While yesterday I said there was plenty of room for improvement with our B2B websites, I should say the same applies to the Vertical Directories. Most have been stagnant in format for YEARS.
The one thing verticals shouldn’t do is try to generate revenue with AdWords. Hopefully that is obvious–you want more traffic for your customers. Usually that means selling banner ads to those in your directory. But banner blindness is running rampant these days.
GlobalSpec has come up with a smart approach to promotion within their directory, using their previous product announcement billboards. These billboard/banners must have been buried in the site in the past. (It appears that these are paid positions on top of GlobalSpec’s normal subscription.)
Now GlobalSpec has moved the billboards to the right of the search/category results. Kinda like AdWords. But there are two distinct differences:
- The billboard link includes a small picture. The pictures draw the eyes in an otherwise text-covered page.
- The billboard area in labeled “product announcements”. Somehow that is more digestible ‘news’ to click on than typical ads. You know you just getting a bit of hopefully new information before you click, too.
I really, really like this approach. Its targeted, its digestable, and it attracts the eyes.
A B2B marketing blog by an honest-to-goodness marketing manager for an industrial manufacturer.