Members of the social lottery website can now manage past and current lottery tickets via an online account manager.

There are many reasons lottery players love Lotto Gopher. Instead of driving to the store and waiting in line, consumers can now order Powerball online as well as other California lottery tickets. For this reason alone, the company has garnered attention from the media and consumers alike who are fascinated by this legal and convenient way to order lottery tickets.

But this relatively new company has other services that are also gaining popularity, especially services that are reserved for members only. One of its most unique member’s only services is an online account manager through which consumers can track and monitor past and current lottery tickets. If you’ve ever wanted to create a thorough spreadsheet that features all of your lottery tickets in one place, the online account manager might be what you’re looking for.

What is the purpose of an online account manager for your lottery tickets? It’s a convenient way to see all of your numbers and winning in one place, such as the Mega Millions online lottery tickets you ordered through Lotto Gopher. This online database makes it easy for you to select the same lucky numbers or choose to select new variations of past numbers. The online account manager also features all of your groups, so you can easily access and manage lottery public or private lottery pools. Finally, it’s a great way to simply track your lottery tickets so that you never lose one again.


This article was written by Ted Dhanik

The smartphone has changed how people view the Web, making the old desktop banner advertising methods something of a relic. Desktop ads still account for the majority of ad spend, but the upswing into mobile seems inevitable. Mobile users are more motivated to make a purchase, and they are more likely to conduct local searches because of that.

There are estimates that mobile ad spend will account for almost 20% of corporate ad budgets, which could mean big returns for those brands that do mobile advertising well.

Mobile Real Estate

One of the most difficult adjustments that a marketer must make in converting efforts to mobile is knowledge of screen real estate. With a tablet or a smartphone, the literal space to work with goes down. Mobile versions of a website are built with fluidity in mind, but that layout can still change your ad. If you don’t properly size an ad for mobile, it becomes a nuisance for the user, where the ad bleeds into the layout or does not appear at all.

Localized Ads

Because many smartphone owners are on the move, they are usually localizing their searches with queries related to their town or city. Location specific display advertising targets the customer and improves awareness that the service is in their area, or carries some special benefit for local customers. Examples might include a restaurant with services located “just around the corner” from the user’s location. Include a phone number with localized area code if possible, versus the standard 800 number that might be on an ad running nationally.

Ad Design

Mobile ads should be visual by nature, because you don’t have very much real estate to work with. Moving ads are useful in mobile, where you can use transitions to help split your messaging into more effective bits. Avoid heavy text-laden ads that force the user to do a lot of reading. It’s easier on some devices than others, but taking the chance means you’re forcing some users out of your sales funnel.  Err on the side of caution and use imagery that helps users absorb the gist of what you’re saying. For example, if you sell outdoors supplies, a picture of a tent could be more effective than a listing of tent prices.

Final Thoughts

Marketers are planning to increase their ad spend in the mobile market, looking for ways to improve the direct outreach to consumers. There is a learning curve for the design of these ads, but with more ad spend headed to mobile, the smartphone is beginning to look like an effective platform for location based ads.

Bio: Ted Dhanik is the co-founder of engage:BDR. Ted Dhanik has over fifteen years in the direct marketing space, specializing in banner advertising and traffic generation. To learn about how engage:BDR can help increase conversions, visit Ted Dhanik online.


Written by Ted Dhanik

The copy of your banner ad is just as important as the copy involved in search marketing. It’s your chance to sell the user on your ideas, using keywords and phrases that are familiar to your audience. You’ve been told to tell a story, keep it simple, and use sales language with specific phrases. All of these tips are decent, but applying them is the true test of a good marketer. Read on for the specifics on how the pros craft amazing banner copy.

Keep it Relevant

The number one tip to follow is relevance. Just like Google, the most important thing is making sure the user is getting exactly what he searches for. Relevance should drive everything else about your copywriting, including word count and calls to action. You want to be sure that you include good cues for the user, like a keyword or phrase the user expects to hear. For example, a mortgage ad might include references to mortgage rates. The closer you align your copy to what the user is expecting, the better your sales propositions are.

Break relevance and you risk a disconnect, where the user expects something to happen but is disappointed. The fastest way to kill a sale is to try to be surprising in your copywriting. Start with what you know about your target market and let that drive your copywriting.

Word Count

Text is as long as it needs to be, but you need to be conscious of what the text actually looks like in the ad. The ad should be instantly readable, meaning the user can see the banner and pick out the text and calls to action immediately. Using partitions in your image, like alternating colors or other visual cues, you can create a separate space for your text.

Make a Solid Promise

The call to action in your ad is the most important part. A good call to action is a simple statement that pushes the user into something specific: print coupons, get rates. A bad call to action relies on clichés and tired phrasing: buy now, click here. Try to sum up the benefits of your product and make them unbeatable. You can also use the call to action in your headline, not just the button the user clicks.

Remember that your call to action must be relevant to the ad, so if a user is searching for job opportunities, you can use something like “get hired” or “find work.” You might also notice these calls rely on two words to get the job done. Make your phrases short and sweet, and deliver them in an enticing package.

Write with Panache

Injecting a bit of personality into your ads also helps increase the clickability of your ads, but you have to be careful. Users are naturally suspicious of your ads, so good writing can help sell them by relating to them. Use facts and figures to help bolster your ad’s credibility or speak directly to your ideal customer. Targeting relies on these principles: an effective message crafted for a specific type of user.

Bio: Ted Dhanik has worked with some of the biggest brands in online marketing. As a thought leader in the direct marketing space, Ted Dhanik has put his fifteen years of experience to work for businesses. As the co-founder of engage:BDR, Ted Dhanik can help your business increase its pool of leads.


Written by Ted Dhanik.

Testing is a term that gets thrown around in the world of display advertising, but the scientific aspect of marketing is very much a part of successful campaigns. Testing is a good method to confirm your suspicions and test the ideas you think you know. Through testing, you might find that you can double your conversion rate or reach new segments of your market. Without testing, your conversion rates are bound to stagnate. If you’re struggling with testing, or looking to implement new ideas, read on for some helpful tips to get started.

A/B Test

The basic A/B test pits two ads against one another in the hopes that one will convert better. The idea is that a marketer will take a page that is already working and look for methods to improve that page. Start with the easy stuff: your copy and your call to action, then move on from there. Begin with the copy from your successful ad and change one word. Use A/B testing to see whether your one word made a difference. Rinse and repeat, testing your theories one by one and keeping careful logs of your findings. Remember that an A/B test uses only ONE variable. More than one and your results get muddled.

Split Testing in Practice

The split test is made much more powerful with the proper tools. Google’s content experiments will do a lot of the heavy lifting for you once you have identified the URLs you want to use. The experiments send equal amounts of traffic to both pages, which removes unnecessary variables like time of day or traffic source from the equation. Once you have the experiment set up, let it run, even if you don’t like the initial results. The time frame will vary, especially if your new campaign is spending recklessly. You want to give the campaign enough traffic to have had a fair shot, but not too much.

Reviewing Analytics

Once the results are in, scrutinize every piece of data you have. Which pages are most popular? Which pages have the highest bounce rates? Which websites (placements) are sending the most traffic? Google Analytics is an excellent program for this, but there is much to be found in competitive research tools as well.

Implementation

Once you have some of these basic facts, you’re ready to approach your banner advertising with a bit of focus. For example, if you know that a high converting page also has a high bounce rate, you might want to improve the landing page by adding an exit pop to keep the user intrigued. Just remember to continue your testing, even if you find a verifiable winner. You can always improve!


Ted Dhanik is a marketer and business developer. As the president of engage:BDR, Ted Dhanik has specialized in lead generation for businesses in direct marketing. Find out more about direct marketing trends by visiting Ted Dhanik online.