It's new but here to stay

It's new but here to stay

By John S. Tumiwa

JAKARTA (JP): Many people believe in advertising but the
question is, "What is advertising?"

When you discover the real meaning of advertising, it might
change the way you use the traditional and nontraditional media.
However, I will limit the discussion to nontraditional
advertising or Internet advertising.

So what is advertising? Its definition in short is: "Salesman
on print".

Every advertisement on the Internet is nothing but text,
pictures and animation; and they do not talk. Therefore, how you
write it, and what colors you use is very important. Words and
colors are what gets your message across to the person sitting in
front of the screen. They are how you speak on the Internet.

Salesmen talk and negotiate with prospective clients, telling
them everything they want to know, knowing very well that this
may be their only chance.

It is the same when advertising on the Internet. When we write
the script, we have to keep in mind the questions prospective
customers might have. These questions must be answered in the
advert. So make sure your advert is representing your salesmen!

The next question is, "Why advertise on the Net?" The Internet
is different from other media. Here the first impression matters
a lot. When people click on your website, there are three
important aspects they look for, namely, access, content and
design, or ACD

Access is the most crucial aspect. Access to your website must
be quick. Once a person clicks on the website and the access is
slow, he will never come back.

There are two ways to increase the accessing speed of your
website:

1. Hosting your website in Indonesia by choosing a credible
Web hosting company. You should enquire about the company's
bandwidth and the number of clients they have.

2. Hosting your website in the United States. There are a lot
of good Web hosting companies here which one can find by surfing
the search engine "Web hosting".

This way, you can boost your access speed for Indonesian and
overseas viewers.

Of course, if you are targeting the Indonesian market, you
don't need to host your website in the U.S..

Content is another key aspect in promoting your website.
Information must be well-displayed in clear, precise and simple
language -- most people do not want to read through pages and
pages of information.

Like in brochures, all the words must be in "sales" pitch.

Design is another key aspect with regards to navigation and
displays.

Your website should be easily navigated through so that
viewers can get the information they are looking for quickly.
Pictures must be limited since it will affect the loading time --
the more pictures you display, the more time it takes to
download.

When choosing a website to advertise in, consider the
following factors:

1. User profile: Where do are they from? What are their ages?
What is the ratio of males to females? What are their
professions? etc.

Most websites have a statistics software where you can view
the profile of their viewers.

2. The number of hits: How many visitors it receives per day?
How many page views per day? etc.

With these information, you should be able to decide which
website would be effective to advertise in.

Type of Web Ads

Most Indonesian websites charge their clients on a monthly
basis, unlike most international sites which charge clients by
clicks or impression.

The standard method used when charging for Internet
advertisements is CPM (cost per million).

Some companies charge US$20 per CPM which means $20 for 1
million impressions. The more people click on the website, the
more impressions will be generated.

Others charge their clients based on the number of clicks,
popularly called CPC (cost per click), where they charge the
clients once viewers click the banner. Of course this system
benefits the clients.

CPM and CPC are the most common methods used, however, there
are some customized ways, depending on the clients.

Advertising on the Net is new, especially in Indonesia.

However, you should have good results if you keep ACD in mind.
You certainly don't want to lower the image of your company with
a poor website.

The writer is a co-CEO of DoThink.Com