By Bob West
Enewsletters and media websites represent two of the most significant digital advertising opportunities available to marketers, and many clients wrestle with which medium should get their ad dollars. Here’s a quick look at the advantages offered by both options as well as some thoughts on when you may want to use them.
The lower price of enewsletter advertising appeals to many marketers, although it’s important to note that most media companies price their enews ads per week. Garnering month-long visibility via an enewsletter then generally necessitates buying ads in four sends. Regardless, enewsletter ads can stretch a budget to provide a presence throughout the year.
Both enewsletter and online advertising obviously hold potential for driving traffic to advertisers’ websites, and the enewsletter ads generally perform better in terms of their click-through rates. Enewsletters represent media vehicles delivered directly to the audience’s in box, and those individuals subscribing to an industry enewslsetter are likely among the more sophisticated and forward-thinking in the industry. They also tend to work at larger businesses, thereby adding to the value of each ad impression.
Enewsletter advertising makes particular sense in the following situations:
- Event-specific advertising, such as around a trade show or during a certain time of year; and
- When looking for visibility over the longest portion of the year while stretching a budget.
Online ads carry much of the same value but with other features, too. For starters, the sheer volume of impressions they generate makes them much more effective branding / awareness-building tools and typically results in a higher number of click-through visits on an ad, even if that online ad has a lower click-through rate.
This high number of ad impressions and 30 days worth of exposure comes at a cost, making one online ad more expensive than one enewsletter ad. But the volume of impressions generated by each online ad also makes these online ads a much more cost-effective option on a CPM basis.
Marketers also have a more dynamic menu of ad unit options from which to choose when going online, both in terms of ad size and the ability to use attention-grabbing audio, video and / or animation in their ad.
So, online ads make sense for companies looking to:
- Maximize their visibility and click-through activity
- Create an impact, such as around product launches or signification promotions
The author is the Director of Interactive Sales at Meister Media. Feel free to contact him at 440-602-9129 or [email protected] to discuss how you can develop your enewsletter and website budgeting.