Banner creation

[Demonspahn]

Hi everyone.

It seems that banners are a big marketing tool for RPG's,  I have clicked on many banners at RPGnet, but I don't recall seeing too many banner-related threads.  I was thinking of creating a banner for Dreamwalker and was wondering what things were most important to include.  What catches your eye most, game-related images, catch phrases, animations?  

Also, is creating a free banner (as in with the "Designed by Freebanners.com" or something similar written in small text at the top of it) a big amateurish no-no?  Is it best just to fork out the cash and have one done professionally and if so, what are the best places to do that?

Thanks,

Pete

[Michael Hopcroft]

Also, is creating a free banner (as in with the "Designed by Freebanners.com" or something similar written in small text at the top of it) a big amateurish no-no?  Is it best just to fork out the cash and have one done professionally and if so, what are the best places to do that?

I've always found the best places to get banners and the like are from fellow publishers who want some quick cash or who feel they owe you a favor. I've gotten banners, maagzine ads and flyers that way at very reasonable rates. I'd say you should always go for something that makes it look like someone put some care and thought into the ad, regardless of whether it's done for $20 or $100.

[Matt Machell]

It seems that banners are a big marketing tool for RPG's,  I have clicked on many banners at RPGnet, but I don't recall seeing too many banner-related threads.  I was thinking of creating a banner for Dreamwalker and was wondering what things were most important to include.  What catches your eye most, game-related images, catch phrases, animations?  

Most important is that it looks good, and doesn't take too long to download. Second important thing is that if you pay, you pay per click-though, not per impression (so you get actual visits for your money, not people ignoring the banner). Everything else is dependant on target audience, really.  Who do you want to grab with the banner?

There are plenty of web oriented people on this very forum who could put together a banner for you(myself included). Don't use one of the freebanners places, as frankly it looks very amateurish, and won't make people take you seriously as a commercial venture.

-Matt

[Mike Holmes]

I'm not really in the know, but I believe that more than a few people here have stated that banners are a waste of time. Lots of people advertise with them, but the argument is that few people click on them and fewer sales arise from them. Can anyone comment on that? Is this true? And how do we know if so?

Mike

[Ron Edwards]

Hey,

I've traditionally been the fellow who sneered at banners. However, most of my values about these things were generated in 1995-1996, when I was setting up my initial website for Sorcerer. Things are very different now. Now, for instance, you can have a banner at RPG.net, which is not the same thing as being on a slow-loading multiple-banner page in the hinterlands of some individual website, nor as having your banner randomly flashed through a ton of websites that have fuck-all to do with role-playing.

Nowadays, I can see that a banner that loads quickly in the "ad space" of a well-trafficked and relevant, multi-use website is probably a very good thing. Visit the site - there's the Godlike banner. Visit it a while later, or the next day, and there's the Rokugan banner. Visit it again, and look, it's your banner. There's some legitimacy-communication going on there for you, and that's good advertising.

What I cannot see is paying for a banner beyond the simple labor of getting it created - in other words, paying someone to post it for you. That sounds off to me.

Best,
Ron

[hive]

What I cannot see is paying for a banner beyond the simple labor of getting it created...

I have to agree, as it entails the antithesis of a startup.com approach. If indie publishers are wasting time and money making snazzy websites, creating banners and basically adverting the game....then aren't they taking time away from making a good game. Or making a good game a great one?

Don't get too involved in the advertising of the game. A good game will sell itself and great game will be it's own reward. If you are spending more time/money on advert than production then something is seriously wonky.

-
h
www.internalist.com

[Demonspahn]

Hi guys.  

I may have mis-written that last bit.  I didn't mean paying a professional to place the banner, only to create one for me so that I could put it on sites like RPGnet.  

Matt, I'm going ro PM you about designing a banner but other people here might be interested in about what you charge, although this is probably based on content, right?

Thanks everyone,

Pete