Death by Advertiser

This issue, we're focusing on getting the most out of your advertising by getting the most traffic possible and converting to the most sales possible.

We've all encountered them: annoying pop-ups, "pop-outs" that cover the page you're trying to read, musical ads... They're annoying, right? Once upon a time (when there were like 10 people on-line, or at least, back in the 90's) an ad could get a 10% click-through rate (CTR) without trying, meaning that one in 10 people would visit the advertiser's site. These days, a good (and expensive) ad might get a 0.3% CTR.

Why is this? Simple: overload. There are way too many ads out there! Even if every person who visits a site clicks on an ad, some sites have literally 100's of ads (in the interest of not getting sued, I won't name names).

The good news is that some advertising still works, and there are simple ways to make your ads better. The best is called "A/B" marketing - you show a user versions A and B of a site or ad, and let user response determine your changes. Let's say you're a widget consultant and are looking on Google for a web designer. Three AdWords ads come up:

Widget Consultants Premier e-commerce sites Free quote and initial consultation. www.topsailconsulting.com Interest:

Widget Consultants Professional sites with high ROI Free quote and initial consultation. www.topsailconsulting.com Interest:

Widget Consultants Build your client base, earn more Free quote and initial consultation. www.topsailconsulting.com Interest:

Note: these may not appear properly in your mail reader. If not, visit http://www.topsailconsulting.com/newsletters/20030711.cfm to see them.

Which one would you click on, if any? Well, the occupation has been modified, but the content of the ads is identical to a real campaign we ran. The results may surprise you: 3.9% of viewers clicked on the first ad, which is great in today's advertising world. 6.6% chose the second, and the third pulled a monstrous 9.0% CTR! This is the ad the advertiser wants to focus on.

What's the difference? Well, the first ad offers e-commerce services - we're targeting consultants, who don't sell anything! The second promises relevant business success - better, but not there, yet. The third remembers the first rule of marketing:

You are not selling a product, service, or outcome. You are selling an expectation.

What do these widget consultants want? Websites. Why? To reach more people. Why? To find more clients! Why? To make more money. That's the rub: appeal to the base desire of your users, and you'll trounce the competition.

We offer custom marketing services, including ad campaign management, consistently delivering results that beat the competition. For a free quote, contact us today!

The User has Landed... but WHERE?!?

Have you ever clicked on an ad or search result and wondered how in the world you got there? "I searched for Chinese restaurants, but this page is about Japanese knives..." That, my friend, is bad advertising.

Advertising goes beyond the ad, itself. The ad is only as good as it's conversion ratio - the percentage of people who follow through and make a purchase, sign up for a newsletter, download a software trial, etc. People searching for Chinese restaurants probably don't want info on how Chinese food is prepared, meaning the knife advertiser just threw $.50 out the window by wasting your time.

Learn to convert visitors to sales, by landing them in the right spots. If you're advertising dozens of products, don't land everyone on your home page - take them to the pages that are related to the ads they clicked on! Again, we'd be happy to offer a free, no-obligation quote and two hours of consulting time to help you achieve this.

We hope these tips help you market your site more effectively! Please let us know if there's any way we can help you take advantage of them! We'll see you next time.

Sincerely,

Ed Cottrell, Editor and President