If you run any sort of online business or even if your offline business has an online presence, you may want to consider advertising your products or services through the Internet. With such a huge potential audience for your advertising, it seems like the Internet is an excellent place to expose the world to your brand and what your company has to offer.
The options, fortunately or unfortunately, are daunting. It can be difficult to decide what sort of online advertising would be the most effective for your business, so be sure to do some research and don’t be afraid to partake in a little experimentation. It’s also good to avoid putting all your eggs in one basket; this way, you can reach the largest possible audience. Here are a few strategies you may want to try.
Pay Per Click: This is probably the one that you are most familiar with, because it is the model behind Google Adsense. Your ads will show up on a variety of websites and you only pay when a visitor clicks on one of your ads, getting directed to your website. The same system is used with Facebook Flyers. There’s no guarantee of a sale, but you’ve sent one more person to your sales page.
Pay Per Action: This is where you only pay if your ad spot “converts.” It is up to you to define what is considered a conversion. Some folks pay every time a visitor provides an email address whereas others pay when a sale is completed. This is also where many affiliate programs come into play, like the one here with BlueFur. It could be a set payout amount or commission-based.
Pay Per Impression(s): This form of advertising is based on how many eyes see your advertisement. It does not take click-through rate into account, because you pay based on how many page impressions you get. This is typically calculate on a per 1000 impression basis, resulting in what is called CPM or cost per thousand impressions. If you have a particularly effective ad, this could be a better value than PPC/CPC ads.
Private Sales: Afraid of click fraud? Text link ads and banner ads may be a good way to advertise your company, because you know exactly how much you will spend each month. Make a private sale with a particular website to “own” a piece of advertising real estate for a month, regardless of how many impressions or how many clicks it receives.
Pay Per Play: One of the more recent developments is pay per play audio advertising. It works on the same notion as CPM, except an audio ad is automatically played to every visitor. Some may find this form of advertising intrusive and it may not be that effective, because your website name and URL are not actually displayed.
