Banner Advertising

Before developing a Banner Ad campaign, first consider some of the theories behind online Banner Advertising and media in general. Is it best to direct your efforts on your target market or is a broad reach more advantageous?

If you’re a publisher, what sorts of Banner Ads should you accept? Do you consider the best interests of your advertisers or your users?

Focusing on Your Target Audience

Visitors are more likely to click on your Banner Ad if they are already interested in the subject. For example, if you want to promote a hardware store online, you would generate more clicks by placing your Banner on a niche d.y.i. blog or a gardening website, rather than a general news or how-to website.

So how do you find targeted websites to advertise on? You have three options:

1. You can either find them yourself by typing in your required keywords;
2. Browse a Banner Auction website for available ad space up for sale;
3. Join an ad network to have your Banner automatically placed on relevant websites. You should however beware that ad networks have been criticized for their poor targeting abilities. Their automated placement systems can never replace human intervention and discretion. If you want highly targeted placements, you’re better off finding them yourself.

Placing Banner Ads on related websites means you’re reaching out to your target audience.

What about wide reach?

Many marketers maintain that presenting your Banners Ads to as large an audience as possible is essential for branding. Studies have found that increased exposure to a brand promotes positive feelings towards that brand. Based on this, larger advertisers use ad networks and run of site placements on highly trafficked websites to efficiently brand their products and campaigns.

That’s all well and good for large advertisers with deep pockets but what about the average small to medium sized business who can’t afford mass Ad distribution? Is generalized bulk placement of Banner Advertising good for anything else other than branding?

The idea behind mass distribution is akin to the “Magic Bullet Theory”, which has now been dismissed by media theorists. The Magic Bullet focuses on the effects and influence of communication. Basically, the theory asserts the audience is passive and completely amenable to media messages. In other words, visitors see and Ad and are immediately influenced by it.

Academics have since evolved to the Uses and Gratifications Theory which proposes that surfers are active and goal directed. This would suggest that users are not immediately influenced by an online Ad. They first need to be interested in or have a disposition to the subject matter, not the other way around.

Being a smaller advertiser, you should therefore look for targeted placements if the budget won’t sustain a mass distribution campaign. Rather than basing your campaign on familiarity, a better approach would be based on performance advertising, getting immediate results through targeted offers.

Considerations for Publishers – what banners should you accept?

When accepting advertising on your website, a major consideration is the types of Banner Advertising you should accept. Of course if you sign up with an ad network which accepts display advertising, the Banner Ads will be automatically chosen for you and matched to your content.

If you’re seeking advertisers to buy placements from you direct, you need to consider what kinds of products/services you’re willing to accept. Do you expose your visitors to advertising relevant to your content or is it better to let them see new things? The answer ultimately depends on you and the kinds of visitors you’re attracting.

Opening up your ad space to new kinds of websites, services and/or products keeps your visitors interested. You won’t lose visitors as a result. Users will appreciate the uniqueness of your website as well as you referring them to something they may not have come across.

Be sure to scrutinize objectionable content. Many publishers restrict gambling, adult and related advertisers. Consider the factors from your viewer’s point of view. Will they be offended by the sites you refer them to?

Even though online Banner Advertising has been around for over 15 years, markers, academics, advertisers, ad networks and publishers continue to learn from statistics, consumer behavior and most of all, their mistakes. If you don’t get it right the first time, don’t worry, not many do.