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Kissmetrics Dives Headfirst Into On-Page Ad Optimization

The ad placement on a Web site page can become pretty annoying. Optimizing the ad placement based on a specific question and message can turn a negative experience into a positive, but it's about improving return on investments.

Most marketers make investments in lead generation tools to drive consumers from search advertisements to landing pages, but the industry estimates the average conversation rate at about 3%. Marketers are so focused on optimizing paid-search campaigns on Google and Bing search engines that they sometimes forget optimization tools can improve on the experience once the visitor arrives on their Web site.

Five layouts in a tool Kissmetrics released Wednesday allow marketers to design the advertisement or message around the page and the site visitor. While some layouts focus on reducing abandonment to keep people from leaving, others are a "gentle nudge" to keep someone engaged through recommendations or prompts. A message bar at the bottom of the page can offer coupons.

Kissmetrics calls the tool Engage, which aims to improve conversion optimization on Web site pages. In-app notification and engagements will come built into future versions. It's built on the foundation of Analyze, the company's first platform that tracks how the visitor landed on the site such as search or display ad, or direct from a browser on a mobile device or desktop.

For Kissmetrics, the tool means a bigger focus on building out a suite of tools. Some will help marketers analyze and optimize campaigns, while others will focus on creating tools for C-Suite executives, customer service, and sales. "I can see adding two-to-four products to the suite within and outside of marketing," said Brian Kelley, CEO of Kissmetrics.

It's not an easy task to enter the market and expect success. There are countless optimization tools, from optimizing and analyzing site performance, such as Google's PageSpeed, to automating content optimization from Marketo, all established players.

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