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September 29, 2006

E-newsletter Advertising Campaigns
Part 2: Creating Effective E-Newsletter Ads

by Julie Clark

Last week I addressed “What do I look for when buying banner space in an e-newsletter?” with the promise of tackling the next question that inevitably occurs – “Now that I’ve purchased banner space, how do I put together an e-newsletter ad campaign for maximum effectiveness?”

Making an informed commitment to banner space is great, but using it in a way that meets or exceeds your marketing objectives (including a great ROI) is absolutely vital.

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How do I put together an e-newsletter ad campaign for maximum effectiveness?

Define your objective. In order to evaluate the effectiveness of any marketing plan or program, a primary objective or goal must be clearly defined. For example: “With this advertising campaign I will….a) start building an e-mail list….b) track people going to a specific web page….c) have visitors download a white paper….d) encourage people to visit a trade show booth….”

Clearly defining a primary objective also helps in gauging the effectiveness of a banner campaign. Without an objective, it’s all too easy to decide that something isn’t working, or worse yet, decide to that it is working and continue tossing marketing dollars out the window. And, having a clear objective provides a basis for analysis that can lead to refinement for future efforts.

Create a call to action and offer an incentive. As one might assume, a call to action is supposed to elicit a response. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) is a great rule of thumb. If you want people to sign up for your mailing list, say so. If you want people to download something, say so. “Download this here” – it’s amazing how well this type of an approach to a banner works.

Let’s assume you want to build up your e-mail database, asking potential customers to provide their email addresses (and likely a name and job description). This is valuable information, so it’s almost always a good idea to offer something of value in return. (“You want my email address to add to your list of people to solicit for sales? Well, what do I get?”)

Therefore, I always strongly recommend offering a free publication (of the online nature) in exchange. A white paper, insider viewpoints, technology insight… Use your imagination, and put yourself in the shoes of the customers. If you were them, what would you find valuable? Don’t expect folks to respond to your call to action without making it worth their while.

Design the banner campaign.  On-line creative is different than print. Seems obvious enough, but I see far too many marketers who believe that after spending a good deal of time and money on a print ad, it should then be translated to on-line and it will have the same impact. If only it were that easy…

The two media formats are consumed and used very differently by customers. The only time it makes sense to build banner ads that mimic print ads is if the objective is building brand recognition. Other than that, it makes no sense.

Print ads simply can’t and don’t compel customers to sign up for newsletters or download white papers. It’s not what they’re designed to do. On-line ads, being interactive and immediate, do compel a response. (“Download this white paper? Why not, it’s just a click away.”)

The bottom line: creative produced for an on-line banner campaign should be interactive to take full advantage of the true strength of this media format.

Tips to keep in mind for banners (this applies to e-newsletters and web campaigns):

• The maximum number of rotations per banner is five – any more than that and you’ll lose your viewer. If your point and call to action can’t be made in five or less rotations, re-think your plan.
• Flash presents a much smaller file size, enabling more to be done with less bandwidth. And Flash files load very quickly. That said, there’s no excuse for trying to use every trick in the Flash toolbox. Excessive graphic treatments detract from your message and also don’t win you any popularity contests. KISS is a good rule of thumb here, too.
• When someone clicks on a banner, where do they land? If you’re asking them to sign up for something, or download something, send them directly to a page designed for that purpose – not a home page that’s already crowded with tons of stuff.
• If your site is difficult to navigate, in the process of being re-designed or not under your direct control, consider building a microsite that the banner will redirect to. This allows allow you to accomplish objectives while providing visitors with a couple of key links to information they might find useful - without sending them to a website or page that will only serve to confuse them. You’re making an impression on a new web visitor – ensure that it is a good one.

Now you’re almost ready to go. Almost….

Make sure your web site is prepared to track results. There’s not much point in going to all of this effort if there’s no mechanism in place to track your results! In a scenario where the objective is getting people to sign up for something, this is pretty simple – the sign-ups should come to you in an e-mail or they automatically download into a database.

In other, less direct situations, it’s still simple to track results. Talk with your webmaster and explain what you want tracked, and it can likely be done. In addition, you might be surprised at the helpful suggestions the webmaster may have to offer.

Good luck!

Questions or comments? E-mail me at jclark@insight-media-group.com.