Social media and user-generated content have become the latest online "rage" for users and advertisers alike. But in many cases, it can be difficult for media planners to design an appropriate strategy for these sites that best suit their clients. The best strategy is to evolve from simply being an advertiser, and become a participant.

We've designed a package of marketing products that enable advertisers to become participants in social media and build unique affinity with targeted audiences. The Ad Above package delivers a diverse combination of advertising, content, and affinity-building activities within a customizable platform.

The core of the Ad Above package is a stunningly branded "discussion thread" used to introduce your product, service, or brand to our uniquely targeted and influential audience. Shown at right, this is a full-featured page-within-a-page that is integrated into the fabric of our advanced discussion board system. The Ad Above thread provides all the flexibility of any web page, and includes:

• Wall to wall branding and graphic environment.
• Multiple images, buttons, forms, and even dynamic content.
• Interactive/animated Flash, JavaScript, and Java applets.
• Streaming video or audio.

The most important factor of the Ad Above thread transcends the regular visitors of AboveTopSecret.com, and places your content into the framework of one of the most search engine optimized user-generated sites available. This means your thread is not a simple "branded page" for the web site users, it's proactive marketing content that reaches out and attracts new visits through organic search. The AboveTopSecret.com website is legendary for it's search optimization with more than 40,000 daily visitors arriving through organic search. This is your opportunity to take advantage.

And for the members of AboveTopSecret.com, the Ad Above thread initiates the all-important conversation with your audience in a way that embraces their favorite form of communication, online discussion. Use the Ad Above thread as a springboard for value-added editorial, special interactive events, and contests that draw users into your brand to participate with you online.

Surround and support your Ad Above thread with rich media banner advertising that draws users into your content and invite participation. All Ad Above packages include a base run of premium position banners which can be extended for as long as you like.

Additional support features include a top-of-site text link for improved search engine optimization and site-wide visibility, a user account to respond to questions, and long-tail thread life (if desired) to keep your content well-placed in search engines.

The main site home page supports your Ad Above initiative with a special content area that calls attention to your thread. Clearly marketed as an advertisement to avoid user confusion, this content snippet aids in overall search engine optimization, site integration, and visibility of your Ad Above thread. Your Ad Above package includes premium position, top-of-order insertion of banners on the site home, as well as deep-content topical summary pages. And for affinity content efforts, we have high profile call-outs on the home page that draw attention to your deep participation. An example of these features is shown at right.

To round out the tight integration and user participation, your Ad Above thread and affinity editorial will be featured in our regular email newsletter. Sent to a growing list of over 60,000 subscribers, these people anticipate our regular emails to stay on top of the hottest topics and discussions going on at AboveTopSecret.com. Many of the topics contained in our email newsletters have quickly risen to wild popularity because of the high number of opens/reads, and the very influential audience. An example of an Ad Above inclusion in a typical email is shown at right.
(Note: due to our strict privacy policies, we do not sell our email list, nor allow links to advertiser's domains from our emails. Your Ad Above advertisement in our emails will link to your Ad Above thread.)

The cost for developing an Ad Above campaign varies by the type of thread unit and content, as well as the term and quantity of supporting ad units. Generally there is a minor fee for establishing the campaign, then impression charges based on visits to your thread and displayed banner units. Our executive staff includes seasons advertising and sales professionals who can work with your media planners to devise an effective and stand-out campaign that fits within nearly any budget.

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