Banner Advertising Made Simple
Banner advertising is still a surprisingly effective means of advertising.
Many forms of advertising have become less and less popular because fewer people seem to be teaching them.
That's just fine with those that still do banner advertising because it means more spaces to stick their ads and lower costs due to less competition.
Before you get started with banner ads, you'll need to do research on your target market.
Figure out what your target audience wants and give it to them.
Certain people respond better to certain things like flashy graphics, pictures of really attractive people, and so on.
Now you need to put your banner ad somewhere which gets the most eyeballs.
The place on a web page which gets the most eyeballs is obviously at the top.
A couple other good places are the left or right columns if they're present.
And what about the actual banner? What should you put on it? What if you can't design worth a darn? As mentioned above, you'll need to first figure out what your target audience wants and expects.
Then, you'll need to figure out what would capture their attention effectively.
Let's say you want to create a banner for a weight loss product.
You'd obviously want to have a banner with a slim and attractive woman prominently featured.
Pictures aren't enough to entice people to click on your banner though.
They're great for drawing eyeballs to your ad, but what's missing in the equation is the text element.
The text element has a few main components: the "what", the "why", and the call to action.
What is your product and what are its features? Why do I need your product or why should I buy it? Finally, the call to action is what compels the person to take the desired action, which is to click your ad.
Choose your words carefully.
Remember, you've got very limited real estate to work with, so make sure to fill up that space with powerful words.
One word that often works well is "free".
If you can't design your own graphics, then you can pay someone to do it for you.
Outsourcing banner creation isn't expensive; it should cost between $15 and $40 to get a really good banner done.
You might want to consider getting an animated banner done as well.
Whether or not you can do your own graphics, you should consider using animation in your banners.
Done correctly, animated banners can attract more viewers to your ad and more visitors to your site.
This can be as simple as a word or phrase like "click here" which blinks once every couple seconds.
Complex banners can have parts moving all over the place, but those flashy banners might turn people off.
The most important thing to keep in mind when creating an effective banner ad is to make realistic claims.
Losing 20 pounds in a day, lowering your handicap in golf by 30 strokes, and making $3 million within 2 months are all incredibly unrealistic.
On the other hand, claiming that people who buy your product can lose 1 pound a day, lower their handicap by 10 strokes, or make $3000 within 2 months is slightly more realistic.
Many forms of advertising have become less and less popular because fewer people seem to be teaching them.
That's just fine with those that still do banner advertising because it means more spaces to stick their ads and lower costs due to less competition.
Before you get started with banner ads, you'll need to do research on your target market.
Figure out what your target audience wants and give it to them.
Certain people respond better to certain things like flashy graphics, pictures of really attractive people, and so on.
Now you need to put your banner ad somewhere which gets the most eyeballs.
The place on a web page which gets the most eyeballs is obviously at the top.
A couple other good places are the left or right columns if they're present.
And what about the actual banner? What should you put on it? What if you can't design worth a darn? As mentioned above, you'll need to first figure out what your target audience wants and expects.
Then, you'll need to figure out what would capture their attention effectively.
Let's say you want to create a banner for a weight loss product.
You'd obviously want to have a banner with a slim and attractive woman prominently featured.
Pictures aren't enough to entice people to click on your banner though.
They're great for drawing eyeballs to your ad, but what's missing in the equation is the text element.
The text element has a few main components: the "what", the "why", and the call to action.
What is your product and what are its features? Why do I need your product or why should I buy it? Finally, the call to action is what compels the person to take the desired action, which is to click your ad.
Choose your words carefully.
Remember, you've got very limited real estate to work with, so make sure to fill up that space with powerful words.
One word that often works well is "free".
If you can't design your own graphics, then you can pay someone to do it for you.
Outsourcing banner creation isn't expensive; it should cost between $15 and $40 to get a really good banner done.
You might want to consider getting an animated banner done as well.
Whether or not you can do your own graphics, you should consider using animation in your banners.
Done correctly, animated banners can attract more viewers to your ad and more visitors to your site.
This can be as simple as a word or phrase like "click here" which blinks once every couple seconds.
Complex banners can have parts moving all over the place, but those flashy banners might turn people off.
The most important thing to keep in mind when creating an effective banner ad is to make realistic claims.
Losing 20 pounds in a day, lowering your handicap in golf by 30 strokes, and making $3 million within 2 months are all incredibly unrealistic.
On the other hand, claiming that people who buy your product can lose 1 pound a day, lower their handicap by 10 strokes, or make $3000 within 2 months is slightly more realistic.