Making the most of online advertising requires an advertising strategy for engaging the consumer and inciting user participation. New technology and design creatives work to provide entertaining, cost-effective branding solutions for online ads. Optimization technology directs consumers to your relevant content. A targeted result for your customers equals a qualified lead and increased profits.

Online business advertising solutions range from advertising networks to agencies. Online advertising services employ targeted ad placement, mobile direct-response and interactive click-throughs to attract customers and analyze consumer data. Look for expanding networks offering multiple channels with category-leading sites. Expect flexible cost structures for best values as your company grows. Keep your web design fresh with prompting interactives using rich media, flash animation, video and demo display.

1. Advertise and monetize your web site with online ad services.

2. Work with an interactive ad agency to engage your customer.

3. Reach the latest markets with mobile advertising.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Increase Internet traffic with web site advertising companies

Online advertising network companies advertise and monetize your website using tracking and matching filters for targeted campaigns. Ad networks effective optimization techniques save time, reduce spending and provide success visibility.

I recommend: Personifi’s suite of ad targeting solutions for ad networks includes contextual, behavioral and demographic optimization, hosted ad serving and mobile delivery of relevant ads, articles and recommendations. Aptimus’s partner network offers transactional locations for Internet advertising using rich media with targeted direct response content.

Hire Internet marketing and advertising companies

Work with interactive ad agencies and further refine your targeted campaigns. Internet advertising companies deliver specialized content on numerous platforms, such as blogs, webcasts, podcasts and social media marketing. Improve customer relations and personalized or targeted communications as well as increase your traffic and sales with interactive advertising strategy.

I recommend: Winsper offers interactive online ads and integrated marketing solutions with experience in multiple B2B industries featuring web strategy, design and development, including SEO, analytics, email marketing, social networking and strategic relationships to complement in-house services. LeapFrog Interactive is an award-winning digital advertising agency with full-service features including market awareness, online promotions, search-engine marketing, brand strategies, Web 2.0 design and usability engineering.

Go mobile with an online advertising program

Mobile advertising shows effectiveness with over 90% of SMS text content read and unparalleled exposure in a direct and personal medium getting the attention of some of the largest companies. A mobile Internet advertising solution uses text messaging and see-and-download technology to deliver short messaging services (SMS)and other content to cellular phone and other mobile devices.

I recommend: Expedite offers Simplicity, a web-based SMS marketing program for mobile advertising campaigns with access from any computer. BlueBlitz offers complete Bluetooth solutions for data transmission featuring MagicBeamer for advertising to mobile phones and PDAs through shopping windows all year long.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Consider building a separate mobile webpage for your mobile online advertising.
• •  Look for press release features from your online advertising service for local advertising and marketing.

Once considered cutting edge, online advertising is now a staple in the modern-day marketing mix. Immediate, interactive and effective, online advertising is an affordable alternative to traditional — and typically more expensive — advertising vehicles such as newspapers, magazines, radio, TV and direct mail. For many companies advertising on the Internet, old media is out and new media is most certainly in.

Advertising on the Internet is about more than being innovative, though. At its core, online advertising is also about being relevant. Sure, advertising online will earn your business a gold star in technology, but that’s just the beginning. At its best, online advertising has numerous benefits that will help you set your business apart from its competitors both online and offline. Among those benefits:

1. While online advertising attracts new customers, it also builds loyalty among existing ones.
2. Highly targeted, online advertising is ideal for reaching niche audiences with specific and actionable messages.
3. Because it’s interactive, online advertising is especially suited for up-selling.
4. Advertising on the Internet allows you to collect and analyze results in real time.
5. Advertising online exposes you to new markets; you don’t have to find them because they’ll find you.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Build your online advertising base with banner ads

Among the oldest type of online advertising, banner ads come in many shapes and sizes and are useful in building online brand awareness and driving Web site traffic.

I recommend: Vendors like GW WebDesign, WebPencil.com and Hey Banner Banner specialize in banner ad design and offer affordable Internet marketing services. Once designed, consult Business.com to find banner ad placement services through which to buy space for your ad.

Extend your online advertising reach with e-mail marketing

E-mail marketing is ideal for companies that want to engage in one-to-one advertising on the Internet. Fast, affordable and personable, opt-in e-mails in the form of promotions, newsletters and informational updates offer a direct route into your customers' inboxes.

I recommend: Silverpop, Bronto and SubscriberMail are examples of popular e-mail marketing firms that can be helpful when advertising on the Internet.

Use search engines with online advertising of the PPC variety

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising consists of text ads that appear next to relevant results within popular search engines. A good option for businesses with limited online advertising budgets, you only pay for ads on which customers click.

I recommend: Google AdWords and Yahoo! Sponsored Search are leaders in the PPC online advertising service space.

Benefit from free, targeted online advertising when you use SEO

Because search engines are at the front lines of all online advertising campaigns, search engine optimization (SEO), which can improve your company's search engine rankings with relevant keywords and search terms, is critical.

I recommend: While you can hire SEO consultants like Customer Magnetism, Pepperjam and BlueTent Marketing to optimize your website for you, there are dozens of free optimization tools on sites like KeywordDiscovery.com and WordTracker.com that facilitate your online advertising SEO efforts.

Recruit online advertising partners via affiliate marketing programs

Affiliate marketing programs allow companies that are engaged in targeted online advertising to market themselves on other people's websites; those websites, also known as affiliates, earn a commission for every click they send your way.

I recommend: For targeted online advertising, tap into existing affiliate networks such as those offered by RocketProfit, IncentReward and CommissionSoup.

Kick your online advertising up a notch with rich media

Rich media includes dynamic online advertising that features moving animation and video. Not your average banner ad, it's ideal for companies that want to create eye-catching, high-performance display ads.

I recommend: Learn more about rich media, and locate rich media vendors for your online advertising, via iMedia Connection's directory of Rich Media Services.

Instead of advertising online, consider engaging online

The future of targeted online advertising is not in hard sells, but rather in subtle value adds; consider devoting less of your online advertising budget to traditional Internet marketing services, therefore, and more to investments in emerging, content-driven media, including blogs, podcasts and social networks.

I recommend: While social media veterans like MySpace and Facebook are still popular among online advertisers, consider newer players like Twitter and Second Life when advertising online.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Behind every successful online advertising campaign is a strong Web site; a good ad is worthless without an attractive, professional Web site for consumers to click through to.
• •  Before you buy online advertising, educate yourself on its cost structure; online advertising is typically sold via CPM (cost per thousand), to advertisers who want to pay for exposure; CPC (cost per click), to advertisers who want to pay for traffic; or CPA (cost per action), to advertisers who want to pay only for results.
• •  Avoid advertising online via unauthorized spyware or adware; not only is it unethical, and potentially illegal, but it leaves a bad taste in your customers' mouths.
• •  Online advertising is all about trial and error. If your Internet marketing services don't produce results, don't give up; instead, tinker with your ads' wording, change their placement and pursue new markets.
• •  Use meta tags-coded descriptions of your Web pages that only search engines can read-as invisible online advertising for your business.

Follow online advertising news and trends to learn about industry events, get technology advancement news and track product and services trends. Look for the best of breed offerings from publications provided by online advertising services. Companies serving the advertising industry provide insider perspective and help to gauge the scope of your next advertising campaign.

Social network sites, news feeds, blogs and training seminars deliver cutting-edge tips about what’s happening now. Look for education programs and classes offered for the first time with new edition books. Consider the brand portfolio of your favorite online ad services to learn about your competition. Find out for yourself the effectiveness of blogs and other intreractives.

1. Get insider tips from your online advertising service for a fee.

2. Enroll in Internet advertising classes.

3. Shop for the best Internet marketing and advertising companies with blogs and news feeds.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Download white papers and case studies about online advertising services

Read white papers and research reports for articles containing information regarding best practices in website advertising. Various website advertising companies offer research services for public and client-facing lessons and best practices information.

I recommend: Look to Lazworld.com for their newsletter, white papers, tools, software and even a glossary of terms about Internet advertising and marketing trends and offerings. Learn more about industry trends, performance metrics and benchmarks from DoubleClick research with report downloads.

Educate yourself with online business advertising workshops and seminars

Internet advertising seminars and courses provide news and trends to keep you up-to-date, competitive and improve your skills. Look for services offering accomplished instructors, certificates and online courses. Consider education programs with advertising industry focus.

I recommend: PPC Summit offers workshops on advertiser education. Learn how the experts spend less money and run effective campaigns with companies like Google Adwords, Yahoo! Search Marketing (Overture), Microsoft adCenter (MSN) and other pay per click engines. The Direct Marketing Association offers professionals education services and training with seminars, conferences, in-house programs and certificates to foster improved results in the end-to-end direct marketing process.

Get RSS feeds and blogs for Internet marketing and advertising companies

Stay current on recent events with news alerts from your favorite Internet advertising and marketing services. These publications provide an example of advertising interactives and feature how-to information, trends in technology and news about big names in the industry.

I recommend: Read Advertising Day from a leader in online publishing and B2B advertising for industry news and trends in Internet advertising. Subscribe to The HubSpot Inbound Internet Marketing blog covering SEO, blogging, social media, landing pages, lead generation and analytics to help your business get customers from search engine results, popular blogs and social networks with free offerings including website grader tools, discussion forums and more.

Tips & Tactics

Helpful advice for making the most of this Guide

• •  Computing publications cover technology information about the latest online advertising program.
• •  Consider forums for professional marketers for online advertising news and trends.

Whether you have a brick and mortar company or an ecommerce store, you simply can't avoid online advertising. Internet advertising is a good way to get your message to many people at a fraction of the cost of traditional advertising methods. However, there are many different types of online advertising. Before you throw your hat into the ring, it's a good idea to learn about the various types. For some companies, email marketing is the way to go, but others may want to attract new customers through banner ads or search engine optimization.

Action Steps
The best contacts and resources to help you get it done

Banner ads

Banner ads are one of the oldest forms of advertising on the Internet. They are the graphic, rectangular ads that you often see on websites.

I recommend: View some samples of banner ads at Hey Banner Banner.

Interactive advertising and rich media

More and more companies are using interactive advertising techniques in their online campaigns. These are techniques that encourage the customer to be more interactive, by taking a poll for example. Some companies use rich media, such as videos, as part of an interactive advertising strategy.

I recommend: Search Toppers describes interactive advertising while the University of Washington talks about rich media.

Search engine optimization (SEO)

When people want to find something on the Internet, they enter certain phrases, or keywords, into a search engine. A site that has been search engine optimized will use these exact phrases and is more likely to come up in the top results of the search engine.

I recommend: SEOmoz has a beginner's guide to search engine optimization.

Pay per click (PPC)

Pay per click (PPC) ads are small text or graphic ads placed on a website. You only pay for them when someone clicks. Depending on the topic, each click will cost a few pennies to several dollars.

I recommend: Digital River explains PPC marketing.

Email marketing

Email marketing is another method of advertising online. Rather than advertise through a website, you contact your customers directly through email. This way, you can let them know about sales, new products or anything else. When email marketing, you have to be careful that you get permission to send emails. Otherwise, they will be considered spam and you can face legal repercussions.

I recommend: FindMoreBuyers.com offers some tips for effective email marketing.

Affiliate program

An affiliate program can be an effective way to earn more sales. If you offer an affiliate program, you offer to pay outsiders a percentage of the sale if they send traffic to your website.

I recommend: Nowsell.com discusses affiliate programs in more detail.