(Click on it for a full view and time)

There is nothing that makes me gag more than a McDonalds Angus Third Pounder at 7:48am. I don’t know if I could stomach that at lunch or dinner time, but come on do I really need to see it this early??!! Ewww

But, Pandora, we need to talk. I don’t know what you’re trying to say about me with your recent ads. Does my love of Dragonettes ‘I get around’ and my thumbs uping of Uh Huh Her’s ‘Explode’  imply that I’m a little bit of a whore? Do you think my recent addition of 50 Cent’s “Have a Baby By Me” is a sign that I desperately need birth control? Is that why 90% of the display ads I saw today were for NuvaRing?

I don’t know if the ads were due to behaviroal targeting (I was actively shopping for high heels and looking up bars in SF) or if Pandora was profiling my song choices (check out the above mentioned here, here and here).

One more thing, and this ones for the NuvaRing people, I really don’t want to check out how easy your product is to use. I was terrified there was going to be some sort of how to video. One of the easiest ways to  reduced CTR and decrease engagement – using the word vaginal in your copy and vaguely imply that by clicking the user will see a how to insert video.

(Aren’t you so glad I brought this blog out of retirement?)

Your ads are creeping me out! Who cares if this image is real or fake or how many people can’t pass the illusion test. You have put an image to my head that I will never be able to unsee.

Totally Disturbed,

Erin

Maybe if advertisers created better, more interesting and less incredibly disturbing ads users would not be so against display ads on their favorite sites.

(via @jholic)

Unfortunately CPM is going to be a hard stat to shake from a media buyers mind and impossible to remove from the publishers sales lingo. To me CPM is the same thing as traditional media’s ratings. It is a value placed on the popularity of the site/show, without considering the target audience or their ultimate actions; but target audience is everything.

Are people clicking? Does anyone notice the ad? Of those 1000 people per $30, how many are ins the market to even buy our product? And of those who is actually going to take action?

Few sites (and absolutely no traditional) take it beyond the number of eyeballs an ad reaches and determine cost based on engagement, acquisition or another viable statistic. Some might argue it is unfair that a publisher have to rely on how the capabilities of the advertiser, however I think it would push publishers to select the right advertisers and deliver them to a viable target audience. Right now, publishers are willing to let just about anyone advertise, take a look at CNN or Facebook if you don’t believe me. Spammy, bad ads which just drive down a users willingness to click on ads. Clean up the ad space and users will actually find display ads a source of information on products.

We have the technology, we have the data, we just need to push to make the ad system better, more effective and a hell of a lot less annoying.

Of those who searched for a product or company 39% ended up buying from the brand that motivated their search (via). What happened to the other 61% and how do you keep your share (and steal some of your competitors)? How do you use those search trends to improve both your online and traditional media placement? How do you make sure your online and traditional efforts are cohesively working together?

Well I’d love to say follow a few simple steps and you’re golden, it’s not that easy. As web is almost all in real time these days, you have to consistently monitor, adjust and analyze. These are the top five things I would recommend –

1) Use the keywords, phrases and terminology that are incorporated in your traditional media. If your TV says you are having a “Spectacular Sale” then buy that search term. People might not remember everything about your ad, but hopefully they catch on to the most important messages. People will then go online to try and fill in the missing pieces of your message to find you.

2) Know what your competitors are doing and buy into those search terms. If you’re trying to steal market share and especially if you’re trying to steal that 61%, then use their traditional and online keywords to build into your search terms. If your competitor is running a direct mail campaign on “anniversary tennis bracelets”- buy those keywords!

3) If you are a local store, dealership or a franchise, then piggy back on the investment of national whenever possible. We do it all the time in traditional media; flighting schedules, adding in stations and mimicking parts of their message to make the dollars stretch. Do the same online but geo-target (down to the zip code if possible). Don’t work to spend more than national and try to buy 1-3 sponsored spots, but put enough money down to be above the fold to build the association with national within your DMAs.

3) Monitor your website and search analytics throughout your traditional media placement. Figure out how long after your TV campaign starts, does the audience turn online and search for you and when do you see a spike in sales. Use that information to strategically flight your media placement for the best efficiencies. Follow your analytics and sales to determine what media drives your targets online, in store, to the phones or not at all. Some traditional media is hard to track, so tie all you efforts together to figure out how the audience responds to you message and placements.

4) Anticipate the trends and be proactive.

5) Track the offline results as well. Not all of those who moved to online search complete their transaction online so make sure you have a system in place to track the in-store visits. Printable coupons, vanity phone numbers, special deals, text campaigns, and surveys can all be put to use .