Taking the Mystery Out of
Banner Advertising
Dear Business Builder,
TGIF my friends and welcome back to In the ‘Net Trenches! Another week bites the dust. I hope you’re headed into a weekend full of fun and relaxation.
In last week’s issue, we talked about my five-step process for researching web sites that …
- Attract your best customer demographic …
- Speak to your prospects’ psychographic interests …
- Command a large volume of traffic …
- Attract direct response buyers …
- Are committed to your success!
This week, we’re going to take a closer look at banner ad sizing and take the mystery out of what you see on web media rate cards.
As I mentioned in previous issues, banner ads can be challenging to make work. But, in my opinion, they are worth the effort to try simply because the traffic potential is huge. If you can make banner ads work for your offers, you’ll quickly be in the money!
So, let’s get to it!
Making the switch from inches to pixels …
In your research of web media, you’ll find that websites offer many different ad sizes … all in pixels. Pixels can be confusing at first, especially if you’re making the switch from buying print media.
But after reading today’s issue, you’ll have a handy dandy little cheat sheet to take along when you start your ad negotiations!
Because today, we’ll take a look at the five most common ad sizes you’ll see on almost every rate card. And, I’ll give you the lowdown on each.
Let’s just start right at the top of the page …
Leaderboards are most often found at the very top of a website. This is probably the most recognizable of all the ad positions available … she’s the biggest, brightest, loudest floozy in the bar.
This position screams “Look At Me, I’m An AD!” and because of that I find it to be one of the weakest performers on the page.
But, I’ll warn you not to completely discount testing this position on my word alone. Your product or brand may warrant taking this floozy home for a romp in the proverbial advertising hay. Different ad positions will work differently for different offers and creative. There’s no free lunch … you have to test!
From a pricing perspective, it tends to have a slightly lower CPM than a few of the other positions we’ll discuss today.
Long and Lean … that’s how I’d describe the skyscraper position. Skyscrapers are most often found running down the right hand column of a web page. They are also often shown below the fold.
Because the skyscraper typically runs in column with or directly adjacent to editorial copy, it tends to get a lot of action.
I find this position to work really well. One trick that has worked well for me is to make my creative mimic the look and feel of the website my ad is running on … making it look more like editorial.
Skyscrapers can be a bit of challenge from a design perspective, but once you find creative that works, you can have a consistently good performer on your hands.
From a pricing perspective, skyscrapers tend to be priced on par with leaderboards or just slightly higher. I give the skyscraper position two thumbs up for their lower CPM and their in column position. Test it and see.
The 336×280 or large rectangle, as it’s often called, is the premier position on many websites … the grande dame of the country club.
This ad property commands the highest CPM of all the positions we’ve discussed today and for good reason. This placement usually appears in the column with the editorial and above the fold.
You can’t miss it … it’s the most front and center ad you’ll see on the site. Depending on the site, you’ll find it in the left, right or center column.
Because of its prominent position in website society, this position can work exceptionally well. But it can be fickle and you have to be careful that the higher CPM doesn’t kill your ROI.
Tread slowly here and test smaller quantities until you determine you can make it work for you … then roll out from there.
The 300×250 is the baby sister to the 336×280 position. It’s often called a large square and all the same comments from above apply.
The small square is the Tiny Tim of the ad sizes. And, it’s just one of a multitude of smaller ad sizes available. The challenge with small ads is the lack of creative real estate. Ad copy needs to be short and punchy and incorporate intriguing images to grab attention and get the click.
Often, small ads or buttons are sponsored by large companies with huge brand awareness … think E-trade, Orbitz, etc.
Many small sized ads are static and sold on a flat rate basis so are served to all of a site’s visitors within a given time-frame.
Huge amounts of traffic and low cost are a powerful combination, especially for lead generation campaigns. But when you start, tiptoe through the tulips until you know you can make it work for you.
So, let’s recap …
Over the last three weeks, we’ve discussed the different types of media selections available to you … how to recognize the sites that have the potential to perform best for your offers … and now we’ve taken the mystery out of banner ad sizes and created a little cheat sheet to get you started.
Now get out there and start testing … and for goodness’ sake, let me know how you do!
As always post any question or comments to the blog.
Until next week,
Julie McManus
Editor, In the ‘Net Trenches
THE TOTAL PACKAGE™
And Web Media Goddess
P.S. Are you in the ‘net trenches? Do you need help? Send me an e-mail to AskJulie@MakepeaceTotalPackage.com and I just might answer your question in an upcoming issue.
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4 Comments »
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Comment by Ken Varga — May 16, 2008 @ 9:14 am
Julie, Thanks for the information. It helped a lot.
Ken
http://www.kenvarga.com
Comment by Hugh Simpson — May 16, 2008 @ 9:23 am
Hi, Julie! GREAT review! Thanks! What about the Footer ad? I’m seeing more of them now. does it work in your opinion?
Hugh
Comment by Bill Masson — May 16, 2008 @ 9:33 am
Hi, julie
Interesting article, i allways find it quite hard to strike the right balance between banners and straight forward text ads. But i think the text ads placed in the proper position bring in a better return.
Bill, http://www.maxhomebits.com
Comment by David — May 16, 2008 @ 6:29 pm
Hi Julie - great article as usual. Do you know of a good resource or course where we can get additional information? Like … are there ad networks where you don’t have to enter into large contracts? … some are $5,000 to $15,000. Some types of products or niches fare better than others - what are they?
There are many details that someone would want to know before getting into this. A course from someone "reputable" who has experienced success would be a great asset. Like I mentioned in another post … given the hassles with PPC & SEO, there is a demand for a great product on buying advertising. Maybe you guys have something in one of your products?
David