Gaffney3.com

Image by savethedave via Flickr

Web researchers, iPerceptions, recently conducted a study that relied on user-generated feedback from 14K visitors to leading media sites to gather insights into which type of online advertising get people to click. The  consumer’s online advertising preferences report had many takeaways, but there was one quote that I simply love for its simplicity.

“Our research clearly shows that media sites that offer consumers compelling content and features - encouraging repeat visits - generate much better ad clickthrough rates than less engaging sites.  Marketers that want to reach high quality audiences should focus ad placement on sites that deliver the highest customer loyalty and repeat visitor traffic.”

-  Jonathan Levitt, Vice President of Marketing at iPerceptions

That’s about as simple as it gets.  Compelling content yields compelling results.  Now the trick is for media companies to realize that compelling in print or broadcast does not mean compelling online.

Read the rest of this entry »

In a rush to meet deadlines or share a blog post with the masses, many of us fail to dedicate the necessary time and effort to the most critical and viewed element of any article: the headline. The headline is the first — and often only — means of converting a viewer to reader. Fail at this and you negate any reason for writing the article at all.

Recently, I read that Google knows of 1 trillion unique URLs on the web. That’s a tremendously large sea of content in which your article will either sink or swim. Without a compelling headline to not only grab attention but also lure the reader into the body copy, you’ll quickly find your article slipping into its murky depths.

I certainly haven’t expended enough energy on my post titles historically, but in having conversations with many of you regarding growing your online audience, I’m attempting to collect my thoughts and put my money where my mouth is. My long-term hope is to continue this conversation as a series that addresses headline creation tools, search engine optimization, social networking and keyword/ keyphrase consideration.

Read the rest of this entry »

With the slowing economy, I fear that more and more marketers will take the short-sighted route of placing their dollars into search-engine advertising forgoing display.  The argument is that companies see this as a means of engaging the most active users.

This is an obvious truth in that someone searching for a “Nikon D300” chances are within the purchasing funnel or looking for support, however I consider this short-sighted in that the marketer neglects the question of how the consumer is to arrive at the purchase intent stage without investing in:

• Product awareness
• Brand consideration
• Brand preference

Read the rest of this entry »

As the economy continue to slow, more and more marketers are being forced to make tougher decisions about where their advertising dollars are being spent.  Online advertising, which has been growing fast over the past decade, will start to tighten its collective purse-strings.

Already, publishers like Yahoo!, Bankrate, and Edmunds are forecasting and/or blaming the economy for softening revenues.  Just months ago, it seemed as though the online advertising industry would get through this tough economy unscathed, but publishers and ad networks continue to report disappointing earnings.

Read the rest of this entry »

Image via Wikipedia

Tacoda, an advertising network known for its relatively high rates that was recently bought by AOL, is being shutdown. Even worse, this respected “remnant” will be folded into AOL’s Advertising.com/ Platform-A division.

A letter was sent out by Tacoda on August 1 informing publishers that they will have to sign new contracts and change tags on their sites. Matt Marshall has a copy of the AOL letter to Tacoda customers on VentureBeat. For many publishers who choose to re-up their contract they will see their cost per thousand of $2 to $6 drop to $1 or less.

Read the rest of this entry »