Do Business Well

The first advertising tool to consider in promoting your Web store is the banner ad. A banner ad is like a small billboard that resides on a Web page. The standard full-size banner ad is 250×80 pixels. But even though almost every ad-supported site sells the full-size banner ad, less than 20% of them rely on that alone. At least half of these offer several smaller sizes—usually 120×60 and 88×31. Because of their size and the limited room for your message, it is no surprise that the smaller banner ads are 1/2 to 1/3 lower in cost than the full-size banner ad.

How’s the availability of banner ad space?

Currently, there is a glut of banner ad space on the Web. In fact, most available banner ad impressions on the Web go unsold. And this situation is unlikely to change for many years, as page views are being created at a much faster rate than new ad spending. So you should be able to buy ad space on most second-tier Web sites for much less than the standard $25 CPM that is asked of today.

Computing and Technology and Reference and Education sites charge between $50 and $60 CPM. Business and Finance and Shopping and Auctions charge $40 to $50 CPM. Automotive, Comics and Humor, General News, Home and Garden, Society, Politics, and Sports and Recreation sites charge $30 to $40 CPM. Games, Kids and Family, Movies and Television, Music Portals, Search Engine, Travel, and Regional/Local sites can charge $20 to $30 CPM. Community sites and Yellow/White Pages sites charge $10 to $20 CPM.

If you buy in volume or offer a larger time commitment, you can reduce these charges significantly. Or, instead of trying to lower your overall cost, ask whether the site would be willing to offer you bonus impressions or a free sponsorship of their email newsletter. If you can get some of these add-ons, they might provide you with an opportunity to test that ad vehicle without an additional outlay of ad dollars.

Buying banner ads from individual sites is one way to get your message out.

Opt-in Email Advertising

Crafting your own message and emailing it to a list of prospects is one of the most cost-efficient ways to advertise. But if you’re not careful and don’t do your homework, it could be one of the most costly advertising mistakes you can make. Direct email can be very effective if you know your target market and can find an opt-in emailing list that closely matches your customer profile.

First, be sure that any email list that you rent is an opt-in list. People hate unsolicited email. This is Spam, and your offer and your business will leave a bad taste in their mouth. By renting opt-in lists only, you know that the people on those lists have asked to receive email offers in a particular category. This also is helpful to you because you can target your offer and send it directly to those prospects who would be willing to “open” your offer when they receive it.

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