Online marketers can reach their audience with many types of ad formats, but it’s critical that as we marketers leverage the formats that appeal to the particular target demographic. A recent report by eMarketer provides some insight on how users react to certain ad formats. Fully understanding the habits and preferences of your consumers can be very helpful in crafting an effective campaign. Many variables influence consumer behavior online including: age, income, education, occupation, and frequency of visits.

Which ad formats appeal to your demographic?
Text Ads and Banners seem to be effective with most age groups, but lose their luster with older individuals and higher incomes. Video Ads are much more effective with younger people that have lower incomes. Increased visits to a website help to increase clicks on all ad types.

Is the Internet the best form of media to target your demographic?
When it comes to average time spent daily with major media, Internet is the second most popular medium for all users behind TV. Radio, Newspapers, and Magazines follow behind TV and Internet usage. TV is consistently preferred by all ages, income, and education levels. Internet is most popular with age 64 and younger, income levels over 25k, and users with at least some college level education. Magazines and Newspapers gain more popularity as consumers grow older, and Radio trends in the opposite direction.

Given this data, it’s clear that marketers must have a full understanding of their target demographic and utilize a combination of channels to communicate their message. In addition to text, banner and video ad formats, there are some emerging channels that ought to be considered – mobile/sms, social, and interactive promotions.

Touted as the “global event for integrated marketing”, the DMA’s annual conference had many promises to deliver on.  This year, DMA08 was held at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

It was interesting to get exposed to such a wide variety of exhibitors and relate their services to the diverse client base that we work with on a daily basis.  The gamut ran from promotional / incentive marketing vendors, list brokers, database analysis houses, mailing services, catalog consultants, content providers, print services, fulfillment services, market research, lead generation companies, and more!  The analytical side of me was attracted to the database analysis vendors and market research providers.  I also had the chance to see just how far schwag (trade show giveaways) has come in the last 5 years.  What used to be the standard disposable pen imprinted with a company name has made way for creative games, bottled water, digital photo frames, Starbucks gift cards, and even a free music download printed on a biodegradable card that can be planted and watered.  I will have to test the card for its presenter’s promise that it would grow into a beautiful plant to brighten up my desk. 

Monday brought a day packed with sessions beginning with the Opening General Session.  The tone was set by a Las Vegas style singer warming up the crowd for John Greco, DMA President.  An added bonus was an appearance from Senator Harry Reid, who welcomed the packed hall of attendees and thanked us for our patronage.  He talked about the diverse (mountainous) terrain of Nevada and encouraged visitors to get out and explore the 1 million + acres of wildlife across the state.  Senator Reid wrapped up his comments after quoting Mark Twain, who described Lake Tahoe in one if his writings as “the fairest picture the whole world affords”.

John Greco and DMA08 posed the question, “r u connected?”  His opening presentation was focused on answering this question with segments addressing connecting to the consumer, the community, and connecting all channels (reiterating that DMA IS multichannel).  He recapped the advertising spend trends and strong ROI that direct advertising yields.  Some notable topics included:

• DMEF – Direct Marketing Educational Foundation – DMA’s program to educate and place new marketing talent
• Education – Search Marketing Certification Program;  industry-specific, multichannel research
• DMA08 Mobile Concierge – Example of how DMA is connecting the channels via mobile
• New Mobile Advisory Board – DMA’s new board to help establish appropriate use of the emerging mobile channels
• New DMA Choice website – Announcement of the launch of DMA’s new website for consumers to manage their mail preferences

Another session I attended was titled “Online Survival Skills in an Uncertain Economy”.  With a name like that, how could I resist?  Moderated by David Hallerman, Senior Analyst, eMarketer and “thought leaders” Adam Gerber of Quantcast and Ted McConnell of Proctor & Gamble, this session drew a standing room only crowd.  The panel discussed how many brand marketers are going “back to basics” in this challenging economy.  For some categories of marketers, this means dropping out of online “brand” advertising (banner and video ads) and reinvesting in proven channels with measured targeting and ROI.  As a result of a segment of advertisers dropping out, this frees up inventory for some new advertisers to expand their reach.  Direct marketers can now afford dedicated categories where they may have previously only been able to secure remnant inventory.  The topic of accountability came up and all agreed that online marketing is easy to measure results, but not easy to plan and target as it is delivered so differently than print or TV.  Since you are not getting the entire audience (unlike TV), there is only a loose connection between demographic targeting and who the ad actually reaches.  Another key point is that behavioral advertising doesn’t scale well due to the limited number of segments and the volume within each.  To recap:

• Work smarter
• Work with Less Waste
• Reduce the Clutter

As we all know, Analytics is an effective avenue for reducing waste.  Beyond click stream data, many marketers are integrating database analysis and demographic clustering to help maximize their face time in front of customers and prospects.  This was the theme of another great session, “Using Segmentation to Drive more Relevant Online Communication”.  Experian and Sirius-XM (where have I been that I did not know they merged?) teamed up to present about a pilot program they are working on.  The merger of Sirius and XM presented a new challenge – marketing to a broad demographic.  XM brings an older female audience, powered by their relationship with GM and Oprah programming.  On the flip side, Sirius brings a younger male (Howard Stern) demographic.  In short, every visitor to the website matters and they should serve the most relevant content possible. 

While I packed a lot of info into 3 days, there are several sessions I would loved to have attended.  Fortunately, online content is offered as a bonus for registrations for DMA09 made by the end of the year.

Just like all businesses in tough economic times, Google is finding ways to increase the online advertising opportunities for marketers.  Google has been offering new areas on several of their products for marketers to place online ads.  Interestingly, they aren’t making it outwardly known to marketers where this new ads real estate is.  But, if you do some research, you’ll start to find new online ads displayed in areas once not possible.  I’ll explore some advertising opportunities that are new for you to consider.  

I was recently on youtube.com searching for a new song I had heard, and in doing so, noticed a new category called “promoted videos”.  I hadn’t seen this before, and wondered to myself, how long has this been here?  Did I just notice this?   So, as any online marketer would do, I started to research how videos are populated in this new category.  I found out that Google has made a cost per click program for video content, and it works similarly to that of an AdWords campaign.  I think it’s a great idea.   There are thousands of videos being posted to youtube.com on a daily basis, making it a challenge to ensure that your video content stays in the top listings. Given this challenge, this is a wonderful solution to have your video show up during relevant searches.  If you post videos on youtube.com, I would definitely look into this new online advertising opportunity. 

I also noticed recently that on another Google Product, Google Images (www.google.com/images), that they are now offering sponsored listings.   This is another area previously not possible to advertise.  Since this listing is image based, it is particularly ideal for e-commerce sites to place online ads.  The number of sponsored listings they are offering is pretty limited. So far I’ve only seen 2 sponsored listings per page for any particular search query.  However, since this is so new, there isn’t much competition yet.  If you are looking for another great way to advertise online, this is definitely another great avenue to look into.

I am sure most of you know by now that Google Maps has been starting to offer sponsored listings. This isn’t as new, but just as important to highlight. For those of you who haven’t already done so, your business should have a listing in Google Maps.  There is good reason why, too! By having your business listed in Google Maps, you have the ability to be placed in two of Google’s most popular products. Google.com pulls in relevant Google Map listings, and then of course, you get your listing on the actual Google Maps product. Now, take this strategy a step further and add a sponsored listing on Google Maps.  The result is having 3 places that you’re ads are appearing, increasing your exposure, and boosting your brand awareness.  I’d say this is a pretty good bang for your buck!  If you’re looking to make sure you’re efficiently spending your online advertising budgets, this should be a no-brainer.

These ideas will help you to start doing some exploration on Google’s products and find where the different online advertising opportunities are, beyond the traditional AdWords campaigns.  Google has many products and many advertising opportunities on each of them.  The associated costs are lower, since not as many marketers are taking advantage of them yet.  I would encourage you to look into incorporating these strategies into you online advertising campaigns.