Web Analytics

Do you have a website? If so, it is important to track how many users you get and what they do on your website. Without some type of tracker or analysis of your site, it would be difficult to know what effective or useful your site has been. Web analytics is a good way to see how your site is performing. For example, I set up this blog with Google analytics. I am able to see how many people saw my site and when. This, for example, helps me to determine how interesting or popular my blog is. This data will also help me conclude what is working and what is not. For companies that want to know how their online ad campaign is working can collect the data using web analytics and alter their campaign based on the results. For example, Doritos.com has a lot of different options to click on from their homepage. Using web analytics, they would be able to see which section gets the most clicks.

I have gathered my results from Google and realized that there were people that were reading my blog from all over. The Netherlands was even tracked. After looking at my reports for my blog I was able to conclude many things. It is apparent that my page views go up greatly after I have posted a new blog, and drop off after I have not posted for awhile. The coolest thing about my reports, personally, is being able to see where on the map people are viewing my site. As a pro blogger, you could take these results to see how popular your blog is. He or she would be able to alter their blogging habits if needed according to the analytics.

Using this software is could also save your financial behind! It can help you to recognize "click fraud." When a company uses pay per click, click fraud could cause their bills to skyrocket. Why someone would want to be this devious is beyond me. People click on ads when they really don't care about it at all and cause the advertisers to pay out a lot of money. Thankfully, click fraud is punishable by law.

Leaving Britney Alone

Let me start by saying that I will definitely leave Britney alone if it means sparing me from seeing that poor guy suffer another mental melt down. I couldn’t stop myself from watching it; I guess that just proves that everyone loves to watch a train wreck. Just like Britney herself, who has been described as a train wreck, is often times the top story on popular news stations like CNN. Why do the American people like topics like that? That question, however, is complex. The person that is in the infamous “Leave Britney Alone” tape is named Chris Crocker and he is now a household name. The video, just this week, has gotten around 8 million hits. This brings me to the next topic of interest, internet content and advertising.

As an online advertising expert, I would advise my clients to advertise in places that are well known. I believe Secondlife.com failed because it was relatively unknown and underdeveloped. I could see where the site wanted to go, but they fell short in execution. It came off to me as a site for advertisers. I don’t know anyone (that isn’t an ad. major) that would specifically seek out a site for advertisers. An advertiser’s objective is to get their ad seen in ways that may take the consumer by surprise. As I stated before, I believe sites like myspace are great ways to advertise if you are focusing on the age range including teens-24yrs old. Movies that target that age group have already taken advantage of the site. The Simpson’s Movie, for example, marketed on myspace. Millions and millions of users get on the site not seeking out an ad, but can’t end up avoiding it which is why it works and secondlife.com doesn’t.

After reading the Chanel article, it is good to know that they are thinking of the next generation. Their target market now my not being using interactive media as much as the next, however, they are doing things now, to make sure that the next age group is targeted early. Maureen Chiquet, global chief executive at Chanel, even stated that they couldn’t “afford NOT to advertise that way.” Chanel also has the right idea by finding content that is relevant to their product. They teamed up with many beauty blogs to advertise their new website. Coco Chanel is also using younger actresses in their ads. This is another way of targeting a younger audience because they can relate to the young star.

Finding content that is pertinent to one’s advertisement is a different form of niche marketing in my opinion. I believe it is good to do that in most cases. Such as in the case of Chanel, they have a very narrow market so it is a good idea to target beauty sites to carry their ad. However, movie production companies have the leeway to advertise in a broader manner and do not need to pay attention to content as much.

Banner Advertising

It is definitely a task to break through all of the clutter when trying to create an effective banner ad. It is my opinion that skyscraper or button ads help to so because they are not used as much as your typical longitudinal banner ad. It is important to create an ad that speaks (not literally) to the consumer. The ad needs to stand out because a person does not normally get on the internet to look at all of the banner ads, they are searching with another purpose. Therefore, if you can make them divert their attention to your ad, you've done your job. An ad like this is not appealing and would not create a want for the consumer.

Personally, I prefer ads that require interaction. Ads for zwinky.com are in particularly appealing because you can dress and create your own person just in the ad. Involving the consumer makes it a fun and interactive experience for the person surfing the web. I do not usually click on banner ads unless they are really interactive for me. As stated earlier, I do enjoy the zwinky ads because they involve me and it is fun to play with the options they give me. Consequentially, I have clicked on the zwinky ads before. As another example, I enjoy a lot of the Volkswagen ads because of how you can interact with them, such as the Volkswagen ad seen above. If you were to see that ad on the internet, you would be able to type in different words in the blank.

Lastly, I wanted to address banner blindness. I believe when companies use banners that looks like a warning to your computer or, as the article states, when the ads have fake OK or CANCEL buttons. These types of ads get clicked through more than any other add because they are deceiving. However, just because people clicked it, does not mean they wanted to see what the company had to offer, they just simply did not recognize the banner as an ad.

Behavioral Targeting

After reading chapter two in our Online Advertising Playbook textbook and doing some online research, I realized just how popular behavioral targeting has become online. There is even a website dedicated to informing individuals about what it is, how it works, where it's going, etc. Personally, I like that websites will give me material that I want to see without having to search for it every time I get on the website. I frequent Amazon and they automatically put up options that I may want to consider, if it's not, I simply move on to what I would like to search. Behavioral targeting could also get a person deals when shopping online. As stated in our textbook, Lane Bryant targeted those who abandoned their shopping carts, then sent them incentives, like free shipping. I also believe it give the consumer a better relationship with the clients they frequent on the web. An everyday person may feel as if they really care if the website automatically puts up what they may like, not knowing they've only been tracked. Which leads to another issue, privacy.

As there is with most things, behavioral targeting has its pros and cons. One of the cons is the issue of privacy. For parents in particular, this is a topic of much concern. Although most tracking devices (aka cookies) are harmless, there are some that can obtain personal info. Young teens and kids often do not filter their information very much so it is important to monitor where your children are surfing. Deleting cookies frequently is another way to prevent identity tracking.