Category: Advertising
B2B websites can offer huge opportunities for international traders. This article offers detailed information on how these business to business websites work.
A B2B website serves two parties – the buyer and the seller. These are also known as leads. The main function of this website is to enable visitors to find the leads they want in the shortest possible time. A buyer may be looking for seller leads, and a seller may be looking for buyer leads.
By using the search function, one can easily locate the right type of leads on a B2B website. The search tool will allow a visitor to search by country, and to view only buyer or seller leads. The search starts when the visitor enters a few keywords (likely to be keywords for some product or service), select the required options, and click on the search button. The website will then make a query to the database and return the search results.
Alternatively, a visitor may choose to browse the leads in the business directory. Similarly, he can choose to see leads from a certain country, or only buyer or seller leads. These two simple functions will help the visitor locate the leads that he wants quickly.
To serve the needs of international traders, the better B2B websites even allow freight forwarders to list their services for free. This is important for any import export business. With the information, an online visitor can easily check the charges for using these services when importing from various countries. In addition, you may also expect to see information for trade show events that are posted for free by trade event organizers.
Given the numerous benefits offered by B2B websites, one would expect a listing to be pricey. However, contrary to popular believe, a listing in a B2B website can cost as little as 25 USD a year. Often, B2B also allow businesses to sign up for free. They do so because they want businesses to try out their services, and also because they want to attract as many leads as possible. Active B2B directories with many active business listings are certainly more valuable to international traders.
Sometimes, when visiting a B2B website, you may come across a special feature called “Keyword Auction”. Keyword auction allows businesses to bid for higher positions in the B2B directory. For example, when a user searches using a keyword phrase “phone”, your contact details may be listed at the bottom of the page. As such, the user didn’t have a chance to contact you. For more exposure, you may want to consider using this feature to bid for a higher position. This gives you greater visibility, and will allow you to receive more leads.
Finally, for maximum exposure, you can always buy banner advertising on a B2B website. This is more costly than listing services or keyword auction, but it will attract attention more easily. If the products and services you offer have a more general appeal, this advertising channel may work well for you.
As you can see, there are many ways to advertise your services on a B2B website. Be sure to choose those that will give you the maximum return on investment.
The conventional way of pay per click advertising has become pass as no more is the idea of an advertisement appearing on the side of search engine an option that works as expected and there is always a desire for something more that will draw instant attention. This is where contextual advertising comes into prospect and acts like a breath of fresh air for the ad publishers.
Contextual advertising
Actually contextual advertising is basically a form of pay per click advertising where the ads get displayed like banner ads or pop-ups on other websites that share the same keyword as the keywords used in your advertisement. Contextual advertising is supposedly a favorable way of advertising as it is considered a source of targeted audience and the click rate as well as conversion rate too is supposedly higher here. With contextual advertising whenever people type a keyword on the search engine, they get to view your advertisement as well as the content of the website. With this mode of advertising there are dual benefits, not only the publisher gains clicks but also the website publishing the ad gets traffic.
In text ads
Where we are discussing contextual advertising, we cannot miss on in text ads. Now these ads are supposedly an advanced form of contextual advertising and are most preferred by webmasters across the globe. In text ads appear to be less pushy and more targeted than any other form of pay per click advertising. Actually what happens here is that the keyword used by you and the publishing website is same and therefore the keyword becomes the source of advertisement. The keyword in the content of the website where you are publishing your contextual ad has double underline as well as a bubble .So whenever anybody moves the cursor on the keyword, the bubble gets display where there is precise information regarding the publisher as well as advertisement. If the viewers get impressed and interested by the information then they can click on the bubble and o through your contextual advertisement and if they are not interested then they can ignore it.
Muthurwa-South East Commercial Park-35 acres.
OCTOBER 2010 LISTING WESTLANDS
Westlands 4.125 acres Peponi Gardens @ 480 m Negotiable Westlands 2.1 acre Eldama Ravine @ 160m negotiable[prime for redevelopment to town houses] Westlands 3. 1 acre ring road @ 200m . Ideal for development of flats. Riverside drive-0.657 acres @ 110m Muthangari-Kabarsorian Drive 10 bdr. House on 1 acre with swimming pool @ 110m. Westlands Junction of Chiromo Lane/Westlands Road 0.5 acre Westlands 3rd gate from Continental Hotel acre Westlands 1/3rd acre opposite Holiday Inn .Old Bungalow @ 70m. Westlands Rhapta road acre with 8 flats Westlands Rhapta road acres with old house Westlands opposite C.C.K after Kianda School 1 acre @ 110m Lavington 1 acre Ndoto road[coming soon] Lavington Mugumo Drive-5 bedroomed ensuite 1 acre @ 100m Valley arcade 1 acre ideal for flats @ 110m. Kilimani along Kirichwa road 1.6 acres @ 230m Kilimani-Junction of Ndemi road and Muringa road. 2.2.acres @ 350m. Kilimani Along Joseph Kangethe road. 1.6 acres @ 170m.
KAREN Karen 5 Acres. Tree lane. Red soil @ 22m per acre Karen 8 acres next to Banda schol @ 20 m per acre Karen 2.5 acres next to Shade Hotel with 5 bedroomed house @ 90m. Karen Don Bosco 2.5 acres @ 18 m per acre Karen Don Bosco 4 acres @ 18m per acre Ngong town 1/8 acre @ 5.2 m Langata . 23 acres next to Langata Barracks @ 15m per acre
KAREN 25 acres subdivided into 5 No. 5 acre plots @ 22m per acre-Next to Catholic University 10.5 acres @ 15m per acre near Banda School. L.R No. 7793/9 UPPER HILL 1 Acre opposite KASNEB @ 200m
UPPER HILL Upper Hill 2 acres @ 400m opposite Kadhis Court Upper hill next to Taj Apartments Matumbato road acres @ 100m per acre Upper hill next to KASNEB 0.6 ACRES @ 130m Upper Hill next to KASNEB 2.6 acres @ 200m per acre
Ruiru Bypass 49 acres @ 2.2m per acre 47 acres @ 2.2m per acre 50 acres @ 2.2.m per acre Ruiru Town next to NTBS Colloege 10 acres @ 20 m per acre KISERIAN Kiserian Pipeline Ruirie area 2 pieces each of 10 acres@ 900k per acre Kiserian Pipeline 100 acxres Kiserian Pipeline 100 acres @ 1 m per acre MOMBASA ROAD Mombasa road at Athi River turnoff 116 acres @ 7m per acre Syokimau 5 acres @ 30m per acre. 2 km form Mombasa road Kitengela 15 acres 2nd row @ 1.6m per acre[17km from Kitengela town] Embakasi Utawala 12 acres @ 2.8m per acre Syokimau-3 km from Mombasa road. 12 acres @ 5.5 m per acre
EASTLEIGH 1.Pangani 1/4acre old house@32 m 2. Eastleigh section 3 . 1/4acre @ 35m
Various parcels. Price on request.
KITENGELA Various parcels. Price on request.
# Ngong Rd, acre near Adams Arcade,fronting Road- Office Block/Apartments, 120M # Westlands 1.5Acres,Chiromo Rd,Hotel, Office Block – 390M # Msa Rd, 2.5 Acres, behind Tuskys Godown, 45 M # Msa Rd, near KPA, 3 Acres, 18M – # Msa Rd, 10Acres- Touching tarmac, after Mlolongo -Prime for housing Estate- 10M per # Msa Rd, 20Acres-near KPA-Industrial-10M per acre # Syokimau, 5Acres- 2km frm Msa Rd — Highly developed area- 25M.. # Dagoretti Corner-0.5acres /Wanyee Rd, at the end of Riara Rd — 30M # Thika Rd, Clayworks, 1/8th, touching tarmac for flats – 7M # Langata, behind Carnivore – acre-Commercial/Flats – Fronting road – 18M # Langata, 1.5Acres- near NHC- – For Apartments – 35M # Ruaka/Limuru Rd – On tarmac-1/4Acre-Flats-12M
Larger Parcels ranging from 10 – 3000 Acres available in various places like Msa Rd, Thika Rd, Kitengela, Nyandarua, Nanyuki, Kiambu Rd, Ruiru etc. 1 Mombasa road. Near City Cabanas 4 acres @30m per acre 5 acres @ 30m per acre 10 acres @ 30m per acre 20 acres @ 30m per acre 2. Joska near Kamulu[very fertile land] 40 acres 18 km from main road @ 550,000 per acre 20 acres 3 km from main road @ 500,000 per acre 3. School. 1.5KM from Joska,opposite V.O.K. 8 Acres containing borehole and School bus. 14m 4. House on acre land for sale ,Joska @ 3.5m 5. 100 x 100 ft plot for sale near Bypass Embakasi Ranching Company @ 1.2m. 6. 100 x 100 ft plot for sale Embakasi Ranching Cvompany near Bypass @ 1m 7. 11 acres Giathie Farm @ 2.2m per acre 8. Tractor for sale @ 1.5m 9.Joska 40 acres 3 km from main road @ 550,000 per acre 10.House and 100ft x 100ft plot near Dune, Joska @ 1.3m
Francis Gichuhi www.a4architect.com +254721410684
Advertising as a career field is very popular in India and even across the globe. It is one field that encompasses skill, creativity, recognition, money, rewards in ways not many career fields can boast of. Also, it is not a restrictive field in a way that students from across streams can aspire to enter into the world of advertising. There are various advertising courses that one can opt for after graduation or post graduation and get into this field. Combined with the right education and training, it is the soft skills of a person that ensure success in this career.
If you are also looking to take up an advertising course to get into this field, it will be good to get a realistic picture of what the career is all about, what the different fields are that one can pursue and what is it that one should expect after joining this field. It does look quite glamorous from the outside but those who work in it will vouch for the fact that the kind of hard work and perspiration that goes behind it is quite something. It comes with its share of fun and fulfillment that one may not be able to find in other career fields but all of it is earned the hard way. So, if you are also searching for the right courses in advertising to make a career in this field, this write-up will give you an overview of what advertising is all about.
Advertising is basically a service industry that facilitates the communication of ideas and information to promote products, services or even individuals to consumers. Since, the world and market demands are changing very fast, it is expected of the advertising world to keep coming up with the most creative and innovative ideas to promote a product. So, the value of and idea and then of course its execution is very important in the world of advertising. That way, it is very people oriented. Once the idea hits a chord with the consumers, it helps build a relationship between the consumer and the producer. What will work is a tricky thing to figure out. Depending on the product that is being promoted and the target audience, the advertising campaigns have to differ in flavour and content. Sometimes, very simple ideas work wonders and at times, grand ideas fail to enthuse the audience.
There are various big and small advertising agencies that take up assignments from clients and produce campaigns that suit their specifications. The campaigns are meant at promoting sales, to create a positive image of the product being promoted and also to educate the public about anything that needs to be communicated. Within advertising, there are various fields that one can work for. For instance, there is client servicing, creative department, media department, production, television and film, photography, market research, exhibition and event management. As per the skills, one can take up the field that one wants to work in. Those who are very creative obviously become a part of the creative department.
Usually, advertising courses are offered at postgraduate level. There are degree, diploma and certificate courses in advertising that one can opt for at government or private colleges. To pursue an advertising course, generally the eligibility is that one should be a graduate in any discipline with minimum 50 per cent marks. There would be an entrance exam or interview before the admission is granted. Some private institutes bypass this step and give admission basis the number of seats available.
In the curriculum of the course in advertising, a collective training of all aspects of advertising is given. There would be an overview of communications to understand the basics of communicating well an defectively. Then there is an introduction to research methods, combined with an understanding of marketing issues. Since advertising is primarily a wing of marketing only, it is essential to get a hold on what marketing is all about. Apart from this, the course would include financial and creative aspects of advertising; public relations; media planning and the required technical training in graphics and production. Since, graphics play an important role in producing advertising campaigns, it is essential to know the basic know-how of advertising.
One could either opt for a specialized course in advertising or a general course in mass communication, where advertising is taken up as a subject along with public relations and journalism. Since there are many career opportunities in this field, there is a lot of demand of this course too. One could work with advertising agencies, market research agencies and companies, advertising sections of radio, television and newspapers or join the marketing and advertising department of private and public sector companies. This way, advertising offers quite a promising career if one is willing to put in the required effort with loads of creativity.
Few useful links:
http://www.shiksha.com/
http://media.shiksha.com/getCategoryPage/colleges/media/All/All/Advertising
Don’t agree?
Please ask your wife, husband or significant other-in other words, the nearest typical consumer-to answer the following 7 questions:
1.Does viewing pop-up ads on your computer curl your toes in orgasmic delight? Yes or No?
2.Does a mailbox filled with junk mail cause your palms to itch and sweat with nervous anticipation? Yes or No?
3.Do you suffer from outbursts of violent anger when a TV commercial is interrupted by a TV movie? Yes or No?
4.Do you prance around the parking lot with ecstatic abandon whenever you find a flyer on your car’s windshield? Yes or No?
5.Does keeping a phone next to your soup spoon on your dinner table (for fear of missing the next telemarketer’s call) help your digestion? Yes or No?
6.Do you drink pots of black coffee at 10 pm so you can stay awake to watch 30-minute infomercials at 4 am? Yes or No?
7.Do you drool at the thought of spending $300 on an iPhone just so you can see interactive ads on its big, cool screen? Yes or No?
Have I made my point? Yes or No?
Advertising is dead. If you’re a marketer… save your money.
Consumers have been over-advertised to and over-sold.
Unless you’re conducting a white sale, fire sale or going out of business sale-and halving or quartering your prices-advertising won’t get you a bang, a whimper or a nickel for your buck. Not anymore.
The only ads that still earn their keep are those in newspapers and on supermarket windows that read:
Big SALE Buy 1 Can of Campbell Soup for 89 Cents and Get a 2nd Can-FREE! Supplies limited! (or something like that)
Beyond that, the first reaction most consumers have when viewing any other type ad is not to believe anything it says.
And if they have no need, desire or knowledge of you, your product or your service, their second reaction is to play basketball. Their arm and hand muscles reflexively contract, causing them to roll up your ad into a tight little ball and shoot for the nearest basket.
Beware the Consumer’s Anti-Ad Third Eye
Because the consumer has become so desensitized to advertisements in general, if you don’t shove your ad, sales letter or flyer directly and firmly into their hands-they won’t even notice it.
It’s as if they’ve developed an anti-ad third eye that instinctively alerts them to an ad’s presence and then immediately shoot’s a signal to the brain-instructing their other two eyes not to see it.
For example…
How often, when surfing the web, have you run across a web page with a bright red, 40-word, one-sentence headline, ending with an exclamation mark or two or three?
Unless you’re searching for that particular web page, the average information-seeking web-surfer will immediately recognize that site as an ad, and click away-without even reading two words of it.
The same thing happens when reading the newspaper, or driving past a billboard on the highway…consumers simply refuse to look at the ads.
So What’s a Marketer to Do?
Advertorialize!
Huh? I’ll explain…
The success of the internet has proven one thing above all else. Human beings, which includes consumers, are addicted to information.
Google, the internet version of a library card catalog, exists, thrives, dominates and will eventually own the world, because consumers are in a constant, never-ending search for more and more information.
And why do consumers want ever more information that will convince, compel and persuade them to a certain point of view?
So they can make the most efficient, prudent and intelligent choice about whatever it is they want to own, possess, consume or BUY.
Yes, BUY.
Though consumers hate to be sold; they still love, nevertheless, to BUY.
And their decision to buy is most effectively influenced when they are provided with information that supports, confirms and increases their already resident desire to BUY!
Enter the Advertorial
The advertorial is an ad disguised as an editorial. A cunning wolf in sheep’s clothing. It’s roughly 80% useful, compelling and persuasive information and 20% sales pitch.
It will never mention the name of the product, its features or benefits in the headline. Because that would be too obvious-it would scream ad and will immediately activate the consumer’s anti-ad third eye.
Instead, in a newspaper, in a direct mail promotion, or on the internet the advertorial will attract attention and readership by merely dangling the tantalizing promise of free actionable and profitable information… if the reader will only continue to read on.
An advertorial headline won’t scream: LOSE 10LBS OF FAT IN 10 DAYS OR YOUR MONEY BACK!!
Instead, the advertorial headline will read: John Hopkins Research PhD discovers active ingredient in ice cream that causes rapid weight loss.
Then the advertorial will proceed to show and prove, in pseudo-journalistic fashion, the What, Why, Who, Where and When of how the product or service does precisely what the consumer wants and needs.
The advertorial delivers valuable, documented information that relentlessly leads the reader to the inevitable conclusion that the solution to their problem or need is… whatever it is you’re selling.
It doesn’t look, taste or smell like an ad, and the consumer’s anti-ad third eye will never see it coming.
Try it… you’ll like it.