How would you like your target to receive a small ad that drives them to your site every time a content-related blog gets updated? That capability is coming later this year, says Royal Farros, CEO of Redwood City, Calif.-based MessageCast.
Currently MessageCast provides branded alerts to a variety of clients, such as Fox Sports, looking to build frequency of Web site visits. When the Jays are playing, the branded alerts provide a mechanism for updating the target market even while they’re virtuously working away at the office. Alerts appear in the bottom corner of computer screens, with updates like ‘Jays 2, Yankees 1, Top 1st,’ and a Fox Sports logo above the message. The message is a link that takes them to Fox Sports’ site where they can get more on the story. If they don’t click, the alert will melt away. Low annoyance factor.
Today clients like Fox Sports are working on a pay per message model. Fox brands the message and pays a percentage of a cent for each. The cost is ‘confidential,’ says Farros, but says it’s similar to what e-mail marketing services cost but ‘with 10 times the performance, so the ROI is 10 times.’
Meanwhile MessageCast is developing the cost per click model for the blogs. There will be an alert that contains a subtle sponsored link – out of the way but visible.
The company taps into existing ad networks like Google. When advertisers buy a keyword from a search engine, consumers who have opted into the alert technology will receive an ad when that keyword comes up.
A benefit to the service is the ability to track consumers on an invited basis. If they’ve asked to receive notifications via e-mail, via alerts or via their mobile, MessageCast can determine if the consumer is online, or has their computer turned off and therefore will likely be best reached via cell. So how do brands get invited? Consumers go to the site or to a blog and sign up to receive targeted alerts. ‘You’ll see us being included in more and more blogs, saying: ‘Hey, want alerts?’ says Farros.
If people have asked Fox Sports for baseball scores, those are the alerts they get, driving them back to Fox’s site. Whereas every time a blog gets updated, your target will get an alert (so they can link to the blog) with an ad link attached (so they can click through to the brand’s site.)
MessageCast is currently offering its services free to bloggers because it’s planning to eventually collect from advertisers. The ads will be relevant in real time with the ability to match the content to the updated info on the blog. Marketers can buy keywords (from Google, etc.) so whenever that word appears in the blog, MessageCast will send out a targeted ad. MessageCast can tap into whatever happens on an ad network, says Farros. Current Canadian partners include MSN Canada.
