Online advertising management is a term that is used to describe the collective processes used to effectively create, execute, and track the success of any type of online advertising and marketing strategy. The complexity of the management process will depend greatly on exactly what forms of Internet advertising are used as part of the marketing plan and how much tracking is necessary to accurately measure the success of each component of that plan. Typically, managers will be concerned with the type of ads used on web sites, the creation of splash pages, the layout of company web sites and even the use of audio media as part of the overall advertising campaign.
The process of online advertising management normally begins with the creation of a workable advertising campaign. Here, the goal is to identify which types of online ads are likely to connect with the target group of customers that the business wishes to attract. By designing the ads to appeal to the targeted consumer markets, the business is able to maximize the opportunity for returns on the cost of advertising, generate sales, and allow the company to enjoy a steady revenue stream. Several different types of ads may be created using a central theme or idea, which provides the campaign with continuity that can be translated easily into different settings.
Along with coming up with the right types of ads, online advertising management also addresses the issue of placement. This part of the task focuses on finding the ideal online locations for those ads. This may mean having the ads placed on web sites that are likely to be visited by the targeted customers, creating splash pages that are optimized with the proper keywords to show up in browser searches, and even careful selection of the right online classified advertising sites to place some of the ads. In some industries, the option of submitting an article to an online magazine that allows links back to the company site may also be part of the overall scheme. Depending on whether the ads are strictly text or a combination of visuals and text, proper placement can make a huge difference in the ultimate success of the campaign.
Monitoring the impact of the advertising is also a key element of online advertising management. During this phase, the manager will monitor closely how much interest is generated from each of the ads placed at on different sites, and how often that interest actually culminated in a sale. Tracking equipment that helps to identify the origins of traffic to splash pages and finally on to an order page help the manager in deciding if the ads should continue to run on certain sites or if moving them to other sites is worth considering. Along with being able to track the effectiveness of the ads on each site, this aspect of online advertising management can also sometimes help to identify issues that are preventing the ads from attracting customers. When this is the case, making small changes, such as adapting graphics so the ads load faster, may be sufficient to improve traffic and lead to increased sales.
As with more traditional management of the advertising effort, online advertising management is all about creating and launching the best possible campaign and ultimately generating enough revenue to justify the expense and allow the company to realize a profit from the operation. Proper management is not simply overseeing the creation and letting things play out. Rather, the process requires constant monitoring, taking care of minor details and making changes when there is evidence that something is not working. With the right blend of creativity, intuition, interpretation of the marketplace and careful monitoring of the ads involved, online advertising management can be a rewarding and lucrative process.
