Wednesday, August 6

Adverts Version 3

Here's a third version based on second version feedback, do you think these are better?

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10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think the Carpe Astra advert is perfect. However, It's Alive I feel a green background would be better as most people connect green with monster as frankenstein was green i think in most cartoons and hulk is green too.

11:32 am
Avantman42 said...

I like both of them. Can't think of anything to usefully suggest by way of improvement. Good work!

11:44 am
Yehuda Berlinger said...

Wow. Much better. Here's what I would do, though.

I would make the quote at the top something like:

I'll give you seven bucks
for the brains. Keep the head.

OR

The most fun you can have
outside of a real graveyard

followed by the It's Alive logo.

Maybe add in small text after the picture and before the larger pre-order text: "I can definitely recommend It’s Alive! - Larry Levy" or "It’s Alive is a fun, fast game! - Greg Schloesser". Just adding the words "second edition" in teeny letters might help people realize that the game is already popular.

"Pre-order" is an action word, but not a strong enough one. It should really say: "Click now to pre-order and save 30%! (until 8/15)" You may want to move this above the picture, if it's easier to see.

A simple animation - not an annoying or glaring one - makes a banner ad stand out.

Where does you banner go to? The landing page should be directly to a purchase form with instructions to fill it out NOW. Not your home page, and not another click away from a pre-order page. Pre-ordering has to be simple, clear, and direct.

If you're doing this yourself, and BGG allows it, three different banner ads in rotation will be more effective than a single ad.

Where is it on BGG? Home page? All pages? Search term related? Down below the fold on the right is a hard place to find. If you're paying per impression, you may not get many clicks. What other sites are you advertising on?

Yehuda

11:56 am
Mal said...

Miles, miles better. :D

Starting to give the impression of a properly established company. Only the the clarity of the URL is still in need of a bit of love - get rid of the capitals and it should be fine.

12:19 pm
Custancia said...

Sorry to disagree with Mal,but I quite like the capitals in the URL. I find it easier to read, and hence remember.
I think I agree with Yehuda about putting click here (eg Click here to pre-order & save 30%!). I'm not sure I would intuitively click to order otherwise. Equally, I resist assertive Click NOW advertising. I'm more likely to be swayed by a gentle "click here"! (this is all just me of course!)
In the it's Alive ad, I think I would be tempted to put the layout ahead of the box pic. The way it's laid out currently it duplicates the 'its alive'.
And finally depends on your market, with Yehuda's suggestion,but for me (even living with Paul and reading your blog) I would't know who it was recommending the game - it could be "Joe Bloggs", which either sounds like you're making it up soem praise, or makes me feel unknowledgeable/ alienated.

6:56 pm
Anonymous said...

Wow. Better still! Good job.
* Agree with Custancia that the back to back It's Alive looks redundant. You definitely need the bigger one though (and I would tweak it up, just a hair so it reads bigger still). Two options here - move the box above the text, or just move in on the box and feature more of the artwork, cropping out the title, like you did on Carpe. It won't read as a box, but you show the game components below anyway...
* I'd be careful about adding too much text... I think it could get cluttered again when it is starting to feel streamlined. "Click" seems redundant and already implied to me, but I don't feel strongly one way or another. Maybe save an accolade quote for a second version, if you can run them in rotation.
* There's something weird about "Assemble." It feels a little passive? I don't have a good suggestion.
* Box setup looks a little better but still a little dessaturated?

At this point it's getting pretty good, so if you make further tweaks and come up with a couple of options for each (slightly different text, slightly different layouts) I'd post them up side by side as version A, version B, etc. as see what people vote for.

5:57 am
Christian Sinclair said...

Looks really great. I would strongly consider taking out the box art on It's Alive. Too small to be effective, when you could get the name of the game a little bigger for more recognition.

Also take out the 2008 since that is generally implied and use Aug to not confuse us Americans who get thrown off by trying to figure out the 15th month.

Agree with the click here phrasing. I like the other tagline suggestions earlier as well.

Possibly take off the www as it is also implied which may allow for more room and bigger letters. I checked it and your address still works that way for me.

I think the caps in the url is fine.

Maybe "Create Your Monster" which would probably fit on one line giving you more ad space to work with.

6:47 am
Anonymous said...

Wow! Much, much better.

Okay, comments.

"It's Alive" - I'd actually put the logo on the top (like Carpe Astra) and then put a simpler text like "The game of monster creation". Simpler to me and more to the point.

As Yehuda said, some minor animation (preferably at the top ? the logo?) would give it more 'kick' but nothing major. If you an do it, the logo bleeding would be great. The other option would be to put it on the 'pre-order now' to attract attention.

Definitely keep the capitals in the URL. It is easier to read. You can if you want to shorten it though remove the www.

'Carpe Astra' looks great. I find the wording for 'Whatever it takes' a bit strange after the short, punchy text on the top. Perhaps more along the lines of 'Bribe, Slander, Kill, To claim the Galatic Throne'.

Also, I might attempt to rotate the picture slightly so that it's not flat (angling it like It's Alive').

Your cost for banner adv. shouldn't be more than CAD$200 per banner (this was for a flash banner quote - flat, jpg banners should be even cheaper). If it is, do give me a shout - I'll put you in touch with my contacts.

Last suggestions/pointers.
(1) Make sure to track not only clicks but visitors. Use Google Analytics (its free) and make sure to 'tag' the banner URLs appropriately.
(2) As Yehuda mentioned, take as much, if not more time to keep your pre-order landing page easy to fill in and go through. Make sure to have links to your privacy policy and more details of the game there too.
(3) Expect a click-through rate of 1%. Shoot for more obviously but expect 1%

Best of luck.

6:58 am
Anonymous said...

I'm coming late to the discussions, but these later ones are much better. I didn't like the green background as it was too in yer face and detracted from the content... now the background is subtle yet appealing, and allows the actual content to grab your attention.

As others have mentioned, the It's Alive text at the top needs to be more 'dramatic'.

I like the Greg Schloesser quote... which is quite punchy.. and should carry some weight too.

I'd be tempted to switch the preorder text around, like
"SAVE 30%
pre-order NOW"

with smaller text underneath 'offer ends 15/08/08'

2:06 am
Anonymous said...

Oops. failed to sign that last comment.

AndyB

2:07 am

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