Customer Preferences in Online Advertising-Part 2 of 3

 In part one of this series, we discussed the fact that
studies show information leads over entertainment. We
discovered that Web site visitors are primarily looking
for information, and therefore, ads should be more
information-oriented.

The second of the three discoveries in the Jupiter
Communications (www.jup.com) survey that I will
comment on is the discovery that some online advertising
is seen as an extreme annoyance. Let's be sure your
ads aren't included in that group.

What They Hate
No one likes to be bombarded with advertising. We all
see it everywhere we go. It's on television, the radio,
billboards, and even grocery story carts for goodness
sake. However, online advertising is viewed as the
most aggressive.

Jupiter found that 49% of those surveyed said online
advertising was the most intrusive of all. Many were
willing to tolerate ads in broadcast or print media,
probably due to the fact that they could leave the room,
change the station or turn the page. However, online
ads hold an extremely negative reputation.

From my experience, this is most likely due to the fact
that online ads often have a "used car dealer" air to them.
I have seen many that look like they're all produced from
the same template.

These ads promise the sun, the moon and the stars.
They scream about why you simply must buy the product
or service. Then, to make it worse, the site captures your
email address and you receive hundreds of email
advertisements via an autoresponder that apparently has
no end.

The Worst Possible Ads
The worst offender is pop-up ads. These are the
advertisements that pop onto the screen as you click
through a Web site. They advertise specials or offer
subscriptions to Ezines, etc. Once thought to be a
tremendous sales tool, these ads have become
increasingly offensive.

Sixty-nine percent (69%) of those in the Jupiter survey
viewed pop-up ads negatively. Almost 25% found them
so annoying they would completely avoid sites that used
them. That's a powerful statistic. Can you afford to have
25% of your Web site traffic never return simply because
you employ pop-up ads?

What We Can Do To Make It Better
So, now that we know what our site visitors hate, how
can we adjust our advertising in order to please them
(and make them buy)?

Here are some recommendations to consider when
creating your next piece of advertising:

1.Don't do "anything and everything" to get the
buyer's attention. Everyone that comes to your site
isn't going to buy. The harder you try to get their
attention and force them to read your ad, the harder
they will try to escape.

2.Remember from Part 1 in this series, site
visitors are looking for information primarily. Include
your ad along with other, useful information. Perhaps
you might try offering a free report or article that
provides information the visitor can use. At the bottom,
insert an advertisement for a product or service you
offer that can help them further.

3.Don't use pop-up ads.

4.Keep your target audience in mind. Business
people aren't going to have the time or inclination to
participate in game-type ads. On the other hand,
teenagers love them. If your target group is younger
people, games might be the thing for you. Design
your ad to meet the preferences of your target
customer.

Using these suggestions will help your ads be more
readily received - instead of avoided at all costs!

In Part 3, the final article in this series, we'll look at the
behavioral aspect of online advertising and discover
what characteristics and traits should be kept in mind.

About the Author

Karon is Owner and President of KT & Associates who offers
targeted copywriting, copy editing & ghostwriting services.
Subscribe to KT & Associates' Ezine "Business Essentials" at
BusinessEssentials-subscribe@topica.com or visit her site at
http://www.ktamarketing.com

 Karon Thackston

More Articles 

You can make Great $$$ in a week from free advertising for only one affiliate... - eiffel internet
“Promote one Affiliate Program is the Key to your Success!” There are a lot of affiliate marketing programs out there that claim to make you more money than you could possible spend; when in true reality, you’ve just sign up to be another person...

Cooperative Advertising - Shannan Hearne Fortner
Advertising is expensive. As a result, successful businesses are looking for more and more ways to save money on their marketing packages. Co-operative advertising is taking on many shapes and faces. It can be online or offline. It can be in...

Cheap Internet Banner Advertising - Friend or Foe? - Mark Williams
For years internet banner advertising dominated the World Wide Web. Everyone was bidding ridiculously high amounts of money for banner advertisements. Then came the dot com crash and banner advertisements lost its luster. Internet banner...

Free Reprint Articles - Inexpensive Advertising For Your Business - Fisher Swanson
Publishing articles and making them available for free can be a very effective way of promoting your business or website without spending a lot of money. This article contains some tips and resources that I have discovered by publishing free reprint...

Affordable PPC Search Engine Advertising - Jeremiah Patton
PPC search engine advertising is by far the most affordable form of advertising available. PPC search engine advertising is a flourishing business that by 2008 is expected to reach $8 billion. PPC search engine advertising is about producing...

Advertising Business Opportunity Reaches New Levels - Randy Wilson
An Advertising business opportunity on the Internet is just exploding with possibilities. This is one of the most profitable endeavors available in the field of Internet advertising. If you have advertising experience and know even the basics of...

Website and other Media Advertising - Terry Henry
Let’s look at all Medias and their effectiveness in bringing in new customers, and then we will look at the advantages of web advertising. Radio- Radio, the oldest of verbal communications has been very good at reaching the masses. One of its...

HOW YOU CAN CREATE ADVERTISING THAT SELLS... - Thom Reece
© Copyright 1988/2003 Thom Reece All Rights Reserved A well-planned and properly executed marketing program should include a sufficient commitment of capital resources to an ongoing, well executed advertising program. Yes, this includes your ...

Science of Advertising and How to Benefit From It - Arun Pal Singh
Copyright 2005 Arun Pal Singh It is very important to realize that persons buy from you. It is the mind at other end of the internet who will decide a sale from you. Thus it is very essential to know how your customer's psychology works. What is...

Latino Television Programs Fill a Void in Hispanic Advertising; While Advertisers Look to Attract the Young U.S. Born Latino Consumer - Louis Victor
Advertisers that are beginning to focus on the young Hispanic market have been given a gift in the form of Latino television programming. Now mind you it’s not your typical Latino television programming that you would find on Univsion, this...