The Campaign:
Moai has been advertising on the internet.com Network since December 1998. During that time, over 8500 banner 'clicks' have been recorded. The goal of the campaign has been to drive prospective customers to the Moai Web site to complete a form for a free white paper, or to schedule a demonstration or sales call for more information.
Moai's campaigns have combined standard 468x60 banners in general rotation throughout sites on the internet.com Network, as well as sponsorship of select sites, such as internetNews' Ecommerce News. The sponsorships were fixed position 125x125 banners with text taglines and highlight Moai Technologies in specific areas of internet.com that are obvious fits for Moai's products.
How Successful has it been?
Michelle E. Messina, Vice President of Marketing for Moai, has been tracking each lead as it is handed off to the Moai sales staff to learn if the investment in online banner ads have been worthwhile. "We can track 4 closed deals directly back to leads generated by internet.com but what has impressed us most is the quality of the prospect that responded to our advertisements. Overall, they are qualified prospects with decision-making authority within their companies. They are qualified to make purchasing decisions for their company, and do. Our sales success, in part, is due to our advertising campaign on internet.com."
When asked what the future holds, Ms. Messina was optimistic, "While many pundits discount the validity of banner advertising and the quality of the click-throughs, we see banner ads as an important component in our marketing mix. Going forward, we will continue to use the Web as a viable advertising medium. Our partnership with internet.com has been extremely rewarding in terms of branding and increased revenues. It has truly been a profitable relationship."
Moai designs and delivers powerful, e-auction software for implementing a variety of electronic commerce applications. Moai's flagship product, LiveExchange, allows corporations to host their own private Web-based auctions with key customers as well as enabling organizations to conduct open public auctions directly with consumers. LiveExchange's flexibility can even empower third party intermediaries to create targeted auction environments for bringing businesses and consumers together within a specific market segment.
internet.com's customers, like Moai, are focused Internet Professionals who are experts in their specific markets. internet.com, The Internet and IT Network, includes 160 Web sites, 225 e-mail newsletters and more than 50 moderated e-mail discussion lists for Internet industry and technology professionals, Web developers and sophisticated Internet users. The success of Moai's advertising campaign depended on marketing their products to this highly targeted audience.
