements, number of words, font size, etc.
Design the business cards with accuracy. Try to include all the vital information about the business like the name of the company, where it is located, services provided, working hours, and contact information like landline number, cell number and person to be contacted. Personalized business cards are good way of reaching the genuine customers.
Other way to advertise is to give presentations on your products. Brochures can be inserted in the business presentation package. Other than things like history of the company and annual turn-up, once again business cards can be included in the package. Distribute newsletters with information about the latest offers and discounts. Informational letters of a page length and e-mails can be sent too on a regular basis. All this can become lot easier by getting in touch with companies who can provide the mailing list of a particular locality and it comes for a very small price. Again the yellow pages can be referred to get information about such companies. After getting the information get in touch with company to get a copy of the latest mailing list. Different companies charge different prices.
The word of mouth is also a good method of advertising. Try growing the links in your network and join organizations which deals with advertising like trade associations and chamber of commerce. Active participation in events of these organizations eventually helps reaching more number of people.
Advertising for Free
Advertising for free seems like an impossible thing when heard. But there are several ways by which the cost of advertisement can be conserved, with the help of some imagination and creativity.
A business wanting to advertise, can write articles related to their field of expertise that can be submitted to media and publications having interest in that particular field. The advertising article can have information about the company and dealership opportunity. Due to the rise in Internet users and websites, new websites have sprung up which offer free services. Articles can be written for these websites and they can be broadcasted for free, which will be viewed by hundreds of people everyday.
Once the business has gained some recognition, within no time it will gain popularity also among the crowds. This popularity can lead to them being invited on radio and television talk shows and even to interviews. Such kind of opportunities shouldn’t be missed as they provide a chance for free promotion. If it is taking a long time to get a break, the producer can be addressed with a letter that can be followed up by a telephone call or in-person visit. During the visit, the nature of expertise can be discussed about the business, which will be of interest to the viewers of the particular channel. Once a businessperson gains the status of being public-friendly, more offers start pouring in.
Free bulletin board located in the neighborhood, like in grocery stores, libraries, and salons, are another good idea. Advertising circulars can be posted on such boards for free. Circulars for mass distribution can be handed out at the mall, shopping center, bus stops, particularly on weekends when there is a big rush. Students can be hired on part time basis for this purpose.
Promotional advertisement can be printed on the envelopes used by the business firms. Both the sender and the receiver can view this advertisement. Promotional offers can be sent to customers by postcards, which should be utilized to its full, leaving only place left for writing the address.
Some of the new mail order publications offer free first time and seasonal deductions for advertisers. Other publications offer pay per inquiry space. Inquiries can be made about stand-by space, which means that the publication holds the submission of advertisement until the space is not sold and in that case, thirty three percent saving can be achieved. Usually local newspapers provide these kinds of offers.
If the business is involved in ad sheet or catalog publishing, other publishers can be contacted for the purpose of bartering an advertising exchange. They can place advertisement in their publication, in return for placing their advertisement in the business’s publication.
Free offers can be provided to the customer. This can be done by emailing or printing newsletter about information regarding the area of interest of the targeted customers and can be made popular by using tag lines. Attach a free coupon with it, which the customers can use it for shopping, if a criterion is met like minimum purchase of $ 50. By this the response will be huge and most of them will purchase something or the other to avail the free offer. The basic ingredient for advertising for free is imagination and research. Opportunities should be searched and a strong working force should be applied to increase the sales.
Ever since the advent of Internet, advertising on the World
Wide Web has been very popular. Many corporations, companies and business have
taken advantage of this and you can see ads on any web pages you visit.
Consumer can go to any search engine and type the keyword relating to what they
are looking for and hit search and they will be provided with a huge list from
which they can select. This is a very cost effective and time saving method of
advertising.
It has become really easy for any business to have a
personalized website by which they can advertise, directly interact with the
customer; provide details about their product and services. Regular
newsletters, offers, discounts can be pasted on site to increase the interest
of the website visitors.
Since it’s easy to reach any kind of audience concerning any
kind of business, the possibility of misuse is always there. Based on this
Internet advertising is classified into two kinds of advertisement, legal
online advertising and illegal online advertising. Legal online advertising
includes online advertising directories, search engine advertising, e-mail
advertising, and desktop advertising. Illegal advertising is more commonly know
as spamming. This is usually done by altering some system settings with the
help of external applications after which pop-ups are sent to a particular
network or computer. The external applications are known as adware or spyware.
Some of these are really harmful, the most famous being Trojans, which are very
hard to uninstall and remove from the system.
With the increase in technology, special effects are being
used to make advertisement more interesting. Vivid colors, good page layout and
lots of imagination is involved. Typically Adobe Flash is used to design
advertisements these days. Depending on the technology being used to design
advertisements can be classified into various categories.
Banner ads are animations displayed on the website usually
created in HTML or Eudora. There is a range of type and sizes of the ads. Trick
banner ads are banner ads that have an extra functionality of dialog boxes and
buttons and are displayed as an alert or error message.
A pop-up is an
advertisement displayed in a new window that covers up the active web page. A
pop-under advertisement opens in another window that is under the active web
page and can be seen after the present window is either closed or minimized.
Interstitial ads are those
that are displayed before directing over to the desired page.
Wallpaper ads form the background of the web page.
The ads that float on the screen are known as a floating ad.
Polite ads download on a low pace without interrupting the
normal functioning of the website.
An ad that enlarges and changes the contents of the page
being displayed is known as expanding ad.
Advertisements which are displayed in a video form on a
website is known as a video ad.
There are many ways by which advertising slots can be
purchased on Internet like CPM, CPV, CPC, CPA, CPL and CPO. CPM or cost per mil
means that the advertiser is meant to pay for a particular number of people to
whom the advertisement will be exposed.
CPV or cost per visitor means that the advertiser is meant to pay for
the people to whom the advertisement was delivered. CPC or cost per click means
paying for the number of clicks made on the advertisement by the visitors.
Although the advertisement is put up on the website, the amount is paid only
after the visitor clicks on the URL of the advertisement. CPA or cost per
action means that the advertisement publisher bares all the charges of
advertisement, but he gets paid only if the visitor clicks on the advertisement
and purchases a product or signs-up for a service. CPL or cost per lead is
similar to CPA, only that the visitor doesn’t have to necessarily buy anything;
he or she can simply apply to get regular newsletters and special offers. CPO
or cost per order is where the advertiser pays each time an order is placed.
Online advertisements cannot only be used to promote a
product or service but in fact they can be used for purposes like promoting
charity and spreading education.
Advertisements of products, organizations, and services
are generally aired on television. This is be done by buying slots on the
airtime from a particular television channel. Price depends on the popularity
of the channel, time the commercial is being aired, number of viewers and
length of the commercial. Placing a commercial on local channels is more
affordable than on national channel where the cost is almost double.
When thinking of placing a commercial on television it is
advised that you first understand what audience needs to be reached. Different
audiences have different taste, which can be determined by their choice of
television show like celebrity talk, cartoons, sports, reality, news, movies,
soaps, prime time etc. Prime time is usually from 6 to 7 pm and is the most
expensive slot. Following it is the news time at noon or 10-11 pm slots, which
are proven to be the most effective time slots for the success of a commercial.
More affordable is the 12-4 pm soap time. Always check out with the sales
representative for the prices. When advertising on national level, check out an
ad agency that usually works on commission basis. It’s highly recommended to
negotiate during a re-run of the advertisement and stay away from paying the
complete amount.
Compare the prices of different networks and different
programs before you place an ad. Another money saving trick is to buy a thirty
seconds slot and air commercials of ten to fifteen seconds of length one after
the other. This increases the possibility of target viewers seeing the
commercial without the cost of re-runs. But this is risky as the pressure of
conveying critical information in a short period of time increases. So the
commercials should not be so short that the actual message couldn’t be
delivered correctly to the audience. Usually a reminder commercial can be of a
shorter duration.
Look out for the people who would like to buy a slot that has
already been purchased. This can be very tricky as it will be more like a bid
for which they will be ready to pay a larger amount sometimes even double
because they badly need a slot. This usually happens during the holiday season,
which comes in the last quarter of the year around New Years Eve, Thanksgiving
holidays and Christmas holidays. Best time of the year to buy slots for
commercial is the first and second quarter of the year. Price is usually
negotiable during the first quarter as the sales representatives give discounts
to advertisers who have spend a lot of money advertising during the holiday
season and are trying to recover from it.
If planning to pay for
advertising commercials for the whole year check out the discounts that are
being offered for advertising round the year. Usually a five percent discount
is offered when signing for a six-month time period and ten percent when
signing for a twelve-month time period. But do keep in mind to check out
exactly when the commercials are being aired because If planning to pay for
advertising commercials for the whole year check out the discounts that are
being offered for advertising round the year. Usually a five percent discount
is offered when signing for a six-month time period and ten percent when
signing for a twelve-month time period. But do keep in mind to check out
exactly when the commercials are being aired because
The very first commercial to go on air was of Bulova Watch
Company on WNBC, United States of America on July 1, 1941. And ever since then
there have been no stopping and now commercials sell anything that one can ever
imagine.
Outdoor advertising is a low budget and effective way of
advertising a company’s product. Among the entire methods billboard advertising
is the most sort after method, which has been proven to be the best sales
strategy in the recent times. Nearly 5.6 billion dollar was spent on billboard
advertising alone, in the year 2006, as analyzed by Outdoor Advertising
Association of America.
Billboard advertising is the best bet in outdoor advertising
and isn’t that costly. And with the amount of exposure the product gets the
money is worth it. In the past few years several factors have triggered
billboard advertising and cost effectiveness being one of the prime reasons.
One of the reasons being if an ad is placed in the local newspaper or a television
channel the advertisement gets noticed for only thirty seconds and when the
same advertisement is placed on billboard, it gets noticed through out the day,
for months. Thousands of people view billboard everyday on their way to jobs or
home, it doesn’t get lost in the pages like an advertisement placed in a
newspaper or magazine. There is a frequent and continuous delivery of message.
No other advertising method can grab the attention of people like billboard
advertising. It creates brand awareness and strong name recognition.
One of the reasons behind the cost being low is technology.
In the early years the billboards were hand-painted due to which the labor cost
was high. Now, advertisers design and print their advertisements on a huge
poster board or vinyl board by a computer-aided printer, which is very cost
effective. Creativity can be achieved to the highest extent, with ease and less
money. The brighter, colorful, creative the advertisement is, the more
eye-catching it is. With the advancements in technology, it takes very less
time to design billboards with unlimited possibilities.
The cost is really reasonable. It varies from $1,000 to
$3,000 per month. Ten advertisements will cost around $ 30,000. It might look
like a big amount, but it costs almost same if placing a full-page ad in a
newspaper for only a day. And if the effectiveness is considered for both the
methods, newspaper advertisements are not even half as effective as billboard
advertisements. When an advertisement is placed in a newspaper or in a
magazine, the customer should reach out to see the advertisement, but when an
advertisement is placed on a billboard, it is like reaching to the
customers.
Thus, Billboard advertising has high-impact on people and is
a cost-effective method of advertisement. The above-mentioned advantages are
few of the many advantages of billboard advertising. And that’s the reason why
all types of companies and businesses are choosing to go with billboard
advertising. From placing the billboard at a theater multiplex, highway,
airport, and even pasting them on cars, any kind of product can be advertised
to any kind of audience. And the effectiveness of it can never be
underestimated.
Self-promotion is similar to spreading the word by any other
means but with an artistic approach. If the artistic part were taken out of the
equation advertising would look more like barging rather than self-promotion.
There are many steps involved in this process. The first step is to collect and
create useful content relating to the topic, which is a not an easy job.
In today’s fast paced world owning a website for your
business is a must which is not a big deal anymore with so many people
available who excel in web designing and also offer a competitive rate. There
are many types of technologies involved in the creation of a website, a one
page flash website wouldn’t take you places. Intense graphics should be
incorporated to catch the eye of the customer. After the creation of website,
the website content should be emphasized upon. Writers who expertise in search
engine optimization should be raked in so that the page ranks amongst the top
pages on Google, Yahoo and Msn. Search engines have become
popular universally and your website doing good on them plays a more vital role
than getting other kind of references. Hence, efforts should be made on making
remarkable progress to bring your website in the hit list. Also, material on
the website should be updated frequently to meet the changing needs of the
people. Get someone to design a logo for the company and website which is
catchy and delivers the right message to the customers.
Other than website content, articles should also be published
in newspapers, magazines and online publications especially business oriented
emphasizing on ten strong points which describes the best about the business or
the product. Online publication will facilitate in providing successful
searches to the targeted audience.
The next target method of advertising should be television.
Putting a commercial during the prime time will spread the message to a larger
crowd. The content of the advertising should be akin to the value of the
product. Famous personalities can be roped in to endorse the product, which
will not only attract common people but also their fans in buying the product.
From time to time it is essential to review the past work and
improving on the mistakes previously committed. Once the previous mistakes are
tackled, it wouldn’t hurt to analyze previous milestones, awards, and
acquisitions. This increases the chances of running into something that really
deserves to be highlighted to the public. The more accomplishments you display
to the public the more fan-following your product will get.
Reviewing competitor’s work on a regular basis would prove
fruitful. This would also help identify
loopholes in your product that have been overlooked before and would provide
the key reasons to improve on.
Although this is an old approach, snail mails are also one of
the best advertising methods. As it’s a more energy consuming approach, it’s
important that you have the addresses of the customers who are really in need
of the product. Regular mails containing details about the new development will
keep people informed about your company’s products. A more modern approach to this method is
collecting e-mail ids of the targeted customers and posting them ads and latest
deals. This is a cheaper and less time consuming approach compared to snail
mails as you can mass email as many people as you want at any time.
Before releasing any product in the market, product testing
should be done by giving out samples among the targeted customers. The
feedbacks makes it more clear whether the product is ready to be released in
the market or whether changes should be made to make it more appealing to the
public. It is recommended to approach sincere friends, acquaintances, partners
and clients at first to test your product and then go to the public, as expert
advice is more useful.
To make more brownie points, address the customers and
clients and appreciate them for their contribution in making the product
popular. Send a token of thanks on special occasions like festivals or on
accomplishing an important task. Customers can also be thanked by offering
special discounts and free gifts. After gaining popularity focus should be on
retaining the reputation rather than taking things for granted.
Advertising using Power Words
Word cannot only influence the minds of people but can
completely change their perception abut a particular thing. Words have the
persuasion power to entice and motivate. They are used by the politicians,
public relations personals, and even by parents to pass on their message. These
words are known as power words and they can do wonders when used in
advertisement.
New or improved words create a sense of curiosity. The
customers get an impression that the product is something that is different
from others and he tries to get it before anyone else does so as to have edge
over others. The laundry products have always been advertised as new and
improved, from years. Although it can be either new improved version of the
existing product, but the power of both the words and the product reinforces
each other’s strength.
Take for instance the line ‘Money back guarantee’, these
power words helps gain the trust of the customer. It is a must to print these
words at the closing line of an advertisement. After this sentence, the methods
of payment and how money will be returned if the customer is not satisfied
should be stated.
Most of the successful advertisements have a little known
secret that surely generated curiosity within the reader. People are knowledge
thirsty, they want to know what others do not know. They think that there is
some vital information they are missing because of which they haven’t gained
success in something particular.
Words ‘Insider say that’, is similar to ‘secret’. It gives
out information from some expertise that is still unknown to the outside world
and only if the customer gives money, information will be divulged to him.
Words ‘Insider say that’, is similar to ‘secret’. It gives
out information from some expertise that is still unknown to the outside world
and only if the customer gives money, information will be divulged to him.
You is a very important word to be used in an advertisement.
It directly points out the advantages to the customer, if he buys a particular
product or service. Step into the shoes of the customer and try to note down
the points which will be of benefit and what points will decrease the interest.
The advantages then should be referred to the customer by addressing them with
‘you’. The customer feels that he is being directly talked to.
The word ‘Immediately’ rings in the emergency. It can be
interpreted as ‘Don’t wait any longer, get it now!’ This motivates the customer
to take some necessary and quick action.
Power in itself is a powerful word. Give that power to the
consumer and see the magic. This gives the consumer a feeling that he can get
possession of something that he lacked till now and this could make him achieve
the impossible.
The basis of a successful advertisement is to understand the
consumer’s needs and then design the advertisement accordingly. Just stating
the advantages of using the product or service of the company isn’t enough.
Sentence should be so designed that the customer should see his advantage in
the product. For example, when advertising for a digital camera, just stating
that the in-built memory of the camera is of 1 GB, won’t do the trick. Instead,
the sentence should be changed to ‘enough memory to store 350 pictures or 50
videos’. The solution to the problem of the customer is reflected in this
sentence. Ideas can be taken from advertisements of other similar brands like
how the sentences are written and placed in an advertisement. After the
sentence framing, adding power words to spice up the advertisement will
definitely make a winning ad campaign.
Advergaming:
Advertising through video games
The practice
of using video games to promote a particular product or an organization is
known as “Advergaming”. Wired magazine first used this term in a column to
describe the commissioning of free online games by large companies, in 2001.
There are three categories of Advergaming: ATL Advergaming, BTL Advergaming and
TTL Advergaming.
The practice
of using video games to promote a particular product or an organization is
known as “Advergaming”. Wired magazine first used this term in a column to
describe the commissioning of free online games by large companies, in 2001.
There are three categories of Advergaming: ATL Advergaming, BTL Advergaming and
TTL Advergaming.
The practice
of using video games to promote a particular product or an organization is
known as “Advergaming”. Wired magazine first used this term in a column to
describe the commissioning of free online games by large companies, in 2001.
There are three categories of Advergaming: ATL Advergaming, BTL Advergaming and
TTL Advergaming.
BTL
Advergaming comprises of recruitment tools like In-game advertising, militiamen
and edutainment. Usually the mascot of the particular company is depicted as
the hero in such games. Pepsi man and Burger man were the mascots used in
promotional games designed by Pepsi and Burger King respectively. The storyline
of these games can be commercial, educational or political like the game American
Army created to attract more youth towards devoting their life to army and also
games meant to promote sports like Formula One racing are also a part of this
technique.
In-game
advertising is more commercial type and is purely targeted for promotion of the
product via the game. This is really picking up and even movies are promoted by
this method. Like on the website of the movie, The Mummy, there are games which
have a storyline similar to the movie and the player is given knowledge of the
facts about the movie and its subject, Egyptian Mummy. Educational Advergaming
refers to games that portray a moral message to the players.
These games
can also act as a medium of advertisement themselves like in the video game of
EA Sports; banners of Pepsi line the frame of the game. By using this strategy
the companies are able to provide low price or free games to the
consumers. This is also effective in
reducing the price of games that have a monthly fee.
TTL
Advergaming or through the line Advergaming is the most rare form of
Advergaming. URL links are embedded into a game that takes the players to the
web pages, which has BTL Advergaming. Different methods are used to attract the
player to a particular webpage. In the game ” Enter the Matrix” URL hyperlinks
are depicted in the background, which the player is forced to click to learn
about the facts relating to the plot of the next level and at the same time
advertises about the product. The curiosity to learn about the theme of the
game attracts the player, although it might not be necessary to click to finish
the game. Such kinds of games are
usually known as link-chases as one link will lead to another. Website visitors
are sometimes tempted with a prize to prompt them to click the URL.
This
technique of advertising is really beneficial as it not only creates awareness
among the player but also among his friends who lands the website upon friend’s
suggestion. The success of Advergaming is dependant on word of mouth and thus
is also known as viral marketing. In the year 2004, this industry generated
around $83.6 million and involved 105 million players.
Advertising in Yellow Pages
Some people believe that yellow pages do not receive
response like other advertising methods do and this is true to some extent but
not in totality. When talking about traditional yellow pages, there sure is a
decline in number of people opting for advertising in it. According to a recent
report, even the most attractive advertisement in a particular section is not
getting the response from callers like they used to get before. On the
contrary, the prices of placing ads in directories are on a rise, which speaks
a different, story altogether.
In reality different categories are witnessing different
rates of decline. Like the lawyers category is seeing the maximum decline,
where as emergency service provider’s section has the same call rate. And
sections like mobile phones, real estate and furniture are seeing a rise due to
the increasing customer demand. Altering the size of the advertisement or
changing the look cannot do wonders any more.
Experts suggest that relying on yellow pages to get customers
isn’t enough. Other options should be considered as well along with it. With
the Internet reaching every home, nearly half of the Internet users use the net
everyday. They prefer to buy stuff online, from the comfort of their homes. Research
should be done on the Internet to get reviews about the product. People, who
don’t usually shop online, also are also opting to shop online as information
is provided at the click of a mouse. It is easier for people to trust as
customers who used the product give their feedback about the product after
using it.
A relatively newer concept is the yellow pages going online.
The good thing about them is that they are updated frequently unlike the
printed directories and can be viewed from any part of the world. According to
researches conducted, the response increased by twenty five percent every year.
So those who are interested to invest in yellow pages advertising can think of
going online. Directories are submitted
to search engines, which on typing a keyword or phrase bring the results. Small
and local businesses, too, can land on the pages brought by the result. The
cost of creating a website can be saved if all the relevant information about
the company is included in the online yellow pages. Look out for the date to
renew the directory listing, and if there is a need to change the
advertisement, it is not a big problem on online yellow pages. Some starter
websites offer to place advertisement in their yellow pages for free. Search
out for such websites on the Internet.
Larger businesses can start their own websites and place
links in the online yellow pages. Articles can be framed about the business and
can be submitted to Ezines and websites related to the area of business. Some
websites also allow posting articles for free. The purpose of the yellow pages
is basically to get potential customers but that doesn’t mean that existing
customers should be neglected. Steps should be taken to strengthen the
relationship with them and to retain their trust by maintaining the standard of
the products supplied to them. Once they are completely satisfied, the
price-rise won’t bother them and they will talk about the company to people
they know, which will fetch new customers.
The objective is to work smartly and select the right method
of advertising. If a business isn’t using any other method for advertising
apart from using yellow pages, it can cause problems and the products may not
sell. Analyze how much money is spent on placing ads in directories and estimate
whether the amount of customers the business gets is desirable. Whenever a call
is received from a potential customer, ask them how they got to know about the
enterprise. This will help to analyze which advertising method is ideal for the
business. It is never late to correct the mistake and go for the right method.
In today’s net-savvy world it has become common for any
business to have a website which they use mostly for advertising their products
and services. With the advent of search engines it has become even easier for
the customers to search for the stuff online. For a website to be successful
its link should land in the first three pages which the search engine brings
and the rank of the page should be high which means many visitors come to the
site. This can be achieved by applying search engine optimization or popularly
known as SEO. This is a marketing strategy which increases the quality and
quantity of traffic flow to a particular website via search engines.
SEO not only affects the search engine results, but also
image search, video search and industry specific vertical search engines. It
determines how a search algorithm functions and searches what is popular with
people. When a website link is submitted to a search engine, a spider crawls
through a page to gather links which lead to other pages and stores those pages
on the server of the search engine. The information collected from these pages
is sent to the indexer, whose job is to extract information from those pages
such as the keywords and their weights, the location of the page and other
links that are stored for the spider to crawl in future.
In the beginning, the search engine optimizer algorithms were
dependant on the keywords, Meta tags, and index files provided by the
Webmaster. Meta tags provided information about a particular page, but using
them for indexing the pages didn’t prove to be successful as some Webmasters
added irrelevant Meta tags to increase the number of hits and earn huge ad
revenue. They even changed the HTML of the web pages to achieve a good rank for
the page. But this was a case of abuse as it fetched irrelevant pages.
Search engines then began utilizing complex ranking
algorithm, which were difficult for the webmasters to manipulate so as to
provide web surfers with genuine results. The rank of the web page was
calculated mathematically by functions using strength and quantity of the
inbound links. The higher the rank of the page the more chances it had to be
viewed by a person. Later algorithms
were developed which considered various other on-page factors such as rank and
off-page factors such as hyperlink. Since the webmasters couldn’t manipulate
the page rank, they began exchanging, selling and buying links, which lead to
link spamming and even creation of numerous sites dedicated for this purpose.
Algorithms became more complex by every passing day and top
search engines kept their algorithms a secret. As the cost of SEO increased,
advertisers were roped in to pay for it, which finally resulted in high quality
web pages. Although investing in SEO is very fruitful, but at the same time is
risky because with out any prior notice the algorithms being used are bound to
change and the search engine will stop directing visitors to the page. Many
consultants are available in the market that provides SEO services. They
manipulate the HTML source code of the web site like menus, shopping carts and
sometimes even the content of the website to draw more traffic. Search engines
like Yahoo has algorithms that extract pages not according to the page rank but
according to the cost per click or set fee, that is if a advertiser desires
that the page containing his ad be displayed, he is expected to pay money for
it. This is a point of controversy, as only the big businesses will be able to
increase the number of hits of their page but not the small business who might
be having a better quality page.
Google Ad Words explores ads which have words typed in the
search box by the surfer. The Million Dollar Homepage started the concept of
Pixel advertising, which is a graphical kind of advertising. Depending on the
pixels, the space is sold to the advertiser. Keyword advertising involves
advertisers who buy URLs of a site and place their ads at that location. Thus
SEO is a market in its own which is yielding great results for businesses on
Internet.
Writing a good headline for your advertisement
There is no denying the fact that the success of an
advertisement lies mostly in the headline. The headline should attract the
reader and make him read the rest of the advertisement. The headline should be
simply catchy and various key points should be embedded when deciding on the
headline for the ad.
The headline should catch attention of the eye at the first
glance. Words in headlines should act as tags for the advertisement. It should
say it all about the content that follows. If a company is selling reasonably
priced furniture, the headline of their advertisement should be ‘Durable
furniture for less price’. This headline will attract the right customers who
are on a look out for durable furniture as well as low cost furniture. If the
customers to be reached belong to a category that are interested in decorating
their house with beautiful furniture and aren’t concerned about the price to
get the right look, then the headline can be ‘Change how your house looks by
our oriental furniture’. Anything other
than the prospects should not be included in the headline. If both men and
women can use a product, both of them should be referred to in the title,
missing out even one of the category is like losing a huge number of potential
customers.
The title should be instant product seller. According to a
research, five times more readers read just the headline when compared to those
who read the complete advertisement. So the investment is of no use, if the
title isn’t good enough to sell the product. There can be a possibility that
the content of the ad isn’t strong enough. All the harm can be undone by having
a powerful headline.
The headline should be centered on the product and not the
company that is selling the product. The customer’s interest should be
reflected and he should feel that he is directly addressed. Start with ‘you’
and not ‘we’. So if the client specified on mentioning the company’s name,
don’t start the sentence with it. For example, instead of writing ‘Tylenol –
solution for sever cold ’, write ‘Got sever cold? Try Tylenol’. Never forget to
mention the name of the product in the headline. The product name should be of
top priority.
A snapshot of the benefits of the product should be given in
the headline. This is an important quality of a well-phrased headline. The
customers look out for advantages when he thinks of buying a product. Keywords
like whiter teeth, nutritious cereals, or miraculous growth should be
incorporated in the title.
If inculcating all these factors have made the headline long,
it should be remembered to write the product advantages in bold. If a visual is
placed in the advertisement, it will be a good complement. As a picture speak
thousand words. But care should be taken that the headline should say some part
of the story and the visual should say the rest. Don’t repeat the headline or
the picture.
Too much of cleverness should not be applied to design a
headline. There are nearly five hundred advertisements in a local newspaper on
weekends. A regular reader reads the headings of all of them. He will be able
to classify between a false heading and a genuine heading. No false promises or
information should be included in the headline. Over smart headlines are good
for award competitions, but don’t really work with the savvy customers.
The headline should give out a positive feeling to the
reader. Negativity should be totally excluded as it not only creates a negative
impression but the mind will also be not receptive friendly. It sometimes
confuses the mind and it interprets a negative meaning of the message being
delivered. Confidence should be reflected in the headline. Don’t include any
doubtful words like if and but. Conditional phrases are a strict no. The
sentence should be in present tense, instead of past or future.
Research in Advertising
Research in advertising is done in order to produce better
advertisements that are more efficient in motivating customers to buy a product
or a service. The research can be based on a particular advertising campaign or
can be more generalized and based on how advertisements create an effect on
people’s mind. Lots of approaches are involved to go about conducting an
advertising research like economical, psychological, demographical and
sociological.
When designing an advertisement for a particular product many
things should be researched like where it should be displayed, whether the
advertisement can be printed in newspapers or magazines or broadcasted on
television or radio or published on the Internet. Many methods are undertaken to
collect relevant information. The research itself is of two kinds, syndicated
and customized. Syndicated research is a single research done by the company
that is available to other companies as well. Customized research is research
based on certain criteria and is done for a particular company and its results
are available to only that company.
When designing an advertisement for a particular product many
things should be researched like where it should be displayed, whether the
advertisement can be printed in newspapers or magazines or broadcasted on
television or radio or published on the Internet. Many methods are undertaken to
collect relevant information. The research itself is of two kinds, syndicated
and customized. Syndicated research is a single research done by the company
that is available to other companies as well. Customized research is research
based on certain criteria and is done for a particular company and its results
are available to only that company.
Post-testing or ad tracking studies are either syndicated or
customized. Studies are done over a period of time or continuously. The
in-market research is done to understand a brands linkage, performance,
awareness, and preference along with product attitudes and usage. They are done
by, conducting interviews either on phone or Internet. Testing the finished
advertisement provides the confidence and gives an idea whether it is following
the strategy.
All the above studies should facilitate the client’s
advertisement development make the end product easier to achieve. The study
should contain rational information having not only surface knowledge but also
provide deep in-sight that will open window to a customer’s mind. The customer,
too, should provide precise information based on facts and not based on
imaginary thinking and self-delusion. He should be able to explain the role of
advertisement in the whole marketing plan. Working in vacuum doesn’t get the
desired result.
The basis is to provide in-depth understanding about the
consumers for improving on the advertisement techniques and other marketing
decisions. The traditional methods of qualitative and quantitative techniques
have been improved to analyze the information with good insight.
The rapidly changing likes and needs of the customers are
difficult to track, but should be studied in order to increase the quality of
advertisement. The changes are because of the huge number of options offered to
them by the market.
Low Cost Advertising
There is no better advertisement campaign that is low cost
and also successful at the same time. Great business ideas when utilized
effectively can save lots of money. This is not only easy for those who work
full-time as an advertiser, but also for those who work from home.
Advertising from home is also a low cost option, which
involves making and distributing fliers. Usually potential customers will visit
home for business dealing. Print good amount of fliers and give it to anyone who
is visiting home like family, friends, mailman, etc. Business cards can also be
distributed. Few selected people can be given sample of the product. For those
who work outside home, employ college students to distribute fliers at
supermarkets, community centers, or malls, especially on weekends, when there
is a rush.
Spread the word by the mouth. Talk to everyone about the
product and ask them to talk about it to others. It’s a very powerful tool to
increase the network and doesn’t even cost anything. When receiving a casual
call from family members and friends, don’t forget to tell them about the
latest events, discounts and promotions and ask them about what they are up to.
If the parties are into the business, it won’t hurt to promote each other. Joint
ventures can be started with trustable people of the same trade. The only cost
that will be incurred during the whole process is of printing fliers. For a
better quality, professional can be hired to design them, as they will be able
to play with colors and write motivating material.
Most of the businesses have company bulletin board that they
use to put up company’s latest news. Fliers and business cards can be tacked on
such bulletin boards. But before doing so, check out with the human resource
department before placing the information as most of the HR departments make it
compulsory to consult them.
Most of the businesses have company bulletin board that they
use to put up company’s latest news. Fliers and business cards can be tacked on
such bulletin boards. But before doing so, check out with the human resource
department before placing the information as most of the HR departments make it
compulsory to consult them.
Get involved with fundraiser at schools, as it’s a nice
approach to market business. Prior to handing out the order received, collect
all necessary information like business card pack, fliers, with proper
information. Information can be based on what is the company about, what are
the products and services provided, or how to get in touch with the company. In
each individual order, carefully place all of them and seal the package
properly. Presentation, too, is of importance and should be paid attention.
Voice mails can be put to good use, other than recording
messages. They can help to deliver the marketing message. Greet with a brief
message, following with website and email address, so that who ever calls will
be already having the telephone number and they will be able to learn more
about the business by visiting the website. When the company is providing
special promotional offers and discounts, include information about those in
the voice mail. Discontinuation of any services of products can also be
informed about. Repetitive voicemails sound boring, so keep changing the voice
mail frequently and add some creativity to it.
Most of the big businesses attach business cards or fliers
with out going mail. This works for companies who send bills to their
customers. For those who have customers paying online, they can send the
information through emails.
Advertisements can be done, in the locality, by placing
fliers on the bulletin boards of the local grocery stores, businesses, barbers,
or butchers. People frequent these places and there is a possibility of getting
a good response. Some businesses place a jar at the reception counter where the
business cards can be dropped for future reference, while visiting them.
Impact of Colors in Advertisements
Human brain receives signals faster through eyes rather
than ears. Visual appearance is supposed to be more appealing when compared to
any other senses, no matter what the medium of presentation is. So, there are
methods by which one can increase the visual appeal. Other senses facilitate
visual appeal, and are also important to concentrate on.
Typical example is color when accompanied with audio, and
writing. According to a study, big budget companies spend billions in the color
market research, which helps in product and packaging development. Color, along
with content, helps to pertain the interest of the visitor and makes him surf
the website longer. A colorful article will make the reader read it till the
end. Color makes things look more amiable.
Colors are known to influence the behavior of a person. Like
blue color is said to have a relaxing effect. Red represents passion and love.
A dating website can have red as the background color. Fast food restaurants
have bright picture of food beautifully decorated pasted on the walls. This
tempts the taste buds of the customer and the customer pounces on the food,
eats and leaves quickly. And this is exactly the reaction expected.
Light effects can also be used to play with the mind of the
on-looker. Advertisements, especially for food products, have strategically
placed lights. The light effects trigger the hormones in the brain, which
increases the hunger. If the same is placed in a slightly dim light, it won’t
be equally tempting.
Light effects can also be used to play with the mind of the
on-looker. Advertisements, especially for food products, have strategically
placed lights. The light effects trigger the hormones in the brain, which
increases the hunger. If the same is placed in a slightly dim light, it won’t
be equally tempting.
It’s a must for an advertiser to have the knowledge about the
colors and what they refer too. Black stands for elegance, sophistication,
seduction and mystery. White stands for peace, pure, clean, mild and youthful.
Gold stands for prestige, luxury and elite. Silver stands for prestige,
scientific and cold. Yellow stands for warmth, happiness and cheer. Orange
stands for warmth, playfulness, and vibrant. Red stands for love, excitement,
strength, passion, and danger. Pink stands for nurture, sweet, soft, and
security. Green stands for nature, fresh, fertility and abundance. Blue stands
for cool, trust, belonging and reliability. And lastly Purple stands for spiritual,
royalty, and dignity.
From the advertiser’s point of view, we can conclude that
colors can determine the shopping habits of customers. Black, blue, red and
orange attract impulsive buyers. Smart shoppers are attracted to pink, light
blue and navy blue colors. Companies use colors in logo, advertisement, etc.,
to pass the right message to the customer. Wal-Mart advertise has a navy blue
background and its catch line is “We sell for less”, which means smart
customers are their goal. Mercedes has a silver logo, true to its class.
Advertising in Newspapers
Newspaper advertisements are as old as advertisement itself.
Although, it’s an age-old method of advertisement, it still receives the same
response and is highly successful. Both small and large businesses still choose
this method to promote their products and services. Ask them and nearly hundred
percent advertisers would select newspapers as their primary advertise medium.
Newspaper advertisements are as old as advertisement itself.
Although, it’s an age-old method of advertisement, it still receives the same
response and is highly successful. Both small and large businesses still choose
this method to promote their products and services. Ask them and nearly hundred
percent advertisers would select newspapers as their primary advertise medium.
Many advertisers, who advertise through newspapers, design
their own advertisements without any prior training. This has lead to the rise
of larger number of retailers who think that making an ad by them is the only
way to get it right. This approach saves a lot of money and is good for small
businesses, only if they reach to correct customers. The one time cost of
placing a small advertisement is $150, so the measures should be taken to place
them effectively. It isn’t necessary to have a full-page advertisement posted
in the newspaper. If smartly designed, even half page advertisement can do wonders;
the money saved can be used to advertise concurrently in other mediums like
radio, websites, etc.
Many advertisers, who advertise through newspapers, design
their own advertisements without any prior training. This has lead to the rise
of larger number of retailers who think that making an ad by them is the only
way to get it right. This approach saves a lot of money and is good for small
businesses, only if they reach to correct customers. The one time cost of
placing a small advertisement is $150, so the measures should be taken to place
them effectively. It isn’t necessary to have a full-page advertisement posted
in the newspaper. If smartly designed, even half page advertisement can do wonders;
the money saved can be used to advertise concurrently in other mediums like
radio, websites, etc.
As many advertisers will be posting their ads on weekends in
the local newspaper and the chances of your ad getting lost in the muddle, the
conventions can be twisted a little to beat the competition. Place an offer
coupon in the mid-week editorial and pay the local station to advertise and
talk about the offer on their famous program. Ask them to specifically mention
about the coupon placed in the newspaper. Out of the daily readers, only few of
them go through the entire newspapers. Most of them view the first and last
page. So instead of posting an ad thrice weekly in the middle pages, invest on
placing the ad on the first or last page of the newspaper, once a week.
Majority of the newspapers don’t give competitive protection, that is, an
advertisement of a firm can be placed next to the advertisement of its
competitor. Specify about this condition to the sales person and take the
guarantee from them.
There is a decrease in the number of local newspapers every
year. In United States, only about a thousand newspapers function on a daily
basis. Local people are now relying on weekly papers or newspapers with the
local section. Sometimes only one publisher controls many of the local
newspapers. Newspapers for all the localities are printed at one place with
only the front page being changed. When advertising in such publications, care
should be taken on recognizing the audience that is being reached. All the
effort and money is wasted if the wrong customer is reached and the result can
go in loss. Mixing different medias instead one for advertising is a smart
approach. One can take care of the shortcomings of the other and work in tandem
to make the overall advertising campaign a huge success.
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