So, what is the most effective online advertising? Is it banner advertising? Is it social networking? Or could it be LeadsLeap advertising?
My answer is – none of them!
The most effective online advertising is not about the advertising tool or media that you use, but how you use them.
For example, some people say that banner advertising is not effective because people are ‘banner blind’ nowadays. I disagree. To illustrate, some of you may know that I’m crazy about link building for SEO. So whenever I come across a banner ad about new ways to build backlinks, I’ll click on the banner to find out more.
From this illustration, you can see that the key here is not about the tool or media that you use to advertise. The key here is whether you are advertising to the right target audience.
That brings me to an important conclusion:
“The most effective online advertising is one that is the most targeted.”
Some Web 2.0 gurus nowadays keep touting about how they can get tons of traffic and make money through social networking. It may be true for them. But you must understand that many of them are selling products teaching people how to make money through social networking. So their products will appeal to many social networkers.
On the other hand, if you are selling a niche product, spending hours a day in Facebook or Myspace may be a waste of your time.
I’m not saying social networking is ineffective. But you need to find the correct social networks for your niche.
For example, if you are in the “Make Money Online” niche, you can participate in social networking sites for internet marketers like this one.
Some new members ask me what kind of ad they should put up in their LeadsLeap account. What is your answer?
LeadsLeap provides a free online advertising platform for internet marketers. We generate fresh traffic through our blog (the blog you’re reading now), and our blog discusses about internet marketing stuff. This means our traffic are people interested in internet marketing and online advertising. Knowing the profile of our traffic, what do you think would be the best ad to advertise? It’s definitely not some Jewellery Offers or Sports Shoe Sale!
In conclusion, the most effective online advertising can be achieved through highly targeted advertising solutions. The challenge is to identify the right places where you can find your potential customers. Once you identify these places, you can use all the advertising tools available to direct the traffic from those places to your website.
Thanks Kenneth for the ViralNetworks Recommendation, and I agree with you, there is no 1 magic pill, sure different services give different results, but those results are a direct reflection on how you use them, what your offer is etc. Nice Post :)
Hello Kenneth,
Thanks for your blog post.
“So, what is the most effective online advertising? Is it banner advertising? Is it social networking? Or could it be LeadsLeap advertising?”
Well My answer is – I use all of them !!!
Networking success means taking as many rivers
as possible, that would lead you to the big sea of success.
Networking success depends on the various,
different actions that we take to generate wealth.
Just My two cents!
Ilan Aharon
True. Banner ads work if you are advertising to people that are interested. You wouldn’t put a banner ad on a site for dog supplies advertising engine parts, unless of course you knew that the dog owners visiting that site also had a knack for rebuilding engines. It’s all about targeted traffic and building your list. Thanks for the great post!
So where can you get one-way backlinks from?
Hi Shirley,
There’s quite a few ways to get back-links. Make a meaningful comment on blogs, use a signature on forums, write articles and include the link in your resource box. These are just a few ways. It’s time-consuming but worth it. I used to do it manually but found an automated way to do it using EVO2. It sure made things a lot easier. I spend about 30 minutes to set up a link I want to promote and then let it rip. It’s a real time-saver.
Cheers,
Bud
Another form of great advertising is, as I have done recently – setting up Your own free social/membership site. Just google various sources but I set up a theme of “Online Starter Club” via http://www.OnlineStarterClub.com This enables people to share resources but obviously at the same time builds Your lists :-) Kindest Regards – Graham U.K.
Or one can try viral marketing. Viral traffic is highly effective especially when complimented by the correct targeted audience. Targeted traffic is indeed very important in any form of marketing campaign.
Good post Kenneth, I never really gave it a lot of thought about what sites you target your adds to. I always advertise on sites that are directly related to what I’m marketing. Seems like common sense, but now that you mention it I believe I came across a kitchen wares site not to long ago.
Oh well to each his own.
Adwords is the best form of advertising….it has been and it always will be the best targeted traffic you can bring to your sites…(if you know how to use it, of course)
Great post again kenneth.
there is no better online advertising, its all about being patient and consistence with what you are doing, soon the results will start coming.
Excellent examples, Ken…I think its important to remember that most of these so-called Web 2.0 gurus were just Web 1.0 small-fry at one time, themselves. So follow your passion. I am primarily in the health field…but I always find good stuff that I like to give away FREE! Anyone is welcome to contact me to find out whats in my goody-bag or just reply to this comment.
Thanks for this great post!
I’ve been reading your newsletters for a while and they’re really great!
Thank you for let me know that there is no one way to advertising but that the key lies in ones ability to identify the niche market and then use all the advertising channels to achieve his aims.
Edsearchblog
http://adsensemoneytalk.blogspot.com
Thank you for the very interesting post – we have just started creating online banners to promote our services and as you state it makes sense to position in selective areas your target audiences frequent. I do worry about banner blindness comments, I can be guilty myself at clicking them away however, it hasn’t stopped us from trying you just have to be more creative in your banners and messaging I guess. We are also using them within our SAAS free version to incentivise users to upgrade – it will be interesting to monitor how successful this will work.
Hey Kenneth,
Great post! I still look at banners too with the same mentality. If its something Im interested in Im clicking.
As far as social networks, you’re right it could very well be a waste of time IF you’re not using the social networks correctly. See some people like to join them and bombard their new “friends” with spam, most of the time this will get them banned from the network. But if it’s treated responsibly and we learn the correct ways to use them, we could surely generate some good traffic from them. But that is a whole new subject. :-)
Is there someone who have succeeded using safelist?
Yuichi, I just started using safelists this week. Ask me again in 2 weeks week.
Read my previous post on how to get response from safelist.
http://www.leadsleap.com/blog/safelist-advertising-how-to-get-good-response-from-it/
Yes, that’s the truth. Advertising has to be targeted for it to work. Most advertisers never profit from advertising. It’s like flushing money down the drain. Laser focus on targeted audience improves the odds making nice profit :)
Hi,
Thanks for the excellent post.
Yes, “targeted” advertising is the key.
Of course, it often takes a bit of trial
and error before you determine the most
targeted avenues for your ads.
My best regards,
Laurie
Kenneth,
It is very, very logic to say that “The most effective online advertising is one that is the most targeted.” I agree with you 100%. Even with the targeted clients, sometimes we cannot make a sale!
Where is the worst place to advertise?
Family Friendly YellowPages.com vs. not so family friendly http://www.FindNewPassion.com
I want to share my story with as many businesses as possible to make them aware of the company you have to be very careful to get engaged with. That is what happened to me…
I have a new social networking and dating website for singles and married that is called Find New Passion – http://www.FindNewPassion.com. We’re completely different from other married dating sites because we don’t have any sexually explicit pictures or content, and are giving people an opportunity to communicate on a proper level. We give our members a chance to chat, engage in strictly platonic as well as long term relationships, and participate in reading and discussion of controversial articles and famous quotes from the best magazines and journals. Our site is elite and very classy, currently giving a 100% free promotional membership.
That was an information I gave YellowPages’ representative who contacted me regarding an advertising opportunity. She told me that my site is very nice, and there is no concern regarding future adds. 1 year contract promising great service and excellent web add display was signed. After an add was placed, it turned out that it was identified by YellowPages Quality Control team as being against company’s policy which is “Family Friendly”, so my site’s URL link was removed making my add inactive and useless.
Nevertheless, I was told over and over again that 1 year contract was signed and the rest doesn’t matter. I have a responsibility to pay, and my contract would be cancelled only after full amount which is $738.00/month X 12 is paid. YellowPages absolutely refused to cancel my contract, demanding a payment and escalating my case to a collection agency. It took me 6 months, 62 e-mail, numerous phone calls to customer care department, sales representative, regional manager, billing and collection departments with no resolution. Eventually, I had to contact Mr. David Krantz – President of YellowPages to bring his attention to this matter saying the following:
“I have an absolutely terrible experience doing business with YellowPages.com. I’m not sure if I’ve just run into people who are intentionally deceptive, or this is a normal way of doing business for your company. For six month I’ve been trying to reach somebody in your organization who is interested in my experience without any success”.
Only after Mr. Krantz intervention, my contract was cancelled. To this day I haven’t received an official apology for all the time I had to spend trying to resolve this problem, and all the frustration they put me through. Also, I’m still wondering, why was I put in this position in a first place? Is it possible that neither sales representative no regional manager know their own company policy, or did they intentionally lied trapping me into almost $10,000 contract that they knew they would never full-fill?
After contacting Better Business Bureau and Massachusetts Attorney General office, I learned that 41 complaints against YellowPages have been files in Massachusetts alone, making me wonder how many more are still pending in other states. I had a chance to talk to a lawyer who said that it took him 7 years to make YellowPages leave him alone.
Also, I learned that “Family Friendly” company makes a lot of money from the following business that advertise in their Entertainers Family Business category:
– Strippers Network
– Bachelor Party Headquarters
– Chippendales
– Dream Dolls advertising: Massage, Dining And Social Events, Bachelor Parties, Strip-O-Grams, Strip O Grams, Specializing In Women Of Brazilian And Russian Nationalities, New Talent Needed, Couples Welcome
– EscortMe
– Midnight Express advertising: Out-calls Only, We’re Already On Our Way
– Personal Escort
– Executive Pampering New England Finest Female and Male Exotic Dancers advertising: Adult Entertainment For Any Occasion
So, this article is to make people aware of two-faced and deceptive way YellowPages does business.
http://www.FindNewPassion.com
Thanks for this post Kenneth. I agree that for most of us getting traffic to our site is perhaps the most difficult part of the whole equation.
I feel though, there must be a separation made between advertising and promotion.
Once a site is established i.e. indexed by the major engines, getting some consistency to traffic and generating a list of interested people then it is time to advertise and concentrate on ‘targetting’ the advertising.
Prior to being established I think ‘promoting’ the site should be the focus. There are various ways of promoting that are not the same as advertising.
Social networking is more promotion than advertising though here it is a fine line.
Site submission and using safelists as well as blogging, bookmarking and group communication are a few ways to promote but not blatantly advertise. The quality of traffic one gets from promotion could show useful stats and other info for the webmaster.
If I may include a link to a free download called 16 Ways to Promote Your Website. It is report #7 on the first page so I hope it is useful to some of the other LeadsLeap members.
Very Interesting with good direction
Thank you.
Blessings to you and yours in Love and LIGHT
georg E
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