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If you could always be in the right place at the right time, wouldn't life be great? Buy that winning lottery ticket, meet that special someone, catch McGwire's 70th homer. In other words, be where you want, when you want. The same could be said for an online advertising program. Having your advertisement in front of the right person at the right time would dramatically increase your click-through rate. Offline, it may still be impossible. But online, we can now control when and where these opportunities occur. The TY Buy (Thank-You Page Buy) It took me 37 online purchases to realize that a "Thank You" page represents far more than a site owner with manners. Imagine an advertising campaign filled with impressions bought on various "Thank You" pages, all across the internet. After all, internet users who reach these pages represent two very important groups. First, they have just completed an online purchase and feel secure about giving their credit card information over the internet. Second, they are now completely done with the site they are currently on and are looking for new sites to explore. Good On Paper, Great In Practice So the concept sounds pretty good...but would it really work? As a test, I had an advertiser split a monthly ad budget between conventional media placement, and TY Buys (shorthand for Thank-You Page Buys). The conventional program received a 1.6 percent overall click-through rate. The TY Buy portion of the campaign, however, garnered a whopping 5.2 percent overall click through rate |
Perhaps even more telling was the actual number of purchases that resulted from the clicks. The conventional program led to a 2.1 percent conversion rate, while the TY Buy came in at 3.4 percent. The product happened to be a $300 item. But the model would work for any business to business or consumer offer, regardless of price. What's The Catch? Have you ever tried buying something that's not for sale? Site owners were more than willing to sell the space after they understood what exactly a TY Buy was. (And in retrospect, the added time to organize the program has led to perhaps one of the better non-technological advances in the fight against poor click-through rates.) The inventory certainly is not as abundant as ROS (run of site). But throw in TY pages from newsletter and magazine subscriptions, and an advertiser can find a fairly large impression base. No Branding Allowed It should be said that this is certainly not the best tool for branding. As site owners realize the relevance of TY areas, CPMs will undoubtedly rise. A budget for a branding program would certainly be better spent in lower CPM areas, where response rates are not as critical. Right Place At The Right Time I wish I could have caught Mark McGwire's 70th homerun. Would it have been worth buying all 55,254 tickets to Busch Stadium that day? Probably not. Of course, life may be based around the thrill of the unknown. Your online advertising campaign certainly is not. TY pages give advertisers access to the best time and place to reach their prospects. |
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Jay
Schwedelson
is corporate vice president of Worldata & WebConnect, where he oversees
strategic direction and new business development. Under his leadership,
Worldata & WebConnect has become the industry leader in permission
Email marketing services and interactive advertising solutions. Schwedelson is active
in the Direct Marketing Association, where he serves as a member of the
Internet Advisory Board Committee, Catalog Council and List & Database
Council, and Marketing Technology and Internet Council. Jay also serves
as an advisory board member for the Association of Interactive Media and
Co-Chairs the Council for Responsible Email. |
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