Online Video Advertising Tips

My newest article is now live on Entrepreneur.com.  This month, I wrote about online video advertising, which is a great opportunity for businesses to connect with the rapidly growing online audience that actively watches online video. 

You can read the article here and start thinking about how you can add online video advertising into your own business’ marketing plan or add related services to your client offerings.

And you can follow this link to view my previous articles about copywriting and marketing communications published on Entrepreneur.com.

Online Advertising Tip – Make Sure Your Links Work

I saw a great ad on the home page of Yahoo! today for a promotion by Mars (check it out below).  The ad told viewers to click on it to learn more about real chocolate and get a special coupon.  I love chocolate, so I was more than happy to click on the link.  Too bad it didn’t work — even after multiple tries. 

Remember, if you run an ad on a popular website with an offer a lot of people are likely to be interested in, make sure that link is set up to always work.  Get the bandwith you need to handle the traffic, make sure the page loads quickly, and so on.  Do your homework first, so you don’t annoy your consumers later.

Special K Ad Embraces White Space and Gets Noticed

Every advertiser knows (particularly online advertisers) that white space is important, yet it can be so easy to fall victim to the allure of that unused space and fill it up with more messages.  The result is inevitably a confused customer who doesn’t know where to look and ends up simply looking away.

That’s why it’s great to see an ad that makes great use of white space, clean design and simple colors to get noticed in one of the busiest of places – the home page of Yahoo!

Several times yesterday I found myself on the home page of Yahoo!, and each time, my eye was immediately drawn to the ad on the right side of the page.  An ad always appears in that spot, and my eyes have been trained not to notice it.  However, sometimes an ad jumps out at me and makes me take a second look.  Yesterday was one of those days, but instead of just making me take a second look, this ad made me take a second, and third, and fourth look.  Each time I visited Yahoo.com yesterday, I stopped and looked at this ad.  Check it out below.

Taking the ad out of its context, you’d never guess that it could be so visually compelling, but amdist the cluttered mess of the Yahoo! home page, this simple red and white ad for the Special K Challenge stood out like a beacon.  It simply catches the eye and makes you look at it.

Is the message compelling enough?  That’s another story entirely, and the design details could use some tweaking.  But the point is this – the design concept with the stark red and white colors and heavy use of white space worked. 

Just food for thought next time you’re creating an online ad that has to compete with clutter on all sides.  White space is good!  Embrace white space.

What do you think?

Image: Kellogg

Shift from Print Magazine Hits PC Magazine – Now Online Only

Just last week, I wrote a post here on KeySplash Creative Conversations about the shift away from print advertising that is driving many established magazines to resort to layoffs in order to remain profitable.  This week, Ziff Davis announced that its 27-year old PC Magazine will no longer be available in print.  Instead, PC Magazine will be available online only.  The new online version has been rebranded as PCMag.com.

This seems like a natural change since PC Magazine generates 80% of its profits from its existing online content.  Also, circulation of PC Magazine has dropped by half over the course of the past decade.  However, what other magazines are likely to follow suit?  The Christian Science Monitor made inroads in October when it announced the publication would be the first national magazine to move from print to digital only.  It will be interesting to see what other companies make the same change for their print magazines.

What do you think?  Is there still value to print magazine advertising or is the clock ticking?

Image: PCMag.com

Shift from Print Advertising Drives Magazine Layoffs

If anyone doubted that print and television advertising were on the brink of suffering, those doubts have been shattered with the recent layoff announcements by not one, not two, but multiple magazine industry leaders in various categories.  Time, Sports Illustrated, Fortune and Money have not just let executives go recently, but now, each company is seeking voluntary layoff participants to trim expenses.  the culprit – reduced advertising revenue.

The writing has been on the wall that print and television advertising need to prepare for a shift in ad spending from traditional media to online social media.  It could be argued that a business model overhaul is required to keep many of these publications floating above water in the long term. 

What do you think?  Will there always be a place for traditional print magazine advertising, or is the clock ticking?

Image: Flickr