Getting the most bang for
your 'Net advertising buck
By Christine Selvig • Bankrate.com

You finally took that leap and built a Web site, and now, it's sitting out there in cyberspace. Waiting.

Nobody's visiting -- and you spent a bundle to stock your virtual store with some real merchandise.

Maybe it's time to advertise.

When everything clicks, a well-planned Internet advertising campaign can increase your Web site traffic, build up brand awareness and boost your sales. But sometimes, no matter how you planned, a campaign can fall flat and you end up feeling like you've thrown your money into the e-wind.

Internet's targeting advantage
What distinguishes Internet advertising from its cousins -- newspapers, television and direct mail -- is the ability to finely target its delivery. Small businesses operating within a limited geographical circle, on a limited budget or both, can squeeze the most value from their advertising dollars by clearly defining their prospective customers.

Knowing who you're trying to reach, what you want to tell them and how you want them to respond are the keys to building a successful ad campaign.

If your goal is to increase sales, decide how you want the campaign to accomplish this. Do want to bring more people to your Web site or are you hoping to bring them into your store? Who are the customers you're trying to reach? Do they live in your city? Do they eat at restaurants in your area? Are they sports fans, accountants or computer geeks? You get the idea.

Web sites define their traffic in terms of the following: demographics, category of site, sex, age group, income level, SIC code (an industry classification number), database targeting, location down to the ZIP code, keywords, time of day, operating systems and browser type.

Targeted ads pricier
The more defined your target audience, the higher your cost per view.

Sites will sell you "whoever" page views for prices as low as $3 per thousand views -- in adspeak, that's expressed as $3 CPM. The price goes up as you narrow your target.

DoubleClick, for example, will send your message to viewers from a specific college or business for $120 CPM.

Next, you'll want to consider your options for finding the right spot to place your ad. You have several options:

• Advertising agencies specializing in Internet ad placement can help you create and place your ads. Their compensation, generally a 15 percent ad placement fee, comes from the ad space provider.
• Internet advertising networks provide a variety of advertising package options over a diverse network that includes hundreds of different sites.
• Integrated advertising resources, such as DoubleClick and MatchLogic, can help you create, target, test and evaluate an Internet advertising campaign.
• Create your own advertising campaign by working directly with the sites you feel your customers are most likely to frequent. Search engines, such as Yahoo! and excite, offer a number of programs for potential advertisers. Yahoo!, for instance, offers keyword targeting that will bring your ad up each time a visitor types your keywords into the search engine.

Trust your own knowledge
You're probably not going to save yourself any money by going out on your own, but depending on the industry you are trying to attract, you might be better able to judge where your advertising should be placed. Don't discount your knowledge -- go with it. Many sites publish their rates on their site or will send them to you in an automatic e-mail response. Comparisons are easy. Terms and contracts are available also.

Once you've defined your target audience you can give some thought to what you want to tell them. Some advertisements bring readers directly to a specific Web page or message. Others simply remind a viewer about your company. Not intended to give you "clickthroughs," these ads do their job by upping your company's brand awareness.

While the banner is the most common type of advertisement, there are other options. Depending on your needs you might also want to consider a button, classified, badge, sponsorship or e-mail advertisement.

Check out some of the Internet advertising options available to you in our sample costing chart.

-- Posted: Feb. 21, 2000