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