vertising. The good news is that a part of Internet ads are easily
trackable by how many people “click through” the ad. A typical
“click-through rate” on an Internet ad is less than 1 percent. Track-
ing advertising will be discussed later in this chapter.
Part of Internet event advertising is not captured but is future
business caused by the ad. Those people who take future action
after seeing an ad cannot be tracked. This is called “image” or
“brand” advertising and just like in other media (newspaper, ra-
dio, TV) is much more difficult to track.
A decision that needs to be made is how you will advertise on-
line. Will you use “house ads” by advertising on your own site?
Will you promote your event on other sites? Will you allow oth-
ers to advertise on your site?
Event Banner Ads
Banner advertisements involve space that is sold on someone
else’s Web site for use by another. A few years ago, banner ads
were simple static ads placed across the top of a Web site. Now
new technology allows interactive advertisements with animation,
video, and sound clips. Although a few years ago, banner ads had
over a 2 percent response rate, the response rate has dropped to as
low as 0.5 percent as banner ads have become more prevalent.
Microsoft’s Bcentral.com offers the following tips when using
banner ads:
- Keep it short and simple.
- Make the benefits relevant.
- Capture interest, pique curiosity.
- Use promotions and contests.
- Have a call to action to give people a reason to click.
- Make the message fit the goal.
Ezines and Newsletters
Advertising in an ezine, or electronic newsletter, is one of the most
recommended forms of Internet advertising. These forums are
highly targeted, are relatively inexpensive, and typically have a
higher return on investment than other ads. Because subscribers
join or “opt in” to these newsletters, this is not considered a form
of “spam,” or unwanted communications. Michael Southon, pub-
lisher of the Free Directory of Ezines,offers the following 10 tips
for successful ezine advertising:
Marketing Your Event on the Internet 65