Do Banner Ads Really Work?

Yes, but not always in the way you think they might. While the number of people who actually click on the banner ad runs around 31% a further 27% reported that they did an online search for the product, brand or company, and 21% typed the company Web address in their browser. Nine percent sought additional information using social media tools. So clicks are not the only measurement in online marketing.

From a recent article in eMarketer,  a study from iProspect may have discovered an unexpected benefit of online display ads. When Internet users were surveyed to find out what actions they took when viewing a display ad on an ad-supported Website, nearly one-third said they clicked on the ad.

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It’s a Blog…no it’s a Website…no it’s a Blogsite

Recently I have added a new service to my bag of marketing tricks that has a lot of potential for my clients. While I still set up websites for clients using Ubertor templated sites I have expanded my service to create blogsites for clients.

What is a Blogsite?
Instead of programming a website using html or developing a traditional blog on WordPress or Blogger I use a preprogrammed theme that runs on the WordPress blogging platform. There are thousands of themes to choose from and they are all designed to be plug and play so set-up is fast and my clients can make any on-going changes with only a short training period.

What are the benefits?

The number one benefit is how a blogsite is indexed by search engines compared to a static html website. The architecture of a WordPress blog is designed to be search engine friendly and by following a few simple rules, in my experience you can achieve much higher rankings with a blogsite than a website.

• You have hundreds of designs to choose from
• Most themes are free and the ones that you buy cost under $100.00
• You can change your theme anytime without losing your content
• There are thousands of free widgets and plugins that perform tasks that are almost impossible to recreate with an html site
• A blogsite can be up and running in less than a day
• There are thousands of people who can provide support for any theme so you are not tied to a company or individual for support
• The cost to have a fully functioning blogsite can be as little as $ 250.00 for my time to set it up, (but can range up to $ 2500.00 depending on the degree of complexity and amount of content)

I will expound on blogsites in a later post, but if you want to see some examples of blogsites I have under construction (and they are all in their infancy) please visit the following client sites. I have included a link to the original demo theme so you can compare and see the customization:

Cornerstone Kitchens and Design
Kitchen designers
Theme: Sliding Door

HikeBikeTravel
Publisher of travel itineraries
Theme: Essence Dark (ithemes)

HomeSwat
Referral service for homeowners
Theme: Lifestyle

Coasting Home
Home and vacation rentals in Northern California
Theme: Agent (Studiopress)

Sunroom Retreats
Manufacturer of sunrooms and patio covers
Theme: icompany by ithemes

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Free Coffee Cups – Handheld Branding

Have you seen this service called Free Paper Cups?FreePaperCups.com is a marketing solutions company specializing in handheld branding in the office…ensuring office workers see, touch, and hold your advertising message throughout the day in the workplace. They bring advertisers and companies together by placing ads on coffee cups and distributing them free to companies for their employees to drink from.

For the company receiving them the benefits are:

• Not wasting money on paper cups for your office
• Saving money by eliminating this monthly business expense
• Eliminating Eco-Unfriendly styrofoam cups
• They can serve coffee in heavyweight paper cups like coffee shopsto preserve the coffee flavor,

For the advertiser:

• Hand deliver your marketing message to target audiences in offices via branded paper coffee cups
• Communicate your B2B or B2C message to corporate decision makers and consumers in the workplace 24/7 365 days a year
• Nearly 109 million American adults drink coffee daily
• More than 52 million Americans obtain coffee from their offices each day

Office Coffee Services benefit too:

• Offer your coffee service customers and prospects this money saving solution
• Utilize this competitive advantage to be truly unique in your market & win new accounts by providing significant cost savings
• Retain your existing accounts by adding value to their bottom line
• Customers who use quality paper cups consume more coffee because of the improved “coffee experience”

I have seen this marketing strategy used at local  coffee shops where an Automall has provided insulated sleeves with their branding. A great way to reinforce their message everyday to potential shoppers.