Marketing Strategy not working

[fgrad1]

Hi All,

im currently developing a website to provide a range of services to students (still to be launched)

I've looked into the possibility of selling some of my webpage space so that I may generate some income.

I decided to contact companies who would be I thought might be interesed by sending a pack. This included a letter, all the marketing materials and the details on how much it would cost to 'rent' a space on the site. so far no luck

Can anyone tell me where I went wrong or what I can do to get potential companies to advertise on my site?

Maybe that my site isn't launched yet and I dont have the number of visitors per month for my site might be the main problem...

[JamieM]

Originally posted by fgrad1

Maybe that my site isn't launched yet and I dont have the number of visitors per month for my site might be the main problem...

Exactly. No one will advertise on a site without knowing the amount of exposure their ad will get.

You need to launch first, get thousands of visitors a day and only then 'might' it be a viable advertising opportunity for someone.

[m8internet]

As above, your advertisers will want details of how many visitors or hits in a set time frame

You don't need to provide proof, but at least an indication from your logs or Stats program
However, if there is a link to a Stats program so that advertisers can see the proof then that will normally satisify them

Advertising rates should either be in a fixed-fee format or per thousand impressions
Again, if you are charging per impressions then the advertisers may want to be able to access and see proof of this, whereas with fixed-fee this is not normally necessary

One of my transport websites has 5000 visitors a day
We tried adverts based on impressions and it didn;t work
We then added quarterly and annual advertising, based on a rate of £15 per quarter, and all the spaces were sold within a few weeks
This was all done from a simple "advertise here" image on our website

[ManchesterOnlinePrint]

Your marketing isn't working because you don't have anything that people want. I get about 25 offers a week like this.

Unless I see the website, the stats and CTR, then I am not even going to reply to the email or phone call.

Try using adsense on the site to generate income. Also give some space away to large companies for free, this will make you look bigger than you are and generate interest.

MCR

[mursell]

Why not let them 'sample' it first. Once launched give them some free advertising, meet their expectations (or exceed them!) and then they will be willing to pay.

[fgrad1]

great feedback here...thanks to all, I think I will do as suggested and contact
potential clients after I have launched my site and got some solid figures on visitors etc

about adverts/banners, is this fairly easy to create in a program like Macromedia Fireworks?

[kaizer7]

ditto with the guys above. You need to launch your site and provide evidence of visitors etc. Then you can start contacting companies.

Banners come in the following sizes:

728x90 Leaderboard
468x60 Full Horizontal Banner
234x60 Half Banner
120x90 Button Banner
120x60 Button Banner
88x31 Micro Button
125x125 Square
250x250 Square
300x250 Medium Rectangle
336x280 Large Rectangle
160x600 Vertical Banner
120x240 Vertical Banner
120x600 Vertical Banner


There are lots of software programs to create banners online. Just google 'create banner ads' or something similar. If you have a knack for
graphic design you can create static banners in Photoshop, fireworks etc and animated banners using flash.

HTH

[nickt]

Without any site traffic it's unlikely anyone will buy ad space as essentially they are buying nothing. Best options would be when you lanuch (as I think people have already mentioned):

1. give away a freebie so that you can get a case study & stats of an advertiser that has worked

2. use adsense until you have enough traffic to sell direct

[eatderby]

Hi

I agree with what everyone has said above. You are in a similar situation to us launching a new magazine and selling a blank page. We launched the Derby Restaurant Awards which generated revenue for the magazine but also show prospective customers copies of our editorial sections and photography which will appear in the first issue. Can you not show examples of web pages to your potential customers? This helps build credibility. We also have emailed some celebrity chefs and have been allowed to use interviews with them. Can you contact anyone famous in your field to perhaps link them in anyway?

Good Luck

Lyndsey

Live to EAT...