Online advertising - Average click through rates by ad size

I noticed this interesting chart from Marketing Sherpa this morning that highlights average click-through rates for online ads, as determined by ad size (pixels). There were not references made to the quality of the ad, animation, or call-to-action, so I take this with a grain of salt. However, this does provide a good baseline from which to start comparisons for your own online marketing campaigns.

The season of the snowplow flier

It must be December. Sure enough, yesterday I found the fifth single-page flier promoting various snow removal services just in time for the first flakes of the season. That wasn't too surprising considering that here in the New England, it's pretty common to receive at least a few offers to move the white stuff and save my aching back. The one thing that did surprise me about the flier is that it caught my eye (unlike the few that arrived before this one). It had three critical elements - color, an offer, and a picture of a hefty plow on the front of a nice looking truck.

Now, I try to keep an open mind when I periodically receive marketing fliers - it's my first nature to cast a critical eye on everything from the font to the design because that's my background.

But, the fact of the matter is that by taking a few extra minutes here and there, entrepreneurs such as the snow removal service can create something that is engaging and differentiating from the competition.
First, this flier contained colored text and pictures - instantly eye-catching. Second, this flier highlighted a no-gimmick opportunity to enjoy a complimentary snow removal anytime early this winter to prove the merits of the service and reliability of the driver (nice touch - how many times have you seen this??). And the picture of the plow featured a brand new truck with a huge plow - sure, it could be a picture randomly grabbed off the Internet, but it made me think that no blizzard would keep this truck from making it to my house, even in the worst conditions.

Anyway, I'll tell you what - I am going to take this plow service up on their offer. And who knows, they might just convert me to a customer.

A few keys here:
1) Use color on all your fliers - no matter how insignificant you deem them to be
2) Include a solid, can't-miss offer to the recipient -- in this economy "complimentary" services have high value; let people try your service or product first.
3) Create a "brand" through images -- in this case, the flier communicated reliability and promt service

Thanks for reading!
And until next time....

Marketing during a recession - Rethinking costly approaches

I just happened to run into a very interesting report from Marketwire entitled "Top 10 Strategies for Boosting ROI Despite Shrinking Budgets and Dwindling Resources" that summarizes various marketing strategies, with data and case examples to back them up. This is really good reading for the small business owner.

You may see the report here (basic registration is required):
http://www.marketwire.com/mw/include.do?module=&pageid=746

One of the important points that I took away from the article is the suggestion of ramping up permission-based marketing tactics... Yeah, we've heard it all before. But, the reality is that blogging is replacing costly trade shows; social media is replacing direct mail campaigns; RSS news feeds are replacing email blasts & quarterly newsletters. Not to mention that organic search results in top search engines are more critical than ever. Who has the budget to spend thousands of dollars per month on ppc campaigns?

Anyway, I hope you'll grab the Marketwire paper - it's definitely worth a read.

Upgrade Your Small Business Marketing Efforts!

Welcome to the Fisher Marketing blog, a community forum to discuss marketing best practices for small businesses and entrepreneurs.

We are very excited to launch this blog, and look forward to valuable contributions from our internal and external contributors and most importantly - you. Our objective with this blog is to grow a forum where all folks with an interest in small business marketing can post their views. What works for you? What hasn't worked in this economy, and why?

We will touch upon all facets of marketing for small businesses - traditional marketing, public relations, grassroots marketing, social media marketing, Web marketing, and customer relationship marketing. From branding to newsletters, we will cover it all.

Although this blog is managed by Fisher Marketing on the North Shore of Massachusetts, we do not see this as a soapbox from which to talk about our marketing services. Rather, the intent is to create a community of small business owners and entrepreneurs with a keen interest in learning about and/or sharing their marketing experiences.

So, we hope you will return often, and contribute your ideas to this forum. In these tough times every bit of constructive suggestions will be welcome!