Broadband Evolved

I spoke today with an interesting fellow named Michael Barr who is CEO of a company called iPromote.

While i’ve seen some interesting banner plays lately, iPromote definitely takes the cake.  Their solution is potentially very disruptive because it attempts to put the power of rich media banner advertising directly into the hands of SMBs.

 The idea is that any SMB with a web site or a rich internet profile can create and place their own online banner ads.  As a small business owner, you simply point the iPromote “banner ad creation” tool at your existing site or web profile.  Wait a few seconds.  Then presto!   You get access to a complete media package consisting of rich banner ads in 5 different sizes.  The tool essentially crawls your existing web site and “plucks” key content elements (photos, images, copy, etc) which it uses to assemble an animated banner ad, complete with Ken Burns effects.

To start your banner ad campaign, simply enter a valid credit card and billing address.  At this point, your self-created banner ad will appear on sites within the iPromote ad network which claims to have 40 million UVs per month.  If you’re interested in local advertising, you’ll be able to select your locale so your ad is served only on sites that are relevant to you geographically.  Note:  I am not entirely sure how they plan to deliver this local feature — but it sure sounds good.

ipromote's banner ad creation engine for SMBs

If you’re at all interested in online marketing tools for SMBs and local advertising concepts, then I suggest you take a look iPromote.  Go ahead, put in your own web site.  Put in your blog.  See what happens.  Although the ads are a bit rudimentary without the benefit of back-end customization — it’s definitely indicative of where things are headed in terms of do-it-yourself (DIY) online marketing tools.  To get an appreciation for how well the tool works against a fully-optimized content source — then take a look at what it can do for an Etsy profile.  It’s truly very nice.

In summary, iPromote has created a DIY approach to banners whereby SMBs can leverage existing web content to create compelling ads for FREE (no professional required) and subsequently distribute them with ease through the iPromote ad network.

Time will tell if this works or not.  I personally think it’s got a shot because:

• the cost of producing the banner ads is FREE which will entice SMBs to give it a try
• the quality of the banner ads is surprisingly good when working against optimized content types
• the cost and complexity of placing the banner ads is low compared to PPC
• they intend to go beyond basic images to help SMBs build even richer ads using video and audio.

The proof will be in the pudding.  If the eCPMs work then this concept will definitely fly.  Initially with savvy online SMB marketers, and eventually with other SMBs as well.

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