Quick hitter - Tidbit on Ad Networks

TIP: Let's face it. Clients are fond of visual representations and "fluff" in decks. So, the best place to find some quality "pre-made" charts is eMarketer.com. Sure, you may want to show something niche, but if you require something broad like industry trends, this is the place. This is my Tip of the Day. And while I'm giving out tips, here is another one, Big Brown will win the Triple Crown.

So, as I was going through some recent eMarketer articles, I came across a couple worth mentioning in the blog. Here is the first one. It was an article regarding spending trends involving ad networks called, Targeting, ad networks Spending Increase. It must be noted that the research for the article was provided by an ad network, so keep that in mind. Regardless, the point I found interesting was only 13.4% of the advertisers that use ad networks in their online marketing mix said the sole purpose was direct response. Wait, WHAT!?!!?!?!?? Furthermore, according to the data, more advertisers are using this category for branding purposes in 2008. This makes no sense. Ad networks spawned from sites aspirations to monetize remnant inventory to resell to the public at a discount in order to lure more DR advertisers to the web. So, now all of a sudden, this same tactic has become a branding platform. Don't get me wrong, there are secondary branding benefits from that many impressions (recall), but you can't convince me that you should be running on an Ad.com primarily for awareness. So, if you feel like throwing away your marketing dollars on branding efforts with ad networks, I have a better idea. Take that money and donate it to the Mike Atkinson Charity Fund c/o my wallet, or move your budget over to Media Two and sit back while we magically increase your sales volume and decrease your CPA (ok, it's not magic, we just know what we are doing).