Small Business owners weigh in on ROI in Banner Ads

In 2010, small businesses will use fewer banner ads in their internet marketing campaigns according to a survey conducted by Vertical Response. The survey, that talked to 831 small business owners (632 with a staff less than 10), indicates that 54.2% do not plan to use internet marketing budgets for banner advertising. However, 68.4% do plan to increase social media marketing efforts, and a whopping 96.2% plan to use e-mail marketing. Nearly one quarter (23.8%) felt that Internet Marketing "...was the tool most needed for small business to succeed in 2010."

Small Businesses can only model themselves after the extensive2009 internet marketing campaigns & consumer purchasing data conducted by the bigger names.

The Daily Beast, news reporting website has started to integrate banner ads within the website content."Banners are small and standard, and have been in exactly the same place for so many years it's an easy user behavior to ignore them," said Caroline Marks, GM, "We felt the need to challenge the existing product set and look for new products to help advertisers leverage the benefits of interactivity."

Digg, ratings website, now permits consumers the ability to "digg" banner ads in the same way they "digg" other website content. Chas Edwards, the chief revenue officer says, "We need to find ways for brands to borrow the grammar of the user experience."

Meebo, the chat website, uses custom banner ads - the ads start out as the traditional 728 x 90 size, but then expand to 900 x 400 when a user clicks on it. "With the Web awash in ad impressions, there's a need to stand out in the market," said Martin Green, CIO.

Despite the belied by small business owners that banner ads are ineffective, website consumers seem to disagree. A May 2009 survey of 1575 users, commissioned by iProspect, showed that a significant number DO notice banner ads, even if they do not click them. Almost half of them (49%) said that they eventually search for a product or service that they saw advertised, and 38% go to a related website after performing the search. Reports like this show that small businesses need to put more thought into their banner ads. It is imperative that getting creative with banner location within website content, using more appealing graphics, and a thorough analysis of consumer trends will clearly optimize banner ad investments.

By Kimberly Stanley