I stopped selling banner ads on this blog over a year ago because I didn’t feel I could give the advertisers their money’s worth. The click-through rate (CTR) was always super low and it didn’t seem to matter what image or ad was displayed. That’s why this site is third-party banner free, not because I don’t want your money.

I have also been a blog banner advertiser for years now. I have advertised various sites, programs and products using banner ads on blogs and websites. For the most part, I hate to say this, they have failed miserably. I could just be very bad at banner advertising but I think blog banner advertising probably isn’t the best use of our advertising budget. Sure, it’s relatively inexpensive unless you are going after the really large sites and design and setup are a breeze.

I haven’t given up yet. I have several banner advertisements running on a few blogs right now and I’m determined to make banner advertising work. I will stop all current campaigns and try smarter ad practices.

Blog Banner Advertising Challenges

Challenge #1: There are several challenges to running banner advertisements on a blog. First of all, the layout. We all love our beautiful blog themes but most of us have become immune to the 125 pixel banners grouped in that right sidebar with one or two larger banners. Yes, bloggers get banner blindness very quickly.

Solution:
Contact the blogger directly and ask if you can advertise on a particular, upcoming blog post that will be relevant. Ask if your banner ad can be embedded into the post it’s self, the same way we do for our own ads from time to time. For example, a banner ad designer promotion would fit nicely with this post. This obviously takes more effort but I believe it will pay off.

Challenge #2: The second challenge is the ad getting stale. Most blogs sell banner ads by the month yet in the video below Mike Blinder says, “If it goes stale it will fail”. Referring to banner ads he says online ads die after nine days.

Solution:
This can be corrected if the ad image remains on your server and in your control. We can update the image on the fly without waiting to renew the ad. The links will stay the same but we are in control of the image and landing page. Weekly changes and lots of testing are the solution I think.

Your Thoughts? Do you offer banner advertising? Are they selling? Are they effective? Do you buy banner ads? Is banner advertising dead?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrSQ5SqwgIk

I’m not going to rehash all the news today about the guidelines released by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). If you’ve been asleep and missed it see ‘Potential FTC Fines Raise Big Blogging Questions‘.

Most of what I’ve read today is a lot of strong concerns and objections on the matter. When it comes to the Government we tend to immediately distrust the decisions and I’m no exception. But I would like to explain why I feel hopeful when it comes to online marketing.

If the internet’s overall reputation regarding advertising is cleaned up and consumer confidence improves we all win. If old Uncle Ed decides to trust the net enough now to buy a few Christmas presents online this year every online business gets a little boost in credibility.

It’s not only the scammers that have been hurting the net and internet marketing in general. It’s all of the marketers that push products based on the profit margin and/or affiliate commission rather than the actual value it provides the customer. You see these guys blasting emails every single day offering something different with each mailing. It would be great if some of this disappears. All they have to do at this point is disclose the fact they profit from the sale. Wouldn’t it be nice if they had to actually believe in and use every product promoted? Yes, I’m a marketer and it sounds like I’m against marketing but it’s just the opposite. I love this industry and would love to see it cleaned up. I posted a little on the matter about two weeks ago ‘Brian D. Hawkins – A Name You Can Trust‘.

I usually keep opinion based posts for my personal blog but decided to share this one with my marketing and blogging friends. Speaking of friends, stop by ExtremeJohn.com and read his opinion on the subject. He hits the nail right on the head – ‘Bullshit Review Bloggers Time to Get Honest‘.

Guestpost by Michael Baker

When you offer a product or service, success or failure will often be based on the quality of the advertising campaign. This means the ad campaign must be innovative and eye-catching as well as cost-effective. Most people understand the former two points, but it is the latter point that is crucially important. Simply put, you cannot spend more on an advertising campaign than what you reap in sales or your ad campaign will be a self-defeating one. The low associated cost is a major reason why pay per click advertising is so popular. It is inexpensive and generally delivers huge results as most Pay-Per-Click (PPC) tracking programs will show. But, not all PPC marketing campaigns are equal. That is why it is important to point out a few helpful tips regarding the proper way to market a product or service via PPC ads.

Patience is always helpful when taking part in a Pay Per Click marketing campaign. It is best to avoid the novice mistake of assuming that simply placing PPC ads on the internet will lead to huge profits overnight. Often, successful campaigns are achieved over an extended period of time. PPC marketing works but it is not (usually) a quick path to getting rich. Simply follow your ad tracker and look for progress. Even if progress is occurring slowly, as long as it is happening you are on a good path.

You will not want to continue with a particular marketing campaign if it is not delivering noticeable results. If a great deal of time has gone by and the sales figures reflected in ad tracking are not impressive, then you should take steps to modify the campaign. Changing the keywords could be one example or completely re-writing the ads could be another.

If you are experiencing a great deal of click-throughs and no one is making a purchase, altering your website might be wise. Never lose site of the fact PPC ads are designed to draw people to a website. It is on the website that the final decision to make a purchase is made. A great PPC ad that leads to a poorly composed website will not deliver much in terms of benefits. So, never lose sight of maintaining a quality website to support a PPC campaign.

The advertising copy in the PPC ads needs to be compelling and direct. With Pay Per Click ads, you will only have a few short sentences to catch the reader’s eyes and convince them to click through to your site. As such, professional quality copywriting is a must when launching a PPC marketing campaign. Similarly, the right keywords must be selected when composing the PPC ad copy. Without the right keywords, the ability to connect the ad with those exploring the search engines will prove elusive. When you do add quality keywords, you will probably notice an uptick in the conversion stats on your ad tracker. Clearly, this would be good news.

Those that may have difficulties composing such text on their own should consult the professional services of a PPC consulting company. Such professionals can certainly help craft your ads in such a way they deliver results.

Yes, success with PPC marketing is possible provided you understand a few basic components of what is a good PPC marketing campaign. Once you understand these components, the success you achieve will be greater than you originally thought possible.