Online media has been growing at a breakneck pace for the past 5 years. Some say it has reached a plateau for a while but this data from the Center for Media Research shows a projected growth past a traditional media format; Radio in 2011. (which isn’t that far off) It begs the question though, if you’re buying online media, what should you buy? There are a million ad networks and types of ads and even more individual media properties that sell ads on their own doman. How do you choose and break down your percentage of budget for the year between them? Well here are some of my thoughts on this:

1. First look at your business and the demographic your product serves. Are they even on the internet? If so, where? Find out the type of mainstream and niche sites they would visit as first choices. You may never move past these initial main stream sites, but that is where the largest quanitity of traffic is, so in order to find your audience if you don’t have a lot of specifics on them you may be buying some more general media.

2. The first sites to consider that get the most traffic each month are the ones on the comScore Media Metrix. These sites give you access to the largest pipeline of people to see your ads. Some offer ads some do not (wikipedia). Some offer targeting within their network, others do not.

3. Most likley your research will lead you to the doorstep of Google and Yahoo. Two very powerful places to advertise. Be sure to look at targeting options and placement in their networks that is relevant to your product, your location and your demographics.

4. Look at top web sites in your area. Maybe you have a local newspaper that gets a lot of traffic or TV station site. There are other sites that are regional that get great results but are not listed on the top of the list with comscore becuase they are only relevant in one area of the country. They may also be able to design more custom ad packages with offline media which can help maintain a consistent message.

5. Try content specific sites for the niche that your products and servcies are in. I know this sounds random, but if you are selling HEPA vacume cleaners, you know your target is mostly women and you would want to target those sites that have a high percentage of women and a large dedicated audience.

6. Lastly, if you have built a plan that encompasses mainstream search and portal sites, local sites and content demo specific sites, you can branch out into Web 2.0 and Social Networking sites IF you can find out that your target demographic hangs out there. A Vacume cleaner company wouldn’t do well on MySpace or Facebook but they might on Martha Stewart’s new social networking site that is going to debut next year. 

Just remember its all about relevance, and that is the same way that offline media like Radio and TV was targeted. It’s just a lot more trackable online. (and PS use tracking on all your ads to do an ROI analysis monthly)