Do Banner Ads Work In 2008?

There was a time when I relied heavily on banners. After all, they look kinda cool floating in your right or left nav, and they add a spice of color to your design. But after awhile I noticed they were getting few clicks and generating even fewer sales.

So years ago I started limiting my use of banner ads and increased my content. I began to notice that my text links converted at a much higher rate than any banner ad because I used my content to PREsell my audience on whatever I was recommending.

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PREselling is a concept coined by Ken Evoy that involves the process of “warming your visitor up” to buy with useful, informative content that is relevant to their needs.

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So after this little discovery, I hardly used banners and continued to focus on writing content that PREsold my audience.

Then in late 2007, Ken Evoy announced a bunch of new banners to help us promote his product, Site Build It!. I wasn’t overly excited because of what I’d learned about banners. But the designs were so eye-catching I couldn’t help but to try one.

To my surprise one banner began converting around 2-3% most months. Not bad for a graphic that costs me nothing but time to add, and has generated up to $600 some months.

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SiteSell pays $75 for each sale you generate as an affiliate, and the amount recurs for every customer every year.

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This caused me to think about why this particular banner was so successful over other banners I’ve tried for other products.

It occurred to me…

1. The message on the banner was clear and spoke to my audience

2. I PREsell the product in multiple places on my site with content, so people who clicked the banner and bought SBI! probably had been exposed to the product before. (Most people never buy on the first exposure.)

2a. Not to mention, I openly state and show that I use the product and make money, so that always help when you’re trying to PREsell anything.

3. Since I don’t use a lot of banners, my audience tends to pay more attention when I do add them. (When you focus on providing more content and less advertising, people tend to pay more attention when you take the time to promote a particular product.)

I’m still not a fan of relying too heavily on banners, but this is a reminder that they can work.

With plenty of targeted traffic, the right banner message, credibility and enough PREselling content on your site, even today, banners can still become an integral part of your monetization plan.

Just remember, sometimes less is more.