Great infographic from BuySellAds on the elements that make up the perfect banner ads. Give  a copy of this to your designers. It’s your job as a marketers though to make sure the banner is placed in front of the optimal audience. Click for a larger view.

Elements of the perfect banner ad is a post from Bob Hazlett, a digital marketer who writes at One Half Amazing!

How big is a google network blast? On average, blasts can deliver 100 million ad impressions in 24-48 hours.

Michael Bloomberg ran a blast right before election night in NY to remind users to get out and vote. I wonder how they augmented it with search, social, email and traditional advertising?

The Google Adwords Agency blog indicate that blasts require no advance booking and deliver relevant ads at a much lower CPM than portal takeovers. I personally haven’t tried this, but would love the budget to get at it once or twice.

Google Content Network Blast is a post from Bob Hazlett, a digital marketer who writes at One Half Amazing!

Prius iPhone App Gives You Control of Time Square Billboard is a post from Bob Hazlett, a digital marketer who writes at One Half Amazing!

The Future of Marketing and Advertising is a post from Bob Hazlett, a digital marketer who writes at One Half Amazing!

Gimmicks will always be there.  Step outside of traditional thinking and create real value for your users.  They’ll thank you much more in the end.

Kills 99% of Advertisers on Contact is a post from Bob Hazlett, a digital marketer who writes at One Half Amazing!

Instant Digital Campaign is a post from Bob Hazlett, a digital marketer who writes at One Half Amazing!

My quick thoughts on why this is a good thing;

• Once the user takes an action, the advertiser doesn’t have to pay to retarget you with new ads.
• The advertiser gets more bang for their buck.  The word of mouth marketing is worth a lot more than a visit to a lame website with only nutrition facts available.  Your entire network now knows you’re a fan.
• If you google ‘Vitamin Water 10′ the only page (besides paid placements) that is related with Glaceau is in position 5 and falls below the fold. This probably has to do with the entire site being in flash, lacking detailed product page titles and basic SEO, but I guess if you can’t own your brand name, then you change the rules.
• Facebook allows you to create almost an exclusive club for the product, providing a stream of new content and interactions with the brand on a regular basis.
• Directing users to your social site allows you to talk to them in the space they spend a lot of  their time without the waste of the usual banner ads.

What do you think?  As a consumer, would you rather interact with a brand on Facebook? If you’re an advertiser, have you tried this approach? If so, how did it work?

Trend: Advertisers Driving Traffic to Facebook Instead of Their Usual Homepage is a post from Bob Hazlett, a digital marketer who writes at One Half Amazing!

Search Engine Marketing Basics – How the Google Ad Auction Works is a post from Bob Hazlett, a digital marketer who writes at One Half Amazing!

Does anyone know if they offer this in physical book format? I know it sounds silly, but I’d love to have a ‘real’ copy. Maybe Lulu.com can help me.

Razorfish Releases 2009 Digital Outlook Report is a post from Bob Hazlett, a digital marketer who writes at One Half Amazing!

Today’s smart marketers should be focusing on who saw their ad and how they engaged with it instead of simply the number of people that saw it.  I believe this change in attitude represents a huge challenge for social networks.  Instead of falling back on the same (old) standard advertising model, how can social networks better capitalize on their huge base of user data and interactions to deliver greater value to their advertisers? That is, if you think social networks can be monetized.

Advertising on Social Networks Needs Work is a post from Bob Hazlett, a digital marketer who writes at One Half Amazing!