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Fwd: How Internet Marketing Came To Be The New Direct Response Marketing - SendMeRSS

2008-01-06T07:43:00.001-08:00

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How Internet Marketing Came To Be The New Direct Response Marketing - SendMeRSS

How Internet Marketing Came To Be The New Direct Response Marketing

Before the dawn of Internet marketing, there was 'snail mail' direct response marketing. Now the internet has become the direct response marketing of the 21st century.

Link - Sun, 06 Jan 2008 07:03:11 GMT - Feed (1 subs)

In Advertising Bigger isn't Always Better

2008-01-03T14:44:00.000-08:00

If you have been following the recent advertising news you will notice that more and more major advertisers are looking to smaller ad agencies to handle their campaigns.

Is it because they feel bad? Is it because they are cheaper? Or is it because they see the level of creative talent of smaller agencies?

Lets take a quick look at why this is happening and how this is good for the consumers and the advertisers. When I use the term smaller it doesn't mean that it's a one-man show, but that they aren't part of the "BIG 6". Now with that said lets continue, smaller agencies have a hunger to succeed, they have a need to be customer service oriented, they have a desire to be more creative without the fear of upsetting upper management. Take these points into account and you have an agency that will be tenacious and with the number one goal of showing their clients results.

At New Age Media Concepts, we believe that major advertisers deserve better results from their campaigns, don't get me wrong there have been great campaigns launched but who are going to be the new creative minds to develop the next memorable moment in advertising history?

If advertisers like General Motors, Ford, McDonalds, Taco Bell, Coca-Cola, Pepsico, Microsoft, Burger King, Toyota, Home Depot, Wendy's, ConAgra Foods, Wal-Mart Stores, American Express, Colgate Palmolive, Intel and the many others are looking beyond what agencies they are accustomed to working with and are looking towards connecting with their consumers in a big way, then they have to look beyond the brick and bring in a creative team that can help them do that.

Consumers today aren't ignorant and in this age of reality television and the shock factor mentality, advertisers need to step up to the plate and shed their skin to be able to reach the new age of consumers, the ones that are their core audience, the ones that will have brand loyalty.

By Louis Victor - New Age Media Concepts, August 31, 2004
info@namct.com

Louis Victor has been involved in the investment, advertising, marketing and public relations indutries for close to two decades. Through various articles he looks to give some insight on various topics as it relates to these industries.

Understanding Internet Banner Advertising

2008-01-03T14:43:00.000-08:00

Banner advertising is an effective way of getting your advertising message seen on the Internet. Banner ads should not be your only online form of advertising, but they are an essential part of your online advertising mix.

This article assumes that the reader knows what a banner ad looks like, but do you know how they work, and how you can derive benefit from them? Let's define a few terms before answering these questions.

1. "Page views" or "page impressions." These terms are interchangeable and they refer to the number of times that a page within a website has been displayed on a website.

2. "Banner view." Like a page view, a banner view is the number of times that a banner has been displayed on website.

3. "Click through." A click through is the number of times a website visitor has "clicked" on a particular banner ad and was transferred to the website of the banner advertiser.

4. "CTR." CTR is the acronym for "click through rate," which is the ratio of the number of banner view versus the number of times visitors have "clicked through" to your website. CTR is expressed as a percentage, so a click through rate of 1% means that for every 1,000 banner views, 10 visitors have clicked through to your site.

5. "CPM." CPM is an acronym for "cost per M," where "M" is the ancient Roman numeral for 1,000. Translation: CPM is the price your business will pay to have its banner advertisement displayed 1,000 times on a website, e.g, the cost of 1,000 banner views. So, for example, if the CPM to advertise on a site is $80.00 your business will pay $80.00 for every 1,000 banner views.

6. "ROS." ROS is the acronym for "run of site," which simply means that a banner ad is displayed on every page in a website, as opposed to being displayed only in a particular category of a website or only when a particular keyword is entered into a search engine.

Everyone who is in charge of a advertising or marketing department (that's you if you're the sole shareholder of the company) knows that advertising is, in large part, a numbers game. The more frequently your message is seen or heard, the more likely the consumer is to purchase your service or product. Take Mattress Mac with Gallery Furniture , for example. If you live in the Houston area, or if your radio can pick up the signal of almost any Houston area radio station, you cannot go a single day without hearing or seeing an advertisement for Gallery Furniture. Peppering your senses with constant reminders that "Gallery Furniture Saves You Money!" has enabled Mr. McIngvale to build his single location furniture store into an empire. (Of course, advertising alone won't do it; you still must have a quality product or service). I have no scientific data to support this assertion, but I'll make it anyway: I'm willing to bet that Gallery Furniture is known to more people in the greater Houston area than any other single business. How did that come to be? Mattress Mac understands the advertising numbers game and plays it better than anybody else.

Banner ads are a numbers game. The industry standard click through rate for online advertising in general is around .5%. Not 5%, but .5%. Doesn't sound very encouraging for your banner ad campaign, eh? Well, there are ways to significantly increase the CTR of any given banner. The best way is by targeting a particular banner ad to a narrow audience, an audience that is looking specific for a product or service just like yours. Highly-targeted can boost your CTR to as much as 2%-3% or higher and significantly increase the traffic to your website.

Another valuable purpose of the banner ad is branding. Intertwined with the messages Gallery Furniture delivers about particular sales events or types of furniture is the company's consistent and recognizable logo, color scheme, and tag lines. Your banner advertisements can, and should, perform the same function; they should be designed using your company's logo and colors, at a minimum. Sometimes incorporating the tag line is the way to go, but other times you may want to advertise a particular special offer, product, etc. The important thing is that you take advantage of the numbers game by continually displaying your name, logo, and colors. The more visitors that see you, the more they will come to associate your name with your type of product or service, and the more likely they will be in the future to buy from you.

Henry J. Fasthoff, IV
Principal & General Counsel
HoustonBusiness.com

Wheres Me Pot of Gold and Lucky Charms?

2008-01-03T14:41:00.000-08:00

We already know this from our history books. If you want to make money today, you must first look back in time to the first time in history that a large portion of our country all tried to get rich at the same time in the same place. The first discovery of gold was at Sutter's Mill by James W. Marshall in 1948, Mr. Sutter's mill contractor and builder. This discovery sprang thousands upon thousands of ambitious individuals to get rich which we refer to as the "Gold Rush."

As you can imagine, these people were not that much different from the thousands of new entrepreneurs trying to get rich on the Internet. But out of all those thousands of people seeking their fortunes, only about 4% to 6% of them even found enough gold to feed themselves. And history books tell us that less than 1% ever became wealthy. This is so similar to the Internet of today that the two are worth comparing.

BUT Wait! A completely different group of people became extremely wealthy in those exact same gold fields...

Who were these people who managed to get rich during those hard times?

They were the people who opened little stores not far from where all the people were digging and panning for gold! These people were the smartest group because they chose to sell the tools that they knew all those gold diggers were going to need. This special group of individuals some how knew that it was a waste of time to dig and pan for gold. This amazing group of people wanted something with better odds. They wanted a sure thing!

They knew that the miners couldn't mine unless they had clothing, tools, and food. So these genius store owners made their fortunes selling the shovels, jackets, pants, wheel barrows, picks, pans, beer, food, hats, medicine and etc. So it didn't matter to them if a miner found gold and got rich or whether that miner couldn't find an ounce of gold. It just didn't matter to the men and women who owned the stores because no matter what, all those people in search of gold still needed massive amounts of supplies to live and more tools to keep trying. The shopkeepers were always there to sell all these supplies!

Whether gold was found or not, during any given day, the shop keepers made the same consistent amount of solid income!

Below you're about to find out why all this is relevant to you and your Internet income.

You now know that history has proven that if you do exactly what the masses of people are doing to get rich, you'll most likely fail. And you now know that if you provide products or services to that large group of people that are all trying to get rich, you'll most likely become wealthy. It's simple! Turn those gold diggers into your customers!

Just for a moment, separate yourself from the rest of them - sit back and relax. While sitting there, watch what they are doing; pay attention to what they are looking for and what they are using to get it. Once you have figured these things out you will know what to do to turn them into your customers.

But in case you don't, here's the simple answer to how you're about to turn all of today's Internet gold diggers into your own customers. First of all, you must ask yourself this question: "What is the single most important thing to all of today's Internet gold diggers? What do they crave and desire the most?"

The answer is "Traffic." In case you're new to the Internet, the word "Traffic," of course, means visitors to your web site. It doesn't take Internet marketers long to figure out that even though they have a professional web site up, not a single person is ever going to visit that web site unless it gets advertised. You have to know where to get traffic and generate MORE traffic.

With all that in mind, I'm about to discuss a very important subject and it may be very controversial to some, and even cause me to lose a few customers but I MUST make my point.

You hear this from people around you, your teachers, your advisors, even television, "knowledge is power." Do you agree?

Please explain.

I've asked a few people this same question and some have explained, "Well, yeah, without knowledge you have no authority."

"Well, it's obvious, without knowledge you have no power."

"Knowledge is what gets the job done in your everyday task."

While these are good explanations, I disagree. You're baffled. Totally understandable because I'm probably the only person on Earth standing up to this worldwide, coined phrase. So I better begin explaining myself before I start receiving hate mails. Allow me to explain by using an example.

Electricity.

Can you agree electricity is power? It has the power to turn your lights on, it's what plays your radio, and it's what starts up your car. Or does it? Electricity doesn't just magically turn your light on, automatically play your radio nor does it mysteriously start your engine. No. The electricity HAS TO BE APPLIED.

Like electricity, knowledge doesn't magically write your sales letter, knowledge doesn't automatically file your folders and knowledge doesn't mysteriously tune up your car. It has to be "APPLIED."

"Where are you going with this," you might ask.

Simply this, "knowledge" is only POTENTIAL POWER. All the knowledge that you hold within you is nothing unless you put it to use. That's it. If after reading this article and you decide to do nothing then you will have wasted your time and effort. Unless you apply what I've taught you, you will have thrown away your money. You can learn from my 4 years of experience or you can ignore it, the choice is yours.

I'm not here to change your mind about anything, I'm just pointing out important aspects to consider and I can only hope it has opened your mind and drive you to take action.

Van Lam is a business opportunity reviewer who speaks his mind and shares his thoughts. He has written a new ebook called, "The Hidden Secrets Revealed." Visit his web site to read the reviews and register at his Private Forum for plenty of free products to download and to chat with other network marketers and online opportunity enthusiasts. http://www.networkersdebut.com

Why Most Advertisements Stink!

2008-01-03T14:38:00.000-08:00

Question: What do you think the most important part of any ad is?

Your company name? Your telephone number? Your offer?

Look at your own advertising. What stands out? What is in the largest print? If it's your company name or logo hold out your wrist so I can whack it with a stick.

What's the answer? THE HEADLINE!!

You see, without a good compelling headline it won't matter much how great your copy or you offer is, because few will ever read it.

REMEMBER: The Only Job Of A Headline Is To Get The Reader To Read The First Paragraph.

It should be big, bold, dark and easy to read. But more importantly, it must force the reader to read on.

"HEADLINE TEST"

How do you know you have a powerful, effective headline?

Here's a great acid test: separate the headline from everything else, out of context, and treat it as a classified ad; nothing but the headline and a response instruction....then ask yourself if people would respond.

So if your headline is, say, the name of your company, the classified ad would read:

"Acme Mortgage, No. 1 in service
and reliability. For more info,
call 1-800-000-0000."

Trust me, that does NOT work.

But if the headline is;

"6 Things You Must Know Before Getting
A Home Mortgage. Free Report Tells All.
Call 1-800-000-0000".

That does work.

Put every headline you use in your ads, letters, flyers, brochures to this test.

Tips For Stronger Headlines

1. Telegraph a dynamic benefit or promise.

(You want to evoke emotion in every advertisement, always answering the reader's questions, "What's in it for me? And why should I continue reading this?")

Example: "You Can Laugh At Money Worries -- If You Follow This Simple Plan"

2. Add "How To" to the beginning.

Example: "How To Escape the Debt Rat-Race And Get Debt-Free, Fast....."

3. "Flag" your targeted prospects. Let them know who the ad is talking too.

Example: "Credit Card Payment Sufferers: How To End The Pain In 3 Days!"

4. Arouse curiosity.

Example: "What Your Banker Doesn't Want You To Know"

5. Use meaningful specifics.

(3 days is more "specific" than "in days").

Example: "I Instantly Saved $103,239.83 and Never Took The TV Remote Out Of My Hand"

6. Use powerful attention-grabbing words.

(Like "Warning", "Guaranteed", "New", "Now.")

Example: "WARNING: Credit Card Users May Be Paying To Much"

For a free instant reference guide that reveals time tested formulas to create dynamite, attention-getting headlines visit: http://www.leadgenerationadvertising.com/

Shawn Meldrum has spent the last two decades marketing everything from almonds to landscape lighting. He currently specializes in marketing for mortgage brokers, loan officers and real estate agents. For free mortgage marketing articles and much more visit: http://www.mortgagemarketingtips.com

Advertising For The Long Haul and Not the Short Term Gains

2008-01-03T01:42:00.000-08:00

New Age Media Concepts issues its first article of many that will focus on the advertising and marketing industry.

"If a young man tells his date she's intelligent, looks lovely, and is a great conversationalist, he's saying the right things to the right person and that's marketing. If the young man tells his date how handsome, smart and successful he is -- that's advertising. If someone else tells the young woman how handsome, smart and successful her date is -- that's public relations." By S.H. Simmons.

Welcome to New Age Media Concepts, Inc. where we understand your needs and how to maximize your marketing dollar.

Marketing is your strategy for allocating resources (time and money) in order to achieve your objectives.

People have their own unique perceptions of the world based on their belief system. The most innovative ideas, the greatest products, or a superior service succeed only when you market within the context of people's perceptions. This is true from something as simple as the pet rock craze of the 1970s to the marketing muscle of Wall Street and the Internet boom of the 1990s.

Context can be many things, singly or simultaneously. To name a few, you may market to your customers within the context of their wants, needs, problems solved, or situation improved. Current and potential advertisers need to be aware of many other contexts, such as social and economic trends or governmental regulations.

People don't just "buy" a product or a service. They "buy" the concept of what that product will do for them, or help them do for themselves. People just don't "buy" a laundry detergent, they buy the perceived notion of what that laundry detergent brand says it can accomplish for them. Otherwise every brand in the supermarket will be a no-frills. This is not to say that if a product fails to meet the customers' expectations that product will be successful in the long haul. No amount of advertising and marketing will help a failed product succeed in that scenario.

To have a successful campaign a product or service must understand that they need to start out with something a consumer needs, wants, or improves their situation and that product or service actually does help the consumer for the long haul.

The New York Times said it best in a recent article, "Companies can't Buy Love with Bargains" Building brand loyalty is more than just hyping the consumer into buying a product, it's gaining their trust and the trust of their family both today and for years to come. One example of great brand building is H.J. Heinz, (NYSE: HNZ) they have been around for decades and they gained the loyalty and trust of the consumer spanning generations, now that is great brand building.

Anyone could hype a brand for short term gains but that doesn't accomplish the goals of the advertiser or the consumer. It looks good initially but what happens when the product isn't flying off the shelves any longer and the consumers have lost trust in the product or the company?. Of course you need new and innovative ways to get your message to the consumer but this message has to be geared to building consumer loyalty and not just hype. Even the largest companies make this mistake and pay for it with decreased sales and profit margins.

So whether a consumer is buying a car from Ford (NYSE: F) , a can of beer from Anheuser Busch (NYSE:BUD) or software from Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT), the advertiser needs to cater to the needs of the consumer.

Louis Victor has been involved in the investment, advertising, marketing and public relations industries for close to two decades.

Advertising: 10 Powerful Secrets To Help You Sell Your Ad Space Like Crazy

2008-01-02T23:56:00.000-08:00

If you want to sell more ad spaces, you must read and use the secrets I am revealing here:

1. Give your customers a discount when they spend over a certain dollar amount for ad space. You can also apply this tip to the amount of ads they buy.

2. Offer your customers a free bonus for renewing their ad order. It could be an ebook, special report, online utility, etc.

3. Sell advertising space between your content. You just break an article in half and insert the banner or classified ad between it.

4. Write content that's tailor made to mention and relate to the product your customers are advertising. This is more work but, you'll sell a lot of ads.

5. Tell your customers when they buy an ad you'll also add it to your free ebook and message board for free.

6. Offer to endorse the product your customers are advertising before or after their ad. In all honesty, you would have try out the product first.

7. Write a review for your customer's product to place under their ad. This is similar to a testimonial or endorsement but more in-depth.

8. Offer a buy 2 ads and get 1 free deal. With the slow economy and advertising sales, most businesses are bound to be looking for a good ad deal.

9. Give your customers a ton of free bonuses when they buy ad space. It can be submission software, an ebook full of advertising or copywriting tips, etc.

10. Guarantee your customer's advertising results. If they don't like the traffic they receive, give them a refund or another ad for free.

May these advertising secrets help you to make a lot of money and succeed.

Warmly,

I-key Benney, CEO

I-key, a Millionaire CEO from New York City is the creator of "Mscsrrr: Millionaire Secret Cash System", (foreign currency trading) program, which has helped thousands of ordinary people from all over the world to attain financial security and shining success during the past 2 yrs.

Mscsrrr Millionaire Secret Cash System helps you to generate $1,500+/Week for life, from home or office, part time or full time. No large investment or hassles. Win $1000-$2000 free "cash"?

The Benefits of Specific Advertising

2008-01-02T23:45:00.000-08:00

The great Claude Hopkins (Author of Scientific Advertising) once said, "Platitudes and generalities roll off the human understanding like water from a duck. They leave no impression whatever."

To say, "Best in the world," "Lowest price in existence," etc. are at best simply claiming the expected. But superlatives of that sort are usually damaging. They suggest looseness of expression, a tendency to exaggerate, a careless truth. They lead readers to discount all the statements that you make.

--- A Dog & Pony Show

It's true that people accept a certain license in 'sales talk.' A person may say, "Highest quality" without seeming a liar, although you realise other brands are just as good. We expect a sales person to 'sell' and we excuse some enthusiastic exaggeration. It's for that reason general statements count for very little. And a person inclined to grand statements and superlatives must expect their claims to meet a healthy dose of scepticism.

However, someone making a specific claim is either telling the truth lying. We know advertisers cannot lie in the best mediums, so a definite statement is usually accepted. Actual figures are not generally discounted. Specific facts, when stated, have their full weight and effect.

--- Just The Facts Ma'am

This is very important to consider in written or personal salesmanship. The weight of an argument may often be multiplied by making it specific. Say that one brand of light bulb gives more light than another and you leave some doubt. Say it gives 354% more light and people realize that you have made tests and comparisons.

A dealer may say, "Our prices have been reduced" without creating any marked impression. But when he says, "Our prices have been reduced 27 per cent" they get the full value of their announcement.

--- The Pre-emptive Advantage & Specificity

In the old days all beers were advertised as "Pure." The claim made no impression. The bigger the type used, the bigger the folly. After millions had been spent to impress a platitude, one brewer pictured a plate glass where beer was cooled in filtered air. They pictured a filter of white wood pulp through which every drop was cleared. They told how bottles were washed four times by machinery. They he went down 4,000 feet for pure water. How 1,018 experiments had been made to attain a yeast to give beer that matchless flavour. And how all the yeast was forever made from that adopted mother cell.

Now don't misunderstand - any brewer might have easily made these claims. They were mere essentials in ordinary brewing. But this one company was the first to tell everyone about them, while the others simply kept repeating the worn out statement "pure beer." This one brewer made the greatest success that was ever made in beer advertising.

--- The Art of Leverage

Remember, one advertising statement may take as much room as another, yet a definite statement is many times more effective. The difference is vast. If a claim is worth making, make it in the most impressive way you possibly can.

All these effects must be studied. 'Salesmanship-in-print' can be very expensive. A salesperson's loose talk matters little when it's simply one-on-one. However, when you are 'talking' to many at great cost, the weight of your advertising claims is important.

Remember, no generality has any weight whatever. It's like saying, "How do you do?", when you have no intention of inquiring about one's health. And specific claims when made in print are taken at their value.

So the next time you are dreaming up adverts and offers for your business - BE SPECIFIC!

Author: http://www.JamesBurchill.com - James is a freelance writer and consultant