Continuing our series of posts about real estate and homebuilder online advertising and marketing fundamentals for 2010, this week we’ll discuss the basics of online banner ads and how they fit into your 2010 marketing plan.

“Banner” or “online display” advertising can be found on every search engine, and on many news and portal websites. These ads can be targeted to specific consumers based on their browsing habits and on the demographics associated with each website’s content. And setting a budget is easy: You decide how much to spend and where within a specific timeframe, meaning you can test your ads for a very small cost until you have refined for the most results, and that you can easily control costs.

Best of all, you can not only measure how many impressions—how many people were actually exposed to the ad—but also how many people clicked the ad as well. Most banner advertising is very cost-effective, with the average cost per click (CPC) under $2, and the average cost per thousand impressions (CPM) at approximately $10.

For several years, fewer and fewer people have been clicking on banner ads, raising the question of how effective banner ads really are. Current research shows that low number of clicks doesn’t necessarily mean banners don’t work; online culture and consumption habits have changed over the years, and there is a great deal of evidence that regardless of clicks, banner ads contribute greatly to increased visits to websites. According to one report, “Within one week, consumers exposed to a display ad were 65% more likely to visit the advertiser’s site than users who never saw the ad. Even at four weeks, people exposed to displays ads are 45% more likely to visit the brand’s site.”

And, if you still doubt the importance and effectiveness of banner advertising, just look at where other media buyers placed their money in 2009: “TV ad spending fell 10%, magazines dropped 17%, newspapers and radio each dropped 20%, and outdoor fell 13%. The only major growth area: Online ad spending. Internet display ads increased 7% in 2009.”

Remember, you control the budget, so you can test your outreach to ensure the most return on your investment. Like all other digital advertising and marketing tools, banner ads are an effective component of a larger plan, and they too must be linked to real and meaningful content to help prospects on their journey toward becoming your customers.

Next time, we’ll discuss E-Mail Marketing and its role in your online advertising and marketing fundamentals for 2010.