I’m no expert on advertising. I do tend to be greedier than many advertisers, though, and my approach to advertising has served me well. So think of it as a guerrilla marketer’s guide to advertising.

Advertising Builds Brand Awareness

A lot of folks want advertising to convert immediately. That’s rarely what happens. Advertising should be thought of primarily as a brand building vehicle.

Take for example my banner ads for V7 Inc, our web hosting service. Most users seeing that banner will see it at the very moment that they need web hosting. Most impressions will be wasted, if you think of it that way.

But what the advertising does is build awareness of the V7 Inc brand so that when the time comes, and the consumer thinks, “I need hosting”, V7 Inc may have a place in that consumer’s mind.

To illustrate this point, I will admit to placing affiliate banner ads for LunarPages on V7N’s Hosting Directory. Although the banner ads were removed last month, just yesterday I received notification of a sign up. People do not necessearily act immediately, but if your ad is being seen chances are it is making an impression which may translate into sales down the road.

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