We hear you with the more "interactive" ad idea.

However, we're finding it's sometimes a challenge to even get a model railroading vendor to think in terms of NO PAPER and just something you download. Even that can be an uphill battle - so if we start talking about putting video or a 3D model image in an ad, we'll lose 'em for sure.

We're also finding the way we get "points" with advertisers is to send a reader to their web site as fast as possible, so we get the clickthrough credit. Clicks on ads is how an advertiser measures their success with us - not how long you stare at the ad no matter how cool or impressive.

That means any video or click-n-spin needs to be ON THE VENDOR'S WEB SITE, not in our magazine. The best ad will be something short and sweet like:

Wanna see our latest model in 3D? CLICK HERE ...

I never go directly to the manufacturer's site when I'm after something.  I always come here first and click through on the advertiser's page to get credit each time that the main reason I'm going to their site is because of MRH.

But there really is so much more that could be offered with the technology in the ads, it seems a shame to just have static pictures with a click-through.

I think it was the 1st issue where Rapido had a video of their "Totally Wired" telephone poles.  Really stood out to me on a product i wouldn't have given a second thought to.  Too bad I can't use them right now or I would have bought them back then.

Steve

Yes ... and in terms of clicks the Rapido video ad did terrible. Our learning from that was that Rapido should put the video on their web site and make their ads into little more than a brief tag line and a very obvious "click here".

You've noticed they've done exactly that, and their ads consistently bring in some of the best click rates of any ads in MRH.

The video, while interesting didn't get people to visit the web site, so it was a total bust from an advertising perspective.

You're right Joe. Clicks do count and anythig that generates clicks to an advertoser's website is going to be attractive to get advertisers to post ads. But there is more to it than just the click. Advertisers who know how to use the technology are also going to tray to find how many of those clicks turn into sales and what the avaerage amount of those sales are. Converting clicks into sales has to happen on the advertiser's website and not on the ad itself. The ad's job is to get the click.

Irv

Yes, Irv, a web-savvy advertiser will want to track conversions - those visitors who become a sale.

Ideally, the vendor's web site will note how that IP address first came to their site (like from the MRH site) and then if they buy something from the vendor's site 6 months later, MRH will still get the credit because we sent them there first.

That's the ideal way to do it. However, I suspect more than a few hobby vendors are doing good to just have a web site, much less one that's got custom coding on it to track conversions.

So we can give them click stats (and we can do that very well) - then they have to do the rest.

Still, the simplest thing to demonstrate to advertisers that MRH is valuable to them is for each of us to tell them we found them through MRH or that we are choosing to purchase from them because of their support for MRH.  There is no denying where the sale came from in this case.  If we all said it to them, it would quickly become clear to them, regardless of the number of clicks they get, that end sales are garnered through their advertising in MRH.  Its the simplest thing we can each do to support MRH and continue its growth. 

Still, the simplest thing to demonstrate to advertisers that MRH is valuable to them is for each of us to tell them we found them through MRH or that we are choosing to purchase from them because of their support for MRH.  There is no denying where the sale came from in this case.  If we all said it to them, it would quickly become clear to them, regardless of the number of clicks they get, that end sales are garnered through their advertising in MRH.  Its the simplest thing we can each do to support MRH and continue its growth. 

Dave

Yes, shop with our sponsors whenever you can and tell them MRH is the reason for your patronage.  I did that with my Micro-Mark order.  Since I'll make a little money by writing an article accepted by MRH, I'm going to place orders with some of our sponsors and tell them that I wrote for MRH and got paid for it so I am sharing my good fortune by placing an order.  Thanks for supporting MRH.