Advertising: Print vs. Online

The Internet-savvy probably have noticed that search engines like Google or Yahoo! display a list of advertisements on the side of the page after a search is performed. The businesses featured in these ads use pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, expecting that when searchers view the results for a word or phrase, like "tanning salons," they might want to click on one of the ads that appear on the side of the page. Presumably, someone who clicks on a Web ad is more likely to buy services than someone perusing a print news page.

Creating a PPC ad—which usually is all text—is easy, and like an eBay auction, advertisers bid for high placement on the page. The highest bid—the amount you will pay per click—gets the most recognizable spot. Then, every time a user clicks on the advertisement and goes to your Web site, you owe the ad host—Google or Yahoo— the bid amount. So, if you bid 5 cents per click and someone clicks on your ad, you owe the host 5 cents.

Keep in mind that the word or phrase you bid on has an effect on how much you will pay for the ad and the amount of response that you will get. For example, a franchise with locations all over the Denver metropolitan area might be tempted to bid on the word "tanning." They’ll reach the broadest audience that way, but they’ll also have to pay a lot for high-page placement or suffer from being buried under other ads. A smarter bid would be on "Denver tanning," where fewer competitors will be trying to advertise.

Essentially, cost-per-impression (CPI) is like buying a newspaper ad for the Web, and it’s similarly tracked with CPM. It operates around the premise that the advertisers pay every time someone views an ad, not necessarily when they click on it. The bidding concept usually doesn’t exist here—instead, you make your own deal with the Web site and buy space.

Some Web sites might agree to sell a cost-per-action (CPA) ad, which means the advertiser has to pay only when someone uses the ad to complete a transaction. Often, this is the best kind of advertisement to buy when running a banner ad or an ad sprawling across the top of a Web page. It’s the safest investment, but exposure may be less and the cost is higher than PPC or CPM. Salons should experiment with all of these and figure out which is the most profitable.

Unlike the print version, listings on YellowPages.com are free. Feature ads will cost you, though. Sign up for a free account at www.yellowpages.com to ensure that loyal Yellow Pages users who have converted to the Internet still find you.

The cardinal sin of online ads is to buy pop-up advertising. Though some say it works, it’s likely to irritate more people than it will attract. Also avoid e-mail spam, which clutters up people’s inboxes and can be illegal. A little extra exposure isn’t worth the risk for these tasteless tactics.

Instead, survey new customers. This is the most-effective way for salons to figure out how their customers heard about them, and after finding out what works and what does not, you can focus on your advertising strengths.

Overall, splitting your advertising resources between the Internet and print mediums is the best way to guarantee that you are reaching the widest possible audience.