Internet, Online, and Web Advertising Review

How to Effectively Promote Online and Optimize Return on Investment (ROI)

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Having been a Search Marketing VP, experience has taught me that online advertising can be both effective but also very expensive.  I’ve learned that web marketing results are not always guaranteed (the path to cash), and that online spends can be costly.

Lots of money is spent chasing the proverbial promise of clicks and conversions to find the elusive and relevant eyeballs for products and services.  And perhaps, John Wanamaker, the pioneer of modern advertising, voice echoes to us from his grave again with his famous antidote on advertising, “Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted.  The trouble is, I don’t know which half.” How do we cut the waste and expense in the digital advertising age?

Internet Advertising Costs

To find those marketing savings, our first inclination is to data mine.  From affiliate marketing to behavioral targeting, from CPM to CPC, we quickly can become engrossed in a sea of data parsing male from female, baby boomer from gen x.  Our analysis leads to the edge of frustration with realization that if we could only be found for the natural search terms ordinary people use, it would significant solve our advertising woes (can you say “budget”).  After all, doesn’t the search engines (well, I’m mean Google) delivery over 60% of the web traffic. Is there a search engine optimization expert in the house?

But getting the free listings (called organic by the SEO experts) can be problematic too. Necessary changes to our websites can be difficult and usually get push aside over other web priorities (i.e. brand and product messaging).  In addition, good SEO efforts often conflict with brand messaging and can be as expensive as running a good digital campaign.  In the economy of digital marketing, what else’s can be done to chase the elusive search results and cost reductions?

Internet Advertising Articles

Arguably, Press Releases provide the most “poundage for the dollar.” Distribute by reputable agencies, like PR Newswire, PR is the most effective way to get high search engine listings and coverage.  Southwest Airlines uses this tactic better than any.  In 2005, Southwest Airlines won a Golden Ruler Award for tracking $2.5 million in ticket sales to four optimized press releases.  I would guess that the PR distribution cost was less than a $2,000.00.  However, PR and New Release are not the panacea. If you work at Southwest, you’ll have enough “new” news and content writers to keep the press churning.  In addition, you’ll have access to “news worthy news,” the kind of stuff necessary to qualify as press or new release.  Herein lies the conundrum for most web advertiser, finding the news worthy message in the products or services to meet the acid tactic test of a press release.

An Alternative to Press Release

Before the marketer despairs back into the world of data mining for CPM and CPC, there is one last category that can redeem their budgets, commercial news posting.  Similar to a press release in style, but without the restrictions of a press release, these are informational articles about products or services.  The advantage of the commercial new posting is that they can be written to work around the limitations of website; they can have web links to a specific page in your website (i.e. an advertising page); are usually better index in the search engines then your website; and will drive additional traffic to your website; and act as a qualifier for a potential customer.  And, most importantly, they are cheaper than the traditional News Release, but just as effective.

Commercial News Posting

Rocketnews is a provider of commercial new posts.  Here are some case examples that illustrate the results in the search engine Google for commercial news post taken in November of 2009.  For the natural search terms, they provide high search indexing in Google (search page) performing better then the client’s website for the same term, while providing relevant content (client engagement) and website links for the searcher to find more information.

The “internet beauty” of these commercial news posting is that, once posted, they become a permanent part of the internet, unlike online advertising that disappears after the money is spent. And, if you’re website is not well index in Google, then these news posts will be found by people interested in your offerings.  Want a bigger internet bang for the buck?  These commercial news posts effectively target the biggest segment of Internet Service Provider (ISP) traffic (search engines) and do it at a fraction of cost of traditional online advertising.

Ronald Regan once commented during the cold war against the Soviet Union that words were his foot soldiers. Commercial News Posts fit that category as they fight for those top positions in the search engines, and helps answer John Wanamaker’s statement about advertising waste. With Commercial News Posting, the waste is less AND it has a residual effect long after the expenditure!  Or to paraphrase another US President’s critique, “it’s all about the search stupid!”

For More Information contact RocketNews at: [email protected]