Online+Magazine+Advertising

__Let's start with the perks..__
Advertising in online magazines have the benefits of magazine advertising as well as online advertising. An ad in an online magazine can be interactive, this gets the consumer interested and involved with the product. Companies can target an exceptionally selected audience in which they can have a line of communication with and receive feedback. Tracking services are used to determine who is clicking on and viewing ads on online magazines; this makes it easy keep track of who the target consumer is. An advertisement in the online version of a magazine will not cost as much as an advertisement in the print version. A company can reach a large number of subscribers; this could be prohibitively expensive in print. Plus, the increase in rates is low compared to the benefits of increased readership. This type of advertising is flexible; it’s not just one print version a month, the ads could change every day and have the potential to be more visually appealing. For an online magazine that you click through page to page, a full page ad in a relatively small magazine might run from $140-$180; this example is from //Today’s Senior//. The price depends on the magazine and the time the ad is run.

__And there's more..__
Another benefit of advertising in online magazines is that it offers a direct path to purchasing the product or service being advertised. In the case of a print ad, there is a significant amount of time between the viewing of the ad and the purchase of the product or service. With online advertising, the purchase is a few clicks away. Online magazines can also have articles that relate to or include products. This is free press for the product and a direct avenue to purchase the product if the consumer is convinced by the article. And finally, the number of consumers using the net is continuously on the rise.

__Can't forget the downside..__
High clutter is a problem; the ad has to stand out against the five other ads on the page who are also trying to stand out. The ad can also be intrusive to consumers which may turn them off towards the product or service, especially if they are on the website trying to read an article or find specific information. Poor reach, the ad won’t likely reach many people outside the target audience. Poor frequency, the web version of the magazine doesn’t have the shelf life of the print version; there is no pass along readership.

__Some numbers..__
According to a new, jointly launched single-source database from Nielsen/[|NetRatings] and Mediamark Research Inc. (MRI) an average of 83% of visitors to the websites of 23 large-circulation monthly magazines access those magazines’ content solely online. Male visitors are more likely than females to read online versions of magazines exclusively. There isn’t a large difference between older and younger visitors to these online magazine sites.

__Trackin it..__
Online magazines consumers directly requesting the type of content they would like to view. This helps advertisers to measure the size of a particular audience for the campaign they are working on. In turn this makes it easier for an advertiser to tailor the message to the target audience that is already specific due to the fact that the magazine itself narrows down who the consumer is. Then advertisers can find the true frequency of exposure because they can see that a consumer clicked on this ad twice on a certain magazine’s website. The consumer and the advertiser are interacting directly through the online magazine.

__Options galore..__
There are several types of advertisements that can be put on the sites of online magazines. An impression is a banner that gives the consumer the opportunity to click on the ad at their discretion to view more information on a product or service. These ads are not intrusive and are pretty common place. Video advertisements that play for a set amount of seconds; this incorporates sound into the ad but is intrusive because sometimes the ad will play without the consumer clicking on it. Ads that are in editorial form are called “advertorials”. These ads are meant to persuade you with words and are often related to the website somehow. For example //Advocate Magazine// online (the advocate animal and pet magazine) might have an advertorial on Pet co’s rescue mission for neglected pets.

__Reaping the benefits..__
Tresemmé is successfully using an online magazine to advertise. They are advertising on //Cosmopolitan Magazine’s// online version using an interactive ad that allows you to go behind the scenes of Mercedes Benz fashion week where you can see their product at work in a glamorous setting. They are reaching their target market and getting them involved with the product. There is a roll over ad at the top of the homepage, this ad wants you to go over it with your mouse so it can expand and give you the option to further view content. There is another banner ad at the bottom of the homepage that is a smaller version of the roll over ad but shows the product. They are covering a lot of their bases by advertising with this online magazine.

__In a nutshell..__
Advertisers are using advertising in online magazines to directly connect to users in the specific group they are trying to reach who are frequently using their computers as a resource for media. “The rapid development of online computing technology makes it imperative for businesses to seriously consider the internet to avoid losing competitive advantage.” (Kiang, 1999) Advertisers are being competitive as well as targeting a narrowed scope of consumers. They are making it simple for these consumers to view and purchase their product, with ads that are reasonably priced.

__Citations__
Drèze, XD, & Zufryden, FZ. (1999). Internet Advertising: The Medium is the Difference.

Schlosser, AS, & Kanfer, AK. (1999). //Advertising and the World Wide Web//. Mahwah, NJ: Lawance Erlbaum Associates.

Zeff, RZ, & Aronson, BA. (1997). //Adverting on the Internet//. John Wiley& Sons Inc.

Kiang, MK, Raghu, TK, & Huei-Min Shang, KH. (1999). Marketing on the Internet — who can benefit from an online marketing approach?. Retrieved from [|http://ebrc.ntpu.edu.tw/~cko/Research_DB/EC%20Research/Marketing%20on%20the%20Internet%20%A1X%20who%20can%20benefit%20from%20an%20online%20marketing%20approach.pdf]

SCHMID, BS. (2000). JMM Ð The International Journal on Media Management. 2(1424-1277)