When you hear the phrase “display advertising,” perhaps you think of a billboard you see while driving down the highway, or signage at a trade show booth.  And that’s correct.  But there is an entirely different form of display advertising online which uses similar methods, but a bit of a different cost model.

Above, we have an example from a popular wedding planning site.  There are several display advertisements highlighted here.  Varying sizes, the inclusion of text, and image-only ads are common, and websites will often have a variety of each in order to diversify the look of the site.

Banners containing ad copy (text), graphic images, company logos, photographs, and other tools are common methods of display advertising.  These can be small square banners, or they may run the entire length or width of a web page.  Below is an example of a hyperlinked banner ad.

Most often, pricing for display advertising is based upon impressions, or the number of times that the particular ad is displayed to a visitor of that particular web page.  Generally this is done on a CPM basis, which simply means “cost per thousand” impressions.  For example, if someone were to purchase a display ad campaign at $10 CPM, guaranteed to receive 100,000 impressions in a month, the cost would be $1,000 per month.  Display advertising can also be done on a PPC basis.

This type of advertising is often used for branding, although it can be a method of lead generation or sales generation as well.  Display ads can also be utilized exclusively geographically, which can provide great analytics to determine response rates regionally, by city, and so forth.

2011 is off to a great start at Thrive Marketing Group!  In addition to a productive Q1 that saw new sales growth, we are growing as a company as well.  So, without further ado, let’s meet the new team members:

Chris has just joined Thrive Marketing as the Director of Business Development.  He will be in charge of several key aspects of growing Thrive’s business, primarily client lead generation campaigns, forging new strategic partnerships, and data acquisition.  Although you might not expect it at first meeting, Chris is an avid NASCAR enthusiast. He claims that it is his vast technical knowledge of the cars themselves and of the drivers’ abilities that piques his interest, but we know that, being an East Tennessee native, it’s simply in his blood.

Andrew is another recent addition, being added to the team shortly after Chris.  Andrew is Thrive’s Marketing Campaign Coordinator and Executive Assistant.  He is already providing some much needed relief for Evan and Rob by capably handling many of the technical details related to campaign set-up and maintenance, as well as invaluable administrative guidance.  Always goal-oriented, many might not know that Andrew’s personal goal for 2011 is to go skydiving!  That sounds like a good team building activity.  Perhaps a company outing can be arranged… Rob?

Brad, having just completed a three month internship with Thrive, has officially come on board full time as of Tuesday, April 5^th!  We are excited about the energy and enthusiasm he brings to his Search Engine Marketing Consultant role as he is doing an excellent job managing various social media, display, and PPC ad campaigns for Thrive clients.  He loves being outdoors and has a keen interest in cars. Most importantly though, Brad is a team player, always there when needed, and is ready to help take Thrive’s SEM advertising to the next level.

Also growing is our custom lead generation service.  As we continue to experience increased levels of success in generating leads specific to our clients’ product and service offerings, we will look to broaden the scope of industries for which we provide leads.  Our clients in the Telephony, Home Improvement, Financial and Business Networking industries have enjoyed a marked growth in revenue generated from our leads.  We are eager to further diversify our lead generation program in the coming months.

Another exciting development for our company is our move into a new office space in the Cool Springs area of Nashville, TN.  We are currently in a temporary space where we can watch our brand new office as it is constructed, right across the street.  The construction process will take about a year to complete, and we can’t wait to see the finished product!

We look ahead to Q2 with anticipation at how we can help to grow your business!