American Express OPEN® Launches AdManager to Level the Playing Field for Small Businesses that Market Online

Display Advertising Seen as Linchpin to Successful Online Marketing

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--American Express OPEN today launched AdManager (www.admanager.com), a tool for helping small businesses create, target and measure the results of their online advertising campaigns. Typically designed for larger enterprises with bigger marketing budgets, software tools for managing digital ad campaigns are traditionally too expensive and often too complicated for time-stretched entrepreneurs.

“Display ads have inherent advantages over other types of online marketing and increase engagement when paired with paid search campaigns – also referred to as pay-per-click campaigns.”

AdManager simplifies the inherently onerous process by offering a start-to-finish platform that tackles every facet of building and sustaining campaigns, from creating ads to determining where they will appear. AdManager is powered by AdReady, creators of award-winning software that enables marketers to master online display advertising. AdManager is American Express OPEN’s latest Business App, a suite of software products that help small businesses market their products and services, increase margins and improve cash flow.

Consumers are spending more and more time online – the average US household spends 13 hours online per week¹ – and marketers are following them there. eMarketer data shows that in 2010 display advertising spend reached nearly $6.6B and is expected to grow to $8.1B by 2014.

“AdManager aims to bridge the gap between business owners’ current knowledge of the display advertising space and potential customers that are spending more time online,” says Robert Ciccone, vice president, American Express OPEN. “Display ads have inherent advantages over other types of online marketing and increase engagement when paired with paid search campaigns – also referred to as pay-per-click campaigns.”

Some companies have seen as much as a 22 percent increase in click-through rates when they run search and display campaigns together. ²

About AdManager

AdManager combines creative templates and testing capabilities with media-buying software to deliver a complete, easy-to-use, customizable platform. The tool enables users to create distinct ads in the seven most popular Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) standard sizes and works to target prospective customers on top ad networks, exchanges and publishers such as Google Network, DoubleClick Exchange, RightMedia, Yahoo! Network, AppNexus and Microsoft, by geography or interest.

AdManager also lets users quickly and easily test key messages against audience segments to find the best combinations. It includes detailed campaign reporting tools that let users optimize campaigns and maximize return on investment by shifting budget to higher performing creative and testing different offers.

To meet the myriad needs of small business advertisers, AdManager is offered in three versions:

• AdManager Pro helps business owners diversify existing online marketing efforts and are getting started in display advertising. The tool offers subscribers the “Get Started” package, comprehensive online reporting and help from a display specialist.
• AdManager Pro for Marketing Agencies delivers a product that integrates seamlessly with existing systems and client campaigns. Client-based tracking and pricing functionality helps agencies better manage specific campaigns.
• AdManager Premium combines the benefits of Pro with a dedicated display advisor and bi-weekly status check-ins by phone or email. The product is designed for small businesses that want to create new or manage existing display ad campaigns.
• AdManager Elite offers full-service campaign management for business owners interested in a more hands-off approach. Users will have access to a dedicated display specialist, weekly status check-ins by phone or email and unlimited new creative.

Coupling Search and Display Campaigns

AdManager is the second marketing application in the Business Apps suite. The first was SearchManager, an online solution for managing paid search campaigns across all major search ad networks, including Google Adwords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, Microsoft AdCenter and Facebook Ads, via a centralized dashboard.

AdManager helps make digital display advertising work similarly to search advertising by allowing users to optimize campaigns and maximize return-on-investment by shifting budget to higher performing ads. When combined with a search campaign, display advertising provides a significant lift in onsite engagement, and an increase in online purchasing by consumers exposed to integrated campaigns.

About Business Apps

OPEN Business Apps are a suite of online business tools that complement OPEN’s card products for small businesses. The Business Apps portfolio includes:

• AcceptPay – A web-based tool that allows small business owners to accept online payments and electronically invoice customers – all in one place;
• InsuranceEdge – An online portal that offers small business owners real-time, competitive quotes from some of the nation’s leading insurance carriers;
• FX International Payments from American Express – A service that allows businesses to make international wire transfers.
• SearchManager – An online solution that allows business owners to easily manage paid search campaigns across all major search ad networks, including Google Adwords, Yahoo! Search Marketing, Microsoft AdCenter, and even Facebook Ads – via a centralized dashboard.
• Ariba Discovery – Ariba Discovery is a next-generation online business matching service that helps buyers and sellers connect quickly and efficiently for new business opportunities.
• AdManager – a start-to-finish, easy-to-use online tool designed to help small businesses create, optimize and target online display advertising campaigns on top ad networks, exchanges and branded publishers, such as Google, Yahoo!, and Facebook.

¹ “Understanding the Changing Needs Of The US Online Consumer”, Forrester Research.

² “Where can you find your customer?”, Research study from The Atlas Institute

About American Express OPEN^®

American Express OPEN is the leading payment card issuer for small businesses in the United States and supports business owners with products and services to help them run and grow their businesses. This includes business charge and credit cards that deliver purchasing power, flexibility, rewards, savings on business services from an expanded lineup of partners, and software-as-a-service applications designed to help with cash flow, marketing and business expenses. Learn more at www.OPEN.com and connect with us at openforum.com, twitter.com/openforum and facebook.com/open.

American Express is a global services company, providing customers with access to products, insights and experiences that enrich lives and build business success. Learn more at www.americanexpress.com and connect with us on www.facebook.com/americanexpress, www.twitter.com/americanexpress and www.youtube.com/americanexpress.

About AdReady

AdReady is powerful software that enables any marketer to master online advertising. Unlike time-intensive, inefficient approaches that don’t get the job done, AdReady simplifies the process with an intuitive start-to-finish solution that improves advertising ROI by successfully reaching and converting digital consumers where they live. More than 6,000 customers in the U.S. have run more than 560,000 ads across nearly 150,000 sites through the AdReady solution. AdReady has been recognized for “Best Ad Delivery Platform Innovation” by the Digital Publishing and Advertising Conference and “Service Provider of the Year” by the Washington Technology Industry Association. To learn more, please visit www.adready.com, follow us on Twitter @AdReady, or find us on Facebook.