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It's new but here
to stay
By : John S.
Tumiwa
Many people believe
in advertising but the question is, "What is
advertising?"
When you discover
the real meaning of advertising, it might change the way you use
the traditional and nontraditional media. However, I will limit
the discussion to nontraditional advertising or Internet
advertising.
So what is
advertising? Its definition in short is: "Salesman on
print".
Every advertisement
on the Internet is nothing but text, pictures and animation; and
they do not talk. Therefore, how you write it, and what colors you
use is very important. Words and colors are what gets your message
across to the person sitting in front of the screen. They are how
you speak on the Internet.
Salesmen talk and
negotiate with prospective clients, telling them everything they
want to know, knowing very well that this may be their only
chance.
It is the same when
advertising on the Internet. When we write the script, we have to
keep in mind the questions prospective customers might have. These
questions must be answered in the advert. So make sure your advert
is representing your salesmen!
The next question
is, "Why advertise on the Net?" The Internet is
different from other media. Here the first impression matters a
lot. When people click on your website, there are three important
aspects they look for, namely, access, content and design, or ACD
Access is the most
crucial aspect. Access to your website must be quick. Once a
person clicks on the website and the access is slow, he will never
come back.
There are two ways
to increase the accessing speed of your website:
1. Hosting your
website in Indonesia by choosing a credible Web hosting company.
You should enquire about the company's bandwidth and the number of
clients they have.
2. Hosting your
website in the United States. There are a lot of good Web hosting
companies here which one can find by surfing the search engine
"Web hosting".
This way, you can
boost your access speed for Indonesian and overseas viewers.
Of course, if you
are targeting the Indonesian market, you don't need to host your
website in the U.S..
Content is another
key aspect in promoting your website. Information must be
well-displayed in clear, precise and simple language -- most
people do not want to read through pages and pages of information.
Like in brochures,
all the words must be in "sales" pitch.
Design is another
key aspect with regards to navigation and displays.
Your website should
be easily navigated through so that viewers can get the
information they are looking for quickly. Pictures must be limited
since it will affect the loading time -- the more pictures you
display, the more time it takes to download.
When choosing a
website to advertise in, consider the following factors:
1. User profile:
Where do are they from? What are their ages? What is the ratio of
males to females? What are their professions? etc.
Most websites have
a statistics software where you can view the profile of their
viewers.
2. The number of
hits: How many visitors it receives per day? How many page views
per day? etc.
With these
information, you should be able to decide which website would be
effective to advertise in.
Type of Web Ads
Most Indonesian
websites charge their clients on a monthly basis, unlike most
international sites which charge clients by clicks or impression.
The standard method
used when charging for Internet advertisements is CPM (cost per
million).
Some companies
charge US$20 per CPM which means $20 for 1 million impressions.
The more people click on the website, the more impressions will be
generated.
Others charge their
clients based on the number of clicks, popularly called CPC (cost
per click), where they charge the clients once viewers click the
banner. Of course this system benefits the clients.
CPM and CPC are the
most common methods used, however, there are some customized ways,
depending on the clients.
Advertising on the
Net is new, especially in Indonesia.
However, you should
have good results if you keep ACD in mind. You certainly don't
want to lower the image of your company with a poor website.
The writer is a co-CEO of
DoThink.Com |
