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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
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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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