More Ad Dollars Going Online 6/17/2005
ANA: More Print Accountability, or Ad Dollars Will Go to Online
17 Jun 2005

More than a quarter - 26 percent - of 117 senior marketers recently surveyed by the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) said they plan to shift dollars away from magazines to other media; 21 percent said they plan to shift dollars away from newspapers. The number-one recipient of redirected budgets was the internet, according to 74 percent of the respondents. Confronted with such intent by a significant portion of marketers, the keynote speakers at the annual ANA Print Advertising Forum, held in New York, focused on urging improvements in meeting print advertisers' need for marketing accountability.

According to the ANA survey, only half of the respondents (51 percent) intend to keep their magazine advertising budgets at the same level as last year. Of those that do plan to maintain their spending levels, a significant portion, 35 percent, expect to use fewer titles. As for newspapers, a similar number, 50 percent, anticipate keeping their advertising budgets at the same level.

"To maximize their investment in print media, marketers desire an array of measurement enhancements," said a speaker. "These include issue-specific circulation data, cumulative information that clearly shows how a magazine's audience builds over time and reader involvement insights that increase understanding of consumer behavior patterns."

The ANA represents 355 companies with 8,000 brands that collectively spend over $100 billion in marketing communications and advertising.

 

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Do You Accept Mastercard? Visa? 6/14/2005
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Most Web Sites Don't Work Tip 5/12/2005
Most Web Sites Don't Work!

By Bob DonFrancesco

 

You are a small or medium size business owner and you intuitively know that you need to use the internet as a marketing tool. So you look in the yellow pages and pick one of the many web developers listed. They meet with you; get your head spinning with technology terms such as "Java", "HTML"," C++", and "MS SQL databases". They tell you what you need and you pay the money. However, they don't have any idea about internet marketing or how to drive profits to your business using the web. This is why most web sites fail.

Your web site should be an asset to your company, not a liability!

Your web site (more accurately described as your e-business solution) should not be an expense to your company. It should be delivering a measurable Return on Investment (ROI).

Make Sure Your Web Site Works!

How many times have you visited a web site, only to find this displayed?

"Under Construction"

"Under Construction" web site pages turn off most visitors to your web site and chances are they will not give it a second look. If you have chosen a competent web developer there is no reason why your web site cannot be up and running within 60 days of the developer finalizing the business design. If you feel the urgent need to display something in the short term, consider these alternatives:

1. Your "Under Construction" Page Should Be Your "Information Page"

Give your web site visitors as much company information as possible on a single Information Page. Include your company's phone and fax numbers, email addresses, key contact names, hours of operation and directions to your business. Create a "click and print" coupon, offering a discount to anyone who prints the Information Page and presents it to you.

2. Tell Visitors When Construction Will Be Completed

When you drive by a house or building under construction, don't you wonder when it will be completed? Visitors to your web site are no different. In fact web site visitors are often more impatient and unforgiving. If you must display an "Under Construction" page, let visitors know when the site will be operational. Publish a completion date and stick to it! This will create urgency for you as well as your web developer and ultimately your company will benefit more quickly from the timely launch of your web site.

Here is another turn-off to visitors:

"This Page Cannot Be Displayed"

This usually is caused by "a broken link", which means either there is an error in your web site's coding or you provided a link to a page in your web site or another web site that no longer exists.

Before you make final payment to your web site developer, follow these three very important steps:

1. Test it

2. Test it

3. Test it again

Once your web developer completes coding of your site, it is usually placed in a "test environment". It is not readily available to the public, but it should have all the functionality of your official web site's final design.

Appoint an employee or several employees to test the web site. Also, ask "non-interested third parties" such as friends, business colleagues and family members to test your site prior to launch. People less familiar with your company and your web site oftentimes make the most interesting discoveries and uncover the most "obvious" flaws.

About Bob DonFrancesco

Bob DonFrancesco is a Certified Internet Consultant with WSI Internet Consulting and Education. WSI has over 1,000 offices in more than 90 countries and is the largest internet solutions provider in the world. WSI provides e-Business Solutions to small, medium and large businesses that help companies increase revenues, reduce costs and improve customer satisfaction and service.

Bob has over 20 years experience leveraging technology to deliver business results. He can be reached at 401-783-1776

or email Bob at bobdon@wsidirectnetresults.com. You can also visit the WSI Web Site: wsidirectnetresults.com

1. By 2007 there will be 1.1 billion Internet users worldwide. - Source: IDC, 2004

2. Worldwide broadband subscribers exceeded 150 million in 2004. - Source: Point Topic, 2004
   
   

3. Over 40% of all Americans have made a purchase online. - Source: NDP Group, 2004

4. Over 75% of online consumers do not care whether an online store is run by a large or small company. - Source: TNS, 2004

5. $1.6 trillion was made via e-commerce in 2003; $7.1 trillion is expected in 2007. - Source: IDC, 2004

6. A recent UK study indicated that 82% of Internet users go online to research products and services. - Source: UK National Statistics Office 2004

7. More than 60 million Europeans now shop online, an increase of 50% since 2003. - Source: Forrester, December 2004

8. US online retail sales will more than double over the next six years, reaching $316 billion by 2010. - Source: Forrester, August 2004

9. 61% of small and mid-sized enterprises believe the Internet is a significant advertising medium. - Source: The Kelsey Group, November 2004

10. In 2004, paid search advertising grew by 51% to $3.6 billion in the US alone. - Source: eMarketer 2004