What you should know
(Source: Interactive Advertising Bureau UK Ltd.)

Combining channels spells site success!
Most industry experts agree a great campaign is one that carefully integrates offline and online into a single response strategy can prove successful if the brand is consistently represented across all the channels being used (online and print ads, mailers, trade shows).

Banner ads are great for brand-building, but they excel as a direct response tool. Click on one and you could be taken to a dedicated microsite or deep into a company's site, or you might be given the chance to win something. It's not just this flexibility that makes banners so appealing, but also their targeting potential. By placing a banner in an area a company knows attracts similar traffic to its customer profile, responses are likely to be of higher value and there is less wastage.

Directory listings are effective
Why leaf through a heavy, cumbersome directory for a plumber when an online directory can simplify the process? The online environment offers features that cannot be replicated offline, says Eddie Cheng, eBusiness director at Yell.com. Combine directory listings with search advertising. Both offer the chance to convert people identified as prospects into customers.

TravelMole/PMI's aim is to make its directories as accessible and easy to use as possible.

How to measure ad effectiveness?
For direct marketing measure the number of leads you generate, customers you convert. For brand advertising it's easy to measure how a customer changes their perception of your brand by asking them simple questions before and after they've seen the ad.

TraveMole offers advertisers click-through reporting and be able to send follow-up message to those who click-through. Branding surveys available.

AD TIPS
√ remember users are looking to find something, rather than be persuaded. Advertisers have to show they can provide that information. Develop several ads to use to determine which is more effective.
√ link to pages deep in a site rather than homepages.