Thursday, March 6, 2008

Online Advertising and Online Games: An Ideal Match

Article Presented by:
T.C. Gaity


For most businesses, online advertising is essential. Online advertising is a chance to establish your brand, to increase your web presence and to build up the number of links that will take both current and prospective clients to your website: the more that you are able to get people familiar with your products and services, and the more that you're able to get visitors to your website, the more likely you will be to increase sales and grow your business. Obviously, those are great goals and things that business owners want to be able to accomplish.

That leaves many business owners looking for opportunities to place text ads and banner ads as part of their online advertising campaign. Some look for forums as a place where they can sponsor ads; others gravitate towards blogs that they know their prospects and customers read - as an example, companies that create computer games will focus on advertising on sites where gamers are known to be.

Of course, not all gamers are looking for the next hot game for their Wii console or their computers. Online games that allow players to interact and compete with others are sought out by many who want to be able to make connections and form friendships and to play for great prizes are a big draw for many people with a diverse group of interests and lifestyles - and that's what makes business advertising on online game sites an ideal choice for many businesses.

Think about it: as a business owner, when you are looking for ways to promote your website with online advertising, you know that there are some key elements that you're looking for. First, you want to be sure that the same visitors are coming back to the site you are advertising on regularly; one time visitors will see your ad once, regular visitors will see your advertisements day after day (or, in some cases, multiple times within a day). That same ad, catching someone's eye repeatedly, is going to make a bigger impression.

Similarly, when you choose the right site that offers online games and the opportunity for online advertising, you don't just get text links and banner ads; your business will have the chance to make a far greater impact. On one hand, many businesses find that there are sites that offer them a personalized web page - a page where they will have the opportunity to lay out information about their company, about the products and services that they offer and to begin forming relationships with their prospects.

If online marketing has taught businesses nothing else, it's this: in order to succeed in business in the current environment, there's a need for some level of transparency. Before becoming a customer, people want to have a sense that there's a real person who will be there to help them - someone with emotions and a personality. This is why blogging is so important to business and why blogs are evolving to include videos and audio rather than exclusively text.

When you choose the right online advertising outlets, you'll find that you are able to establish relationships, especially when you make an effort to become active within the community. One option, depending on where you do your advertising, is to contribute prizes that will be awarded to game winners or that can be auctioned off with the points that players receive during the competition. When you contribute and those who are playing online games are competing to win prizes that you have offered, you'll find that there is an increased interest in what you have to offer.

Attracting the interest of prospective customers is, after all, the ultimate goal of online advertising. If you are able to work with your prospects - offering them something that they want to win while providing them with more information about your products and your company - you will achieve this goal far more rapidly. Online advertising is an extremely beneficial tool and more and more businesses are taking advantage of it. As communities focused on online games continue to grow, more and more businesses will begin to recognize the value of using those communities as a way to advertise.


About the Author:
T.C. Gaity writes about the Internet. Trader Auction Games (TAG City) is a portal for online games. Whereas most online game sites lets you stroke your ego with your winning streak, Trader Auction Games gives you the opportunity to win real prizes, when you play well. Advertising opportunities are also available for businesses who are interested in bartering products for advertising. Learn more: http://www.traderauctiongames.com


No comments: