Brand Mentions Preferred Over Ads

Via eMarketer: According to ARAnet, based on polling by Opinion Research Corporation, the best way to get Internet users to visit your website or follow your brand may not be advertising.

The report, released today, states that compared with banner ads, pop-up ads, e-mail offers and sponsored links, articles that include brand information were most likely to lead U.S. Internet users to read and act.

They say that a better approach to online marketing efforts include a more PR-focused strategy of getting the word out and building brand awareness, in some cases, "tailoring ads so they look like articles."

“A key finding for marketers is that younger audiences respond to information that reaches them in the form of articles,” said ARAnet president Scott Severson. “More than two-thirds of the respondents between 18 and 34 said they conduct Internet searches for products or services they read about in online articles either very frequently or somewhat frequently.”

The study also indicates that "long-shunned pop-up ads remained the least favorable option for every audience segment, regardless of age, race, income, sex, region or size of household: 87% of respondents said they were not very likely or not at all likely to read and respond to them."

So, a couple of simple things to keep in mind to begin to get your audience engaged with your brand: First, provide useful and relevant content that is engaging in a way that is not product-focused. Second, do your research and know where your audience is spending time online so that you can position content directly to them. Once you begin to do this, it's very important to continuously update this content so your audience has a reason to come back to you over and over again.

~Kristin Gritt, Online Insights Manager