By Tatiana Velitchkov © 2001-2002
"(Pop under ads are) like many of the impulse items you'll find in a check out line." writes Keith Boswell at his website, www.MarketingProfs.Com.
"As you close down your connection, you see the ad as the last window to close. Your mind isn't distracted; you are MORE LIKELY to gain interest and decide to visit the site."
Visitors to MY site at Guaranteed-Hits.Com know that my service involves the delivery of pop-under advertising.
And most of my clients know that, while pop under ads already DELIVER RESULTS, it's the QUALITY of their ad or site that makes sure they DELIVER PROFITS.
"But how do we make our ads more effective?" they often ask.
Design & usability, I often answer, and a visible URL.
Plus a little bit of something else... something that can make it stand out, attract the surfer's curiosity, and pull his mouse-hand towards the "click here" button.
In the fashion industry you might call it the X Factor. In online advertising you could call it creativity.
And going on Keith Boswell's analogy that pop under ads are like the "impulse items at a check-out line," here are 5 creative ways to make surfers IMPULSIVELY click on your pop under ads:
1) Turn your ad into a special coupon.
Better yet, turn it into a choice of 3 coupons, or 4, or more!
These "coupons" can contain passwords they'll need to enter when they visit your site, so they can get special discounts or free downloads.
If you want, you can even make these "coupons" printable, so they can continue thinking about visiting your site long after they've seen your ad.
2) Turn your ad into a comic strip.
And you don't even have to manage a humor site to get away with it!
Just think of a good joke that people often crack about your industry (or your name, or your business), have it rendered into a comic strip, and use it as your online ad.
Everybody loves a good laugh, and the kind of site that gives them that is the kind of site they'll most likely visit.
3) Turn your ad into a "commercial."
With the ongoing popularity of flash animation, it's now easier than ever to create full-length commercials that load in as little as a few seconds.
Take advantage of this opportunity, draft out a storyboard, and turn your next ad into a "mini-flick" so absorbing that people will want to download it & pass around.
4) Turn your ad into a "quiz."
Personality quizzes are best, since people are always interested in themselves.
"But I don't run a psychology site!" you might protest.
Well, you don't have to!
A marketing site can use a quiz that tells "What kind of marketing person are you?" and a fashion site can predict your "Fashion Personality Type."
And if you run a zoo, you can reveal "What kind of animal are you?"
:-)
Quizzes are fun, easy, and occasionally enlightening.
(Just make sure to remind quiz-takers to visit your website for the results... and click on the link to buy your new book.)
5) Use your ad to offer useful information.
And when I say "useful information," I MEAN "useful information."
Useful for YOUR SURFERS, that is.
Real-world check out counters are full of information offerings. They come in different forms: tabloids, magazines, classified ad papers, specialized newsletters.
And if you'd take a look at their cover titles, you'll find feature titles like:
- 7 ways to improve your relationships
- The top 50 stores with the best price deals, and
- Tom Hanks' secret love child is an alien princess - pictures inside!
Take a hint from these titles, and run an ad with articles just as compelling, stimulating, or downright interesting... then invite them to your site for some more.
Indeed, the Internet advertising industry is growing and innovating, and only YOU can decide what your ads can or cannot do.
The only limit here is your imagination... and the strength of your determination to REALLY succeed online.
Tatiana Velitchkov
About the Author:
Tatiana is the publisher of: www.TheFortunesEzine.com , the FortunesEzineWeekly at www.TakeYourFortune.com, and owner of the traffic-solution slam advertising sites www.Guaranteed-Hits.com and www.Guaranteed-Hits.net