Lisa E. Phillips�Senior Analyst
DECEMBER 13, 2010 – And consumers scorn them: 43% of respondents to an online AdweekMedia-Harris Poll said they ignored or disregarded internet banner ads more than paid search ads and those in traditional media�TV, radio and newspapers.
Those sentiments aside, eMarketer estimates that ad spending on standard banners will increase 11.4% in 2011, to $6.56 billion, and will continue to grow to $8.63 billion in 2014. How can marketers make the most of their online investment?
First, give consumers what they want. Only one in five respondents (21%) said they would interact with a company or brand online through banner ads that simply �market to me,� according to a report from strategic communications agency Cone, conducted by ORC. The vast majority (77%) were motivated by coupons, discounts and other incentives and nearly half (46%) appreciated efforts to solve a problem or provide more information on a product. Entertaining ads were farther down in the rankings�just 28%�as were widgets, games and online contests (26%).
Second, realize that CTR is not the only measure of an effective banner ad. After analyzing more than 100 million conversions through thousands of campaigns worldwide, MediaMind reported only 20.4% resulted from clicks, meaning that 79.6% were the result of viewing the banner without clicking.
MediaMind suggested these ways to increase effectiveness of a standard banner campaign:
- Choose sites with focused content vs. those with more general content aimed at a diverse audience.
- Get more real estate on the page with larger standard banners. Large ads perform better than small ones.
- Retarget users with multiple exposures. Users are more likely to click on ads that they have already seen, but most users see a campaign only once.
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