• by Andrew Ettinger , November 3, 2008

I spend my days speaking with lots of advertisers. Some have fully embraced online advertising; others are just dipping their toes in the water. If you spend too much time with the former, you forget that the latter group is actually a lot bigger. The Web is a scary place for newcomers. Managing your first online campaign is like a having a baby: It's well-worth the effort, but far harder than you imagine. Plus, there's lots of crying. That's why you should know what to expect when you're expecting to go online.

Having a baby requires a lot of forethought. It is a supremely bad idea to just show up at home one day and say, "Look, honey, I brought home a baby." Where will the baby sleep? What will the baby eat? Will the baby be guided toward a career in marketing? Similarly, going online requires not just a plan but also goals - the more specific, the better. This is where many first-timers go astray: They focus on inputs (the creative units) without sufficiently planning outputs (goals). Different types of creative will deliver different types of results. Therefore, you don't make your creative before you set your goals. Online goals must be ultra-specific. If you want Web site traffic, how much, exactly, do you want? If you want coupon downloads, how many, precisely? Only after you decide the output goal can you determine the relevant inputs.

Online campaigns generate data overload. You will get all sorts of information: impressions, clicks, CTR, reach, frequency, CPAs, eCPMs, etc. Which is the most important? Without examining your business, I can't tell you. Nobody can. Like babies, each campaign is different. Again, this is why you need ultra-specific pre-campaign goals. Each fact is in itself important, but only in the context of your desired outcome can you tell which fact is most important.

If you don't want people to click on your ads, skip to the next paragraph. But if you do want clicks, get to the point. Web is not like TV. You don't have the luxury of being coy. Do not wait until the last loop, the last frame, to announce your brand. For new advertisers, simpler is better. Consumers online have short attention spans; scientifically speaking, fireflies may pay attention longer. Therefore, make a simple but compelling reason for them to click.

When getting on the information superhighway, expect traffic delays. The trafficking process presents the most technically challenging aspect of all media buying. When you consider the different placements, publishers and ad servers, you see there's almost limitless opportunity for the most minor of errors to bring the process to a halt. It is not uncommon to send out perfectly fine ads only to have them not function. This is annoying but normal; at this point, you realize that QA (quality assurance) might as well stand for Questions and Answers. You have Questions and nobody has Answers. This is when much of the screaming and crying usually occurs.

Finally, after all of this, your campaign will be alive. Screenshots are good visuals, but they don't mean much. Instead, rely on your third-party ad server for confirmation that you're up and running. Ad-serving companies like Mediaplex and DART deliver reporting in near real-time. They serve the ads to the publishers and track exactly how many impressions have been served. Ad servers provide neutral verification that your ads are running exactly as they should. Think of them as expensive baby monitors for your campaign.

Online media seems intimidating because of all the technical jargon, but in reality it's not that complicated. If you have a game plan and ask a lot of questions, you will be successful. Those are the only things standing between you and online success. Now that you know what to expect, jump in.

Andrew Ettinger is the director of interactive media at RJ Palmer Media Services. (aettinger@rjpalmer.com)