return of display advertising

watch out - the annoying display ad you just couldn't close is the old guard of a new trend in engaging display advertising. well, maybe not new, but a trend i just learned about.

The World's Best Banner Ads (And Why They Worked)

factors for effective display ads:
-give user reason to click (reward)
-sense of urgency
-entertaining
-interesting placement on page

the traditional method to evaluate effective TV advertising follows the framework below:
A - attracts attention
B - communicates clear benefit
L - links to brand equity
E - executed well, consistent with other executions

facebook marketing = relationship building

marketing (advertising) on Facebook is a fuzzy art. expect to do brand-building and relationship building over weeks and months, test out positioning and calls to action, and watch your budget.

see article.

Web Analytics & Flash Sales

It's tough to figure out which private ecommerce sites are doing well.

Since user acquisition and retention are key revenue drivers, you can use a few useful tools to understand and analyze site analytics. The open question is which of these sites provides the most info. Compete allows you to compare traffic and other web analytics across several sites. Alexa allows you to scope out web analytics for a particular company.

On the topic of ecommerce trends, I've noticed a lot of excitement around Flash Sale site (sites selling luxury brands at a major discount for a set period of time. Besides Groupon, Living Social is popular, as well Rue La La.

Deal Shopping

Learned of another site that gives bargain deals on broad categories, from apparel to housewares to CDs. http://www.shopohlala.com/index.html