Like most forms of Web marketing, banner ads have lost much of
their novelty value. But good banner ads still produce healthy
clickthrough rates and even sales--and more than ever, the ad
measurement experts know what makes an ad "good."
Probably the best research on this topic is a white paper called
"The Five Golden Rules of Online Branding," whose three
authors analyzed more than 600 banner ads across 11 industries to find
common components that make some ads rise above the noise level.
High-impact ads, they conclude, usually score well in five key areas:
* Absence of clutter: Banner advertisers typically have to get
their message across in a fraction of a second, so the strongest ads
tend to be "clear and uncluttered," with less than 15 text and
graphical elements.
* Conspicuous logos: One of the most important visual elements in a
banner ad is a big brand or product name--in fact, the logo should
occupy at least 14% of the banner's total pixel area. Entertainment
and travel advertisers do an especially good job of showcasing their
logos, the "Golden Rules" researchers point out.
* Size: Running tiny banner ads is probably not a good way to save
money, the report suggests. "As banner size increases so too does
the consumer's interest in learning more about the product or
service advertised." Moreover, running extra-large ads is an
especially good strategy for software vendors, the "Golden
Rules" research suggests, since only 9% of banners for software
products are larger than the standard 468x60 pixel format.
* Frequency: Some Web marketers argue that it's a waste of
money to put a clickable banner ad in front of a prospect more than
once, but the "Golden Rules" researchers conclude that
multiple impressions usually enhance awareness and brand-building.
"By increasing exposure levels from one to four or more,
advertisers can virtually double the impact of advertising on brand
awareness."
* Human faces: The biggest surprise: Adding a human face can make a
big difference in response rates. Only 2% of software banner ads display
faces, according to the "Golden Rules" data--but the image of
a live person seems to "unconsciously" increase consumer
interest in advertised products and services.
"The Five Golden Rules of Online Branding," by Michael
Carlon, Marc Ryan, and Risa Weledniger. Web:
www.dynamiclogic.com/site/DL_5gold_rules.pdf.
COPYRIGHT 2001 Soft-letter Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Copyright 2001, Gale Group. All rights
reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.
NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.