I know, it was a cheap trick, but when it comes to advertising, the message is the same: any ad (and banners are just that), are supposed to get people's attention. Period!

I'm writing this since I've talked to several advertisers who feel their click-thru rates leave a lot to be desired, and I agree. So let's analyze the situation with hopes to help you find a solution.

I've spent countless hours looking at banners, and what I notice most is that professionally-designed ads focus on the offer rather than the company making the offer. And that's the most important thing to consider when designing a banner. You must come up with a great headline.

So what are good headlines? Good question. I read somewhere that one of the most powerful words is FREE (right after sex, I'm sure), but very few businesses offer free merchandise, right? Well, not really. There are lots of offers that could include a free item with a given amount purchase, or free shipping, or a free gift, etc. So if you're creative, you can find a way to incorporate FREE into your offer.

Another good way to make sure potential customers stop for a second and read your message is to advertise a great discount. This brings to mind an advertiser a couple of years ago who had a very simple banner that read "Used Parts up to 75% off Retail." That was it. No biz name, no URL, just a simple line of text. His banner had click-thru ratios as high as 7% at times. That's an incredible number in an industry where 0.25% is the norm (just like with bulk junk mail).

So, our client thought, "hey, if this is working, maybe I should design a great-looking animated banner showing all kinds of goodies. Imagine what kind of traffic that would generate." And he did. The new banner had enough stuff to fill a small newsletter, but we ran it anyway. The click-thru ratio dropped down to around 0.5% immediately.

I'm not making this up. This happened about 2 years ago. I'm not telling names though.

So, next time you design a banner, or have someone else design it for you, get involved. You have approximately 2 seconds for that image to load and be seen by a potential customer, so better make sure your message appears before his or her attention has gone elsewhere.

Folks, designing a banner is not like having the print shop do your business cards (although that would be a good subject for another time). When you plan your banner think H E A D L I N E. Then, if the message has 7 words, figure a way to say it in 5. Then rewrite the headline so you can say it in 4. The shorter the message the more powerful it can be. Use BOLD, BIG, easy-to-read letters. Provide good contrast between the text and the background. No sense in using navy text against a black background (don't laugh, I've seen it done).

Having said all that, do not think for a second that I'm suggesting you come up with a stark, ugly-looking banner. Not at all. If you can make it eye-pleasing, even pretty, please do so. But remember the key word: H E A D L I N E.

Hey, I know your business name is important, but when you have a 2 or 3 second window to get someone's attention, the first thing they see should be.... all together now.... a H E A D L I N E! Good, you're starting to get the point.

There's been plenty of performance data collected on banners that show people, attractive men and women, cute animals, etc. along with the message, and statistics demonstrate that these type of advertisements can be quite successful. The problem with images is that they slow down the banner loading process. So, by the time that smiling girl appears, your prospect, who is still surfing with his trusty 14.4K modem, has scrolled down the window and your banner is no longer visible. Same deal with animations. Very few people will stick around waiting for that second or, God forbid, third image to load.

So, what's the minimum acceptable click-thru percentage? I'd say, using realistic expectations, anywhere from a 1% on the low end to a 5% on the high end. Of course anything above 5% would be wonderful, but it would be the exception, not the rule. And mind you, these numbers are attainable when your banner is shown to qualified prospects. If you decide to run your motorcycle-oriented ad in services that cater to anyone and everyone, you'll need a magnifying glass to read the click-thru percentage. By the way, a 1% is equivalent to a 100:1 ratio where the banner gets one click for every 100 impressions; a 5% is equivalent to a 20:1 ratio where the banner gets one click for every 20 impressions.

You will have to experiment with several banners until you find one that works better than others. And when you find it, DO NOT CHANGE IT. Or, as Jerry Lewis would say: "If it ain't broken, don't fix it!" Amen to that.

I recommend you use our Run-Of-Site banner service for testing banners for a week to 10 days each. This should generate enough reliable data to compare performance. And this is something you should seriously consider if you advertise in sites that do not furnish you with this sort of information. Once you know which banner works best, you can replace all your banners with a known performer.

If you would like to have several banners running simultaneously, please call me at (407) 860-1989 to discuss setting up a Group Account. This would allow you to monitor all of your banners in one page.

Remember, our job is to provide traffic, and at over half-a-million banner impressions a month, we're doing our job. It is your job to elicit interest in your offer. Create a great banner, then fine-tune it so it delivers as it should.

I sincerely hope this information helps you in your quest for the elusive click-thru.

Sincerely,

Luis Hernandez, Jr.
CEO