Marketing Monday: Should You Use Web Banner Ads To Promote Your Photography?

by Scott Bourne

Banner advertising can be very effective, but only if you’re being exposed to the right audience.  Placing a banner ad for children’s photography on the Home Depot site, because you want to be out there in time for Father’s Day will be as effective as advertising in Guns and Ammo magazine!  Why? Because an industry study showed, in reference to the portrait and wedding categories; 98% of the purchase decisions to hire a professional photographer are made by women!

You have to consider the demographics of the site where you’re advertising so you’re hitting the right target.  It’s also important wherever you link from your banner ad is the absolute strongest presentation of your work, e.g. take people right to your images!

In my personal tests, working with lots of clients, the only banner ads that work seem to be those placed on Facebook. You might explore Facebook ads if their younger demographic matches your target market. Otherwise, banner ads are generally a big gamble. I prefer contextual search based ads like you find on Google. We'll cover those in a future Marketing Monday column.

Illustration Credit: © Petr Vaclavek - Fotolia.com