Employ banner ads as part of your overall advertising strategy. If using either or both interests you, check out Microsoft bCentral's Traffic Builder Services , which include both e-newsletter and banner advertising tools. Another possibility is tying banner ads to a direct-mail offer, where the ads use similar images and reinforce the message. Consider enhancing your ad with rich media. Adding animation, sound and other special effects to your banner ad can have a marked effect on your campaign.
Messages are generally more noticeable and memorable, leading to better results.
Rich media may require the hiring of a separate technology company, could end up costing three times as much as a regular banner ad and may slow download times for a Web site. The jury is still out on overall value of rich media, as not every computer or Web site is equipped to support it. But banners using rich media are outpolling standard banners significantly, says Silverstein. For more information on rich media, check out Enliven . That there is a lot of bad banner advertising, dragging down the rest.