How to advertise your business online You may have begun to think about advertising your business online. You may or may not know a lot about how to get your advertising message online. It is our goal to educate you how online advertising works. This presentation is designed as a quick reference. For more information please contact a Vindy.com media consultant. This primer will describe the following: 1) Why you should advertise online 2) How online traffic is measured 3) How to get your ad online 4) Standard Online Ad Sizes (IAB) 5) Unique Online Opportunities 6) Key Terms 7) Reach, Frequency, Cost-Effective 8) Testimonials Why advertise online? Thoughts from Earl Cox - Martin Agency Independent consumer research shows that newspaper advertising is a “destination” for many consumers, not a distraction to be avoided. For them, advertising is a desired part of the content. You might even say it’s the original branded content. In the language of the Internet, it’s opt-in advertising in an opt-out world. When you combine readership (not just paid circulation) of the core product and niche publications with unique visits to newspaper Web sites, newspaper media are growing at a double-digit rate—diversification and growth that will surprise many advertising decision makers. Why advertise online? Reaching Consumers When and Where They Want “Newspapers have broadened their reach by growing their audience’s news consumption from a print-only readership to an online edition, knowing that internet savvy users are sometimes only consuming news online.” Charles Buchwalter, VP Client Analytics, Nielsen/NetRatings Profile of an Online Newspaper User 84% recently shopped online 82% recently bought online 69% are online daily at work 63% check news daily Mean Age: 38 54% College Educated HH Income: $70,000 Hours Online/Week: 19 Source: How America Shops and Spends, MORI 2005 57% have home broadband We’re not RE-INVENTING The Wheel! Advertising Online is very similar to advertising in traditional media (TV, Radio, Print) It’s still all about getting your advertising message out in front of the readers or viewers. That message should have a call-to-action or be a “keeping your name out there” ad. As people read the news each day, you can get your message out in front of them, and get them on your website AND in your store/location. This is a benefit to you the advertiser because it allows you to invest your advertising dollars towards your potential customers. How Online Traffic Is Measured We encourage advertisers to delete the term “HITS” from their web vocabulary! Every time any information is accessed from a server, such as a file, graphic, image, logo, type, hyperlink, - a hit is recorded. On the Vindy.com home page, we might record up to 35 hits as one page loads for one reader. We recorded over 14 million hits in a single month. HITS ARE NOT PEOPLE! More important to you is who is reading the site! Standard Internet Traffic Metrics Monthly Visits: Each time a reader comes to the site it is recorded as a visit. Unique Visitors: (Also known as different readers) This is the most important measurement for online traffic. This metric tells you, the advertiser, how many different people you can reach with your message. If a user has visited in the past 30 days, then that visitor is not counted as another unique user. Vindy.com averages over 260,000 unique visitors each month Vindy.com/vindyJOBS.com reach even more unique visitors each month Page Views: When a reader views (1) web page it is recorded as (1) page view. Vindy.com averages 3.4 million page views each month Print & Online: Better Together! Combining Print Advertising with The Vindicator and Online Advertising with Vindy.com provides the BEST REACH of any media company in Mahoning & Shenango Valleys. (Belden Research, 04) How Does Vindy.com Compare #1 Local Media Site in the Mahoning & Shenango Valleys •More traffic than all other local media websites combined! (Belden Research) •More TOTAL REACH than many other local Media. How to get your ad online Rotational Advertising Most online advertising is placing your advertising message on a site and rotating it throughout the site or sections of the site. The online ads are impression or viewer based. An impression is every time a reader views your ad while on the site. Online ads are guaranteed ad views. We create online campaigns that deliver your advertising message often as you like to your targeted audience. Rotational Advertising on Vindy.com allows advertisers to reach the broadest audience possible throughout a newspaper website. Like digital billboard, advertisements ‘rotate’ with other advertisements in set positions. Run-of-Site Campaigns Most campaigns are Run-of-Site (ROS). Similar to a ROP (Run of Paper) campaign in the print newspaper. Your ad will literally rotate throughout the site. Additionally, you may target your ad to several specific sections of the site. Standard Ad Sizes Whether your campaign is a Run-of-Site campaign or targeting specific sections, your ad will rotate into the standard ad size locations. For more information about standard ad sizes, view the next page. I.A.B. Standard Ad Sizes/Positions There is an industry standard across the world for ad sizes/positions developed by the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB.net). IAB standard sites use IAB standard ad sizes, and place those ad units in specific locations on a web page. 1 2 3 On Vindy.com, we follow Interactive Advertising Bureau standard ad sizes: (1) Leaderboard - (728x90 pixels) appears at the top of pages (2) Skyscraper (120x600) appears along the right-hand side of pages (3) Medium Rectangle (300x250) appears on the home page and inside of all editorial content. The ads are used to promote company product(s), create or improve brands, or initiate immediate response through a call-to-action message. All ads are linked to the advertiser’s web site – giving advertisers the opportunity to explain their message beyond the advertisement. Most online ads are animated or interactive to use the audio and/or visual power of the web. Ads appear 24/7 too! Rotational advertising on sites are priced on a cost per thousand impressions (CPM) basis and discounts are available for volume purchases. Unique Online Opportunities TARGET SECTIONS OF A SITE - Example: Local News, Sports, Etc. CHANNEL SPONSORSHIPS - Channel Sponsorships present advertisers with an exclusive opportunity to brand their company name through special online content that reaches their target customer profile. eMAIL MARKETING - Newspaper websites can build customized email campaigns for advertisers to send individual special offers to an opt-in list. DINING GUIDE - List your business in an interactive directory that provides detailed information, links to your website/email address, pictures, logo, business description, and more. ASK THE EXPERT - Every business owner thrives on a good reputation. As the local expert on a subject that is core to their business, our advertisers receive their own mini-site on Vindy.com with links to their site. Experts also receive own online display ads. RATE BOARD LISTINGS - YOUR company can post YOUR current interest rates for Mortgage, Auto, Home Equity, and CD/IRA/Investment Accounts under several different terms. Participating companies receive a profile page and online display ads. HOME PAGE SPONSORSHIP - YOUR company can purchase 50 or 100% of the ads for a 24-hour period on Vindy.com. With a 100% estimated share of position, your ad will be on the home page midnight to midnight on the day or days of your choice. Packages of one, five or fifteen days are available. Key Online Terms So you're ready to dive into the World Wide Web, huh? But do you know what everything means yet? Let Vindy.com help you out. Listed below are some terms that you'll hear often when you are talking about the world of the Internet. Banner -(Online Display Ad) One of the many forms of online advertising. In a newspaper it's called an ad space; on TV it's called a commercial. Banner Rotation - Refers to an online banner advertisement being placed into a rotation with other online ads. Content - Refers to the articles, information, photos, audio & video files that make up a web site. Hit - An imprecise term referring to the number of computer files (file, graphic, image, logo, type, hyperlink advertisements) sent to a viewer's computer. One page could represent 50 hits. For this reason, hits are NOT a valid standard to determine the traffic of a web site. Home Page - Is the first page of a web site (when someone has multiple pages, the home page is the first thing that will be shown on your browser). ISP - Internet Service Provider. An ISP is a company that gives you the connection to the network of computers so that your computer has the ability to communicate with other computers (example: Zoom Internet, Road Runner, AOL, etc) Text Link - Another popular way of promoting a web address. A text link is simply a word or group of words linked to another web address. Traffic - People who visit a web site are said to be traffic, the same way that a newspaper user is considered readership. URL - Universal Resource Locator, also referred to as a Domain Name. Simply put it's a web site address. (example: http://www.vindy.com; www.vindyJOBS.com). Web Site - A web site can consist of a single page or thousands of pages, depending on how in-depth you want to get (Vindy.com consists of thousands of web pages). Once you type in a company's web address or URL it will direct you to your destination (not much different than dialing someone's phone number). Advertiser’s 3 Best Friends! There are 3 factors you should consider when placing an advertisement with any medium. Online newspaper websites are well suited to deliver. REACH - It’s important to reach the maximum audience with your advertising message. With Vindy.com & vindyJOBS.com you can reach a mass audience of more than 260,000 unique adults each month! FREQUENCY- Frequency is the number of times your advertising message is delivered over a period of time. National research studies demonstrate the concept of effective reach. We know that often it takes us more than one exposure to an ad to respond. Vindy.com designs programs tailored to your frequency objectives. COST-EFFECTIVE - “How much will this cost me?” You’ve probably asked this question before. Vindy.com is not only bigger than the rest - but better in cost-value analysis. Check out what some of our clients have to say about us on the next page. Ask Our Clients About Vindy.com Vindy.com has helped many area businesses reach their marketing goals. Contact us now so Vindy.com can help your business reach yours! “As one of the country’s leading retirement living destinations, not only do many of our residents move to Copeland Oaks from the Mahoning Valley, but many move to Copeland Oaks from other parts of the U.S. Being a part of Vindy.com has helped us effectively deliver our message to people locally, as well as outside of Ohio.” Jeff Bassett Copeland Oaks “Vindy.com has helped us to continue to brand Carlson Wagonlit Travel as the local expert in travel. With the ASK The Expert program, we are able to generate new leads and interact with customers in a new and exciting way.” Julie Costas Carlson Wagonlit Travel “Vindy.com was one of the first sites we’ve advertised on. I was nervous at first, but my account representative made it easy very to understand. There were a lot of options for both ad placement and cost. It was very easy to find an option to fit Armstrong’s budget and advertising needs.” Krista White Armstrong Cable “We have enjoyed the partnership with Vindy.com. This service has helped us get more business from local guests and from those that have moved away and still like to keep up on local happenings. The Restaurant Dining Guide has helped with locals that wanted to try something different but the Yellow pages don’t give you enough information. It is a fantastic tool to get your products out there for all to see. Highly recommended.” Kimberly Hladun Nicolinni's Ristorante Get Online Today! For a FREE consultation or to request a Vindy.com media kit, please contact: Vindy.com John Hitchcock PH: (330) 747-1471 ext. 1255 FX: (330) 747-8135 [email protected] Advertising Info: http://www2.vindy.com/advertise/ To view this full presentation, please visit: http://www2.vindy.com/advertise/how2.php