KR20010087879A - Advertising method using e-mail - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A method for the advertisement using the e-mail is provided to maximize the advertisement effect by offering the equal opportunity of winning a prize to both of a sender and recipient. CONSTITUTION: The sender(100) connects to a mail advertisement server(110) and becomes a member. The mail advertisement server is connected with a membership DB(111) which keeps the address, id, and personal information of the member, with a sponsor URL DB(112) which keeps the URL of the sponsor, and with a mail advertisement image DB(113) which keeps the mail advertisement image. When the sender writes the e-mail, the mail advertisement server displays the advertisement to the sender, who inserts a mail advertisement tag into the e-mail. The e-mail including the advertisement is sent to the recipient. If both the sender and recipient win the prize by clicking the advertisement, both can get the prize or bonus.

Description

Advertising method using email {Advertising method using e-mail}

The present invention relates to an advertisement method using e-mail, and more particularly, a banner advertisement appears to the sender and the receiver each time the e-mail is written and received, and a lottery is attached to the sender and the receiver. It is about how to provide a chance of winning.

In the absence of the Internet, letters and telegrams have been the mainstream of correspondence. However, with the rapid development of the Internet and the establishment of network networks nationwide, e-mail has quickly replaced letters and telegrams, which have been the means of communication of individuals, and one of the most common means of communication in the future is e-mail. It is expected to be.

In recent years, there are many websites that provide free e-mail accounts. And, even without a mail program, web mail, which can send e-mail with a web browser, is rapidly spreading.

On the other hand, with the widespread use of the Internet, advertisements on the Internet are also rapidly increasing. Advertisers can sell the time or space of the media to advertisers or advertising companies and collect the money. A company that pays a media company and obtains a fee in return, and has promoted its advertisements to Internet users by displaying banner ads on certain websites.

However, this type of banner advertising has a disadvantage in that the effectiveness of the advertisement is considerably lowered because the user's response rate is low and the click rate is low. In addition, despite the low click-through rate, not only is the advertising cost very high for famous websites, but it is also difficult to obtain an advertising space because the advertising space is limited.

On the other hand, a site that provides a free e-mail account is used to send an ad attached to the mail transmission, but the recipient's point of view, because the ad file is attached to the many cases of annoying, the effect of the advertisement is less effective.

In addition, in the case of web mail, the sender accesses the website and composes a mail, so the user sees an advertisement. However, a user who sends a mail using a dedicated mail program does not provide an advertisement. There is this.

The present invention has been made in view of this point, and an object of the present invention is to provide an email advertising method that can maximize the advertising effect.

Another object of the present invention is to enhance the advertising effect by showing the advertisement to both the inserting side and the receiving side of the advertisement and providing an equal chance of winning prizes and a predetermined prize money.

1 is a diagram illustrating a network configuration according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a screen example of selecting an option setting from a menu of Outlook Express and selecting a menu for setting a signature.

3 is an example of a screen when a user who sets up a mail client according to the present invention creates an email.

4 shows an example of a screen when an e-mail is received.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure for a sender to register as a member of a mail advertisement server implementing the present invention as a member, and create and send a mail.

6 is a flowchart showing the procedure at the receiver side receiving the mail sent by the member.

7 is a flowchart showing the procedure for creating a mail or receiving a mail in the embodiment using another winning method.

8 is a diagram illustrating a network configuration in an embodiment via a media lab site.

In order to achieve the above-mentioned objects, the present invention provides a website that can apply for membership registration, advertisement display application and mail advertisement tag insertion, membership management, mail advertising tag, URL of banner advertising execution company (Uniform Resource) Locators are stored in a database.

When an email sender composes a message, the email is displayed to the sender, and the mail is inserted with a mail advertisement tag so that the receiver receives the advertisement. Advertisements can be sent from websites that embed tags, or from media lab sites. In addition, the sender or receiver may receive a prize or reward when the advertisement is won by clicking.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a diagram illustrating a network configuration according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The sender 100 first accesses the mail advertisement server 110 implementing the present invention and registers as a member. The mail advertisement server 110 has a member DB 111 storing personal information such as an address and ID of a member, an advertiser URL DB 112 storing an advertiser's URL, and a mail advertisement image storing a mail advertisement image. DB 113 is connected.

The sender 100 composes an e-mail using its own mail client (MUA) or webmail, and transmits the created e-mail to the receiver 130. At this time, the sender 100 and the receiver 130 are exposed to the advertisement from the mail advertisement server 110 when writing or viewing the e-mail, respectively.

This section describes how to set up a mailing list for the registered user to view the e-mail advertisement.

Those registered as members will receive their own mail advertisement tag with member ID. Then, the mail advertisement server 110 inserts a mail advertisement tag into a signature portion of its own mail client program or web mail service. An example of a mail advertisement tag is as follows.

<P> </ P>

<HR>

<A HREF="http://ad server/click/site=admail&ID=Applicant ID">

<IMG SRC = "http: // ad server / view / site = admail & ID = Applicant ID">

</A>

<BR>

<A HREF="http://mail ad server/intro"> Sign up for a lucky lottery banner </A>

Please send good luck with your letter.

<HR>

In the "mail advertising tag" illustrated above, "<A HREF = "http://ad server/click/site=admail&ID=Applicant ID"> " is a sentence linking to the URL of the advertisement client, and the email sender ( 100) clicks on it to connect to the URL. At this time, since the ID of the applicant is also transmitted, when the winner is clicked, the winner can be distinguished.

It also saves which advertisements are shown according to the applicant's ID, selects ads that are not shown to the person with the corresponding ID, or displays ads in the field of interest to the person with the ID. can do.

That is, the mail ad server stores the list of advertisements shown by the user's ID, and when the advertisement is displayed by the mail advertisement tag, selects the least-showed advertisement and sends it to the corresponding user. This can increase the effectiveness of advertising.

In addition, since the mail advertisement server is notified of the user's ID by the mail advertisement tag whenever the user sees the advertisement, the user's familiarity with the advertisement by allowing the user to earn mileage or membership points according to the number of times the advertisement is viewed. It can increase.

"<IMG SRC =" http: // ad server / view / site = admail & ID = Applicant ID "> " indicates the source of the image to be displayed on the banner advertisement screen. That is, when the sender 100 writes an e-mail, it indicates where the advertisement image appearing on the sender's mail client is obtained.

In the example above, the last line "<AHREF="http://mail ad server/intro"> Request a lucky lottery banner </A>: Send good luck when you send a letter. " Since the hyperlink (HyperLink) in the URL of the user clicks on it, a web page for guiding the matter regarding the lottery banner of the present invention appears. This sentence is for guidance on the lottery banner and is not required to be inserted.

The mail advertisement tag as described above is stored in the member's computer as an HTML (Hyper Text Marup Language) document at the time of membership registration. In this example, it is assumed that it is stored in a file called "good luck advertisement mail tag.htm".

When the advertisement mail tag file is stored in this way, the user must change his webmail settings or the settings of the mail client. Figure 2 is an example of setting in a mail client called Outlook Express of Microsoft Corporation.

2 shows an example of the screen when the option setting is selected from the menu of Outlook Express and the menu of signature 520 is selected.

In Figure 2, the user selects an option to add a signature to every message he sends. Then, each time a new mail is created, a file named "good luck advertisement mail tag.htm" (521) automatically appears on the mail creation screen. In this case, since the tag file includes an advertisement image and a link as illustrated above, an advertisement banner appears every time a user composes a mail.

This setting can be made manually by the user, but it is also possible to download a program that can automatically make these settings when the user registers, and to automatically set up a mail client by executing them.

That is, the mail advertisement server transmits the mail advertisement tag file and the setting program for setting the mail client program to the user's computer. The transmitted setting program serves to set the inserted mail advertisement tag file to be inserted as a signature file of the user's e-mail program. Therefore, the setting is automatically made when the user operates the received setting program.

In the case of a user using webmail, the downloaded mail advertisement tag file is set as a signature file according to the option setting method provided by the webmail server.

An example of a screen when a user who sets up a mail client in this way creates an e-mail is shown in FIG.

When the user 100 selects the "Create Mail" menu to create a mail, the signature file is inserted into the mail creation screen according to the option setting of the mail client. The banner advertisement 530 appears by the advertisement tag in this signature file. Also, a link 531 to the guiding web page on the lottery banner is displayed by the guiding tag on the luck advertisement mail in the "good luck advertisement mail tag .htm" file illustrated in the above example.

Therefore, each time the sender 100 composes a mail, the advertisement image is transmitted from the mail advertisement server 110 by the advertisement tag and inserted into the sender's mail compose screen. You will see.

When the mail is created and sent as described above, the advertisement mail tag is also sent to the recipient 130 together with the mail message as a signature file.

An example of the screen when the receiver 130 opens the mail thus received is shown in FIG. 4. Similarly to the sender 100, the receiver 130 also includes a banner advertisement 540 and a lottery banner guide link 541 by an advertisement tag at the end of the mail message.

Therefore, the receiver 130 also sends an advertisement when receiving the mail.

In this case, the advertisement shown to the sender or the receiver may be a general advertisement, but a winning screen may be shown at every certain probability. That is, each time a user registers as a member and writes an e-mail, or whenever he / she sees an e-mail from a member, an advertisement tag is used to read an advertisement image from the mail advertisement server. As a result of the lottery, the general advertising screen is exited if not win, but the winning screen will appear.

4 shows an example of a screen when a mail recipient wins. The winner may access the mail advertisement server 110 by clicking on the winning guide banner 540 and may follow a procedure for receiving a prize.

This procedure will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure in which a sender joins a mail advertisement server 110 implementing the present invention as a member, composes a mail, and transmits the mail.

In FIG. 5, the sender 100 accesses the service providing website 110 to register and download the advertisement mail tag file (step S510).

Then, the sender 100 sets the advertisement mail file downloaded at the time of membership registration as a signature file in its mail client MUA (step S511).

After the setting is completed in this manner, the sender 100 creates a mail (step S512). At this time, the mail creation screen is activated and the banner advertisement 530 screen by the mail advertisement tag is displayed in the mail creation window.

At this time, the mail advertising server 110 draws the winning screen if it is won, and exports the general screen if it did not win.

Therefore, if there is no winning notification message, the sender 100 composes and sends the mail according to the normal mail creation procedure (step S518).

If the message of the notification of notification is output at the bottom of the mail creation screen (step S513), the sender 100 accesses the advertisement mail server 110 by clicking the corresponding winning guidance banner (step S514), and confirms the winning. (Step S515), a new receipt address for receiving the prize and the predetermined reward is entered or the receipt address already entered is checked (step S516). Upon completion of this step, the winner is entered in the winner list to receive a prize (step S517).

As such, when the prize receiving procedure according to the winning is completed, the sender 100 activates his mail client screen again, composes a mail, and sends a mail (step S518), and all procedures are finished.

6 is a flowchart showing the procedure at the receiver 130 receiving the mail sent by the member.

In Fig. 6, the recipient drives the webmail or mail program to read the mail (step S600).

At this time, since the received mail is attached with the tag file as illustrated above, when reading the mail, the advertisement image is taken from the mail advertisement server 110.

At this time, the mail advertising server 110 draws a drawing and wins the winning screen, and if not wins the general advertising screen (step S601).

Therefore, if there is no message of the winning notification, the receiver 130 reads the mail according to the normal mail reading procedure.

If, at the bottom of the mail reception screen, a message of a notification of notification is output as shown in FIG. 4, the receiver 130 accesses the advertisement mail server 110 by clicking on the corresponding announcement guide banner (step S602), and wins the prize. Confirmation (step S603), enter a new receipt address for receiving the prize and the predetermined reward or confirm the already received receipt address (step S604). When this step is completed, the winner is entered in the winner list to receive the prize (step S605).

As such, when the prize receiving procedure according to the winning is completed, the recipient 100 activates his mail client screen again and reads the mail according to the normal mail reading procedure.

In the above description, the case where the lottery is automatically performed every time the advertisement image is accessed by the advertisement tag has been described. Unlike this, instead of automatically drawing a lottery, a user can click the banner ad to configure whether or not to win.

Fig. 7 is a flowchart showing the procedure at the time of mail creation or mail reception in this case.

When the user composes or receives the mail, the advertisement banner appears on the mail creation screen or the mail reception screen as described above (step S700). In this case, when the user clicks the advertisement mail banner placed at the bottom of the composition window or the reception window ( In step S701, two windows are generated (step S702). One window shows the homepage of the advertiser executing the banner advertisement (step S703), and the other window shows a window for confirming the winning (step S704).

In case of winning, a winning message appears and the user enters a new receiving address for receiving prizes and predetermined rewards or confirms the receiving address already entered (step S705). Then, the procedure for receiving the prize entered on the winner list is completed (step S706).

In the embodiment of FIG. 7, the user must access the advertiser's homepage to confirm whether or not the lottery is won. However, the user can increase the click-through rate for the banner advertisement. However, it is inconvenient to close the window after confirming the winning or not.

In the above description, the case in which the mail advertisement server 110 has the advertiser URL DB 112 and the mail advertisement image DB 113 has been described. However, these DBs may be provided in the professional media lab site 120. Do. Media Lab is a company that sells time or space of a medium to a specific media company to an advertiser or an advertising company, collects the money, pays the media company, and obtains a commission in return.

8 shows a network configuration in an embodiment via a media lab site. In this embodiment, the mail advertisement tag is linked to the media lab site 120 instead of the mail advertisement server 110.

In such a configuration, the mail advertisement server 110 merely serves to attract members and distribute mail tags to the members, and the advertisement itself is provided by the media lab site 120. In addition, the mail advertisement server 110 may receive information about the number of times the advertisements are transmitted to each member from the media lab site 120, and may play a role of managing the points of the members.

In such a configuration, since the mail advertisement server 110 does not need to engage in activities such as attracting advertisements and only manages members, there is an advantage that it can be operated even in a small website having a small number of members who are difficult to attract advertisements.

The procedure in this configuration differs only in that the advertisement tag is linked to the media lab site 120 side rather than the mail advertisement server 110 side, and the rest of the procedure is the same, detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The present invention has been described above with reference to the drawings and embodiments, but the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments, and those skilled in the art can make many modifications and variations without departing from the scope of the present invention. I will understand this possible. In addition, the protection scope of the present invention will be defined by the appended claims.

As described above, according to the present invention, not only the person who receives the e-mail but also the person who writes the e-mail sees the advertisement, thereby increasing the effect of the advertisement.

In addition, according to the present invention, since the advertisement can be displayed not only to the person using the web mail but also to the person using the mail client, the advertisement is effective.

In addition, when the user sees the advertisement automatically or by clicking on the banner advertisement is given a chance to win, there is an effect that can be welcomed to the recipient of the e-mail attached to the advertisement.

In addition, since points can be accumulated according to the number of times the mail is written or received, that is, the number of times the advertisement is viewed, the user's friendliness to the advertisement can be further increased.

In addition, by storing a list of advertisements exposed for each user, the user can show the least exposed advertisement or the user can select and show the advertisement that interests the user the most effectively.

Claims (7)

Granting an ID as the user registers as a member in the mail advertisement server; Setting an e-mail program of the user so that an e-mail advertisement tag file configured to bring a predetermined banner advertisement image is attached to the signature file of the e-mail transmitted by the user; When the user composes an e-mail or when a recipient who receives the e-mail sent by the user views the e-mail, the e-mail advertisement tag file receives a request to access a banner advertisement image to the e-mail advertisement server. The ad server determines whether or not to win and transmits the winning screen if the winning, and the advertising screen as the banner advertising image if not winning Advertising method using an e-mail having a. Granting an ID as the user registers as a member in the mail advertisement server; Setting an e-mail program of the user so that an e-mail advertisement tag file configured to bring a predetermined banner advertisement image is attached to the signature file of the e-mail transmitted by the user; When the user composes an e-mail or when the recipient who received the e-mail sent by the user views the e-mail and clicks the banner advertisement received by the mail advertisement tag file, two windows are opened and one window is opened. Shows the website that the banner ad is linked to, and tells you whether or not you win in the other window. Advertising method using an e-mail having a. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The mail advertisement tag of the mail advertisement tag file includes an ID of the user. The method of claim 3, The mail advertisement server stores an advertisement list shown for each user's ID, and selects and transmits the least-showed advertisement to the corresponding user when the advertisement is displayed by the mail advertisement tag. The method of claim 3, The mail advertisement server is an advertisement method using an e-mail, characterized in that to increase the point of the user when the user ID is transmitted by the mail advertisement tag. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The mail advertisement tag of the mail advertisement tag file is linked to obtain a banner advertisement from a media lab site other than the mail advertisement server. The method according to claim 1 or 2, Setting the e-mail program of the user, Transmitting, by the mail advertisement server, a mail advertisement tag file to a user's computer; Transmitting, by the mail advertisement server, a setting program for setting a mail client program to a user's computer; Operating the transmitted setting program and setting the inserted mail advertisement tag file to be inserted as a signature file of the user's e-mail program; Advertising method using an e-mail, characterized in that it comprises a.