The Future of Advertising
Advertising is a medium that constantly evolves. It changes
with the times. It adapts to new technologies. It is
unrelenting in its desire to find new and better ways to
reach an ever-growing consumer marketplace.
But its not simply advertising that evolves. Consumers and
consumer behavior are changing too. As we look at the future
of advertising, it’s important to look at how the two
interact and change together over time.
Without a doubt, the Internet has revolutionized the
industry. It has taken the world - and the advertising world
by storm. And it has only just begun to make an impact. The
Internet has become a global medium with massive potential.
Forty years ago, television was considered new media.
Fifteen years ago, it was cable. Today, people spend
increasing amounts of time online at the expense of other
media. The first evidence of this audience migration
appeared in 1998 in a Forrester Research report.
The researchers asked PC users which activities they were
giving up to spend more time on their computers. 75% of the
respondents said they gave up television.
Interactive. That is the real key behind the power of the
Internet in advertising. The Internet is really the only
medium where we see true interactivity. In addition:
o It means greater viewer involvement.
o It means users can access services according to their
interests and their tastes.
o They can request and receive specialized product
information, make an instant purchase, all the while saving
time and expense.
o The effectiveness of Web advertising appears to relate to
the fact that surfing the web is an actively engaging
experience, similar to reading magazines.
Consumers also have the choice to “opt-in” to receiving
additional information on a particular product or service.
In Seth Godin’s groundbreaking book, Permission Marketing,
he said, “By reaching out only to those individuals who have
signaled an interest in learning more about a product,
Permission Marketing enables companies to develop long-term
relationships with customers, create trust, build brand
awareness- and greatly improve the chances of making a
sale.”
All the Rage: Pay Per Click and Natural Search Using SEO
It’s no secret what has taken over the business world, in
industry after industry. Pay Per Click and Natural Search
Using Search Engine Optimization (SEO). Today, being on the
first page for your most popular keyword phrase is like
having the most memorable prime time television commercial
in 1973.
Pay per click advertising on search engines allows you to
choose keywords you would like your site to appear under
when a potential customer engages in a search. You decide
how much you are willing to pay each time a person clicks on
the search results. But it can be competitive - and
expensive if you are trying to use keywords that are very
popular.
Natural Search or Organic Search is the non-biased, non-paid
results that come up when you do a search. This can be
influenced heavily by what’s called “Search Engine
Optimization” - the complex and time consuming practice of
ensuring that your website is doing all the right things in
order to rank high for certain search terms. In this arena,
smaller companies can out maneuver large corporations, so
there’s a lot of excitement generated because of this.
Essentially, that’s where the power of advertising is going.
It’s all about Search. And Search is only going to become
more important over the next ten years. If you can get on
that coveted first page organically, well then, more power
to you!
Web Sites, Banner Ads, etc..
The other forms of on-line advertising vehicles are of
course, web sites, banner advertising placed on others
sites, newsletters, ezines, and email. They are used in many
different combinations, for different purposes at different
times. But most savvy companies are using all of them. The
value of banner ads has been hotly debated for a number of
years. Opponents argue that the click-through rates have
gone down so much, that banner ads are nothing but wasted
money. But research clearly shows that banners are very
effective in building brand awareness. On-line users may not
click on a banner, but if they see it enough times, the
company’s name is drilled into their head. When its time to
shop, that product or service is first in their mind.
Simply being exposed to the brand as one surf’s the web is
enough to make a big impression.
The impact of banners on brand awareness was tested for the
first time in fall 1996 by Millward Brown International.
Three brands were tested including a men’s apparel brand, a
telecommunications brand and a technology company. The
findings were significant and conclusive for each brand.
Awareness was significantly greater among the banner-exposed
(test) group than the non-exposed (control) group.
Specifically, exposure to the ad banners alone increased
brand awareness from 12% to 200% in a banner-exposed group.
The study also compared the impact of the banner ads in this
test to television and magazine norms from prior Millward
Brown studies. The findings were remarkable: Single exposure
to a Web banner generated greater awareness than a single
exposure to a television or print ad. Rather, the
effectiveness of Web advertising seems to stem from the fact
that Web usage is an actively engaging exercise.
Newsletters and Ezines
Most smart marketers out there have either a newsletter or
ezine nowadays. These types of customer communication and
advertising tools will only continue to grow in use and
importance. It goes back to the whole “what’s in it for me?”
issue. The customer wants to be part of the process. They
want to learn something. Or keep themselves updated on the
latest news. Most of all, they want to get something out of
the relationship. They want to do more than buy something,
they want to improve their lives in some small way - and
they want you to help them do that.
Email Advertising
Email is another of the big three Internet advertising
mediums. Companies like Got Marketing, OptinBig.com, and N5R
are providing new and exciting email marketing solutions for
thousands of progressive firms. Their results are
impressive. Consider response rates that average 10 to 20
times those of traditional direct mail. Or campaign Network
marketing referral rates as high as 40%. The bottom line is
that programs they put together have produced millions of
leads for clients. And it’s surprisingly affordable. This
means that almost anyone can now utilize this advertising
medium. But it has to be done smartly, because you don’t
want your emails to end up in spam filters. That is one
inherent problem with email advertising, especially in the
past two years.
N5R in particular is now one of the leading direct marketing
agencies in North America. They develop innovative
one-to-one marketing campaigns that drive a measurable,
positive ROI on behalf of their clients by driving
acquisition and conversion to trial and purchase for their
clients. They have developed award-winning strategies in
five major industry sectors. These include Internet
Marketing and Online Contests/Promotions, Permission Based
Email Marketing, Text Messaging, Success Based Email.
In Internet Marketing and Online Contests/Promotions,
marketers can gather and compile behavior and preference
data from prospects and customers and use this information
to send targeted and relevant information. Developing
ongoing programs of one-to-one communication is cost
effective and measurable. Contests are the quickest and most
effective way to gather this data and build relationships
with customers. It’s very possible to build a
permission-based database of over 50,000 prospects in only 6
weeks, increase web site traffic by 900%, improved online
sales revenue by 1,000%, and achieve $40 million in sales
from leads generated by an online promotion.
With Permission Based Email Marketing, loyal clients are
just an e-mail away. Where traditional marketing campaigns
fail, e-mail can shine through. E-mail marketing allows
companies to speak one-to-one with their audience in a
respectful, intelligent and creative way. It is extremely
cost-effective, provides the foundation for future marketing
initiatives, and delivers measurable results.
Text Messaging or SMS (Short Message Service) is a
technology that allows people to send and receive short (up
to 160 characters) written messages on cellular phones. It
is already hugely popular in Europe and Asia and is growing
rapidly in North America. SMS marketing offers the following
benefits:
One-to-one communication with your target group, anywhere,
anytime reach, low campaign cost, and very measurable data.
Imagine if your mobile phone received an email message,
“You’re only a block from a Starbuck’s; stop in for a 20%
discount on your latte.” The data is available and marketers
are starting to tap into these resources.
Success Based Email is free email deployment where companies
only pay for results. This “pay-per-click” approach is
based on the premise that companies will only pay for each
email that receives a “click-through” from the recipient.
Not only does the new approach enhance the value of
marketing dollars spent on such campaigns, the move will
likely trim total dollars spent.
For example if 100,000 emails are sent, 70% are opened and
15% of the recipients actually click on a link in the email
then clients will only be charged for the 15,000 people that
clicked on the link, not for the other 85,000 that didn’t.
The return on investment (ROI) or cost savings inherent in
this new approach will be very appealing to permission-based
marketers. The bottom line is that marketers will now pay
for real, measurable results.
The Next Step
Compared with other media, the Web is still limited in its
bandwidth offerings. But it’s getting better every day. With
the continued improvement of bandwidth development, we will
soon be positioned well to create full-featured multimedia
advertising on the Internet. Once a majority of consumers
have DSL capability and the computer power to access it,
there will be some incredible things happening. Sites like
tvtonic.com are already offering some very compelling visual
and audio imagery in the form of movie trailers and music
videos.
Market researchers, futurists and industry experts predict
that interactivity through multiple technologies and devices
will change how consumers interact with marketers.
Interactive advertising will soon be everywhere. So, in
effect, it could be considered the age of mass customization
in advertising. Advertisers will have the tools to narrow
their targets and address Web ads to individuals and not to
a demographic or psychographic group. Why market a
commercial to 1 million people, most of who aren’t in the
target audience, when the same ad could be shown to 10,000
people who are very interested in the product or service?
Most of those will even give their name and address.
Interactivity will also be a part of television. Interactive
TV will be the norm in the near future, and this too is
another exciting opportunity. There will be total
integration between TV channels and advertisers web sites.
While we are watching TV, we will be able to interact with
what we are seeing, ordering hamburgers from the McDonalds
down the street or communicating with the local car dealer
that we are interested in buying a car. Clicking on products
we see in TV shows and ordering them will be easy. Your TV
will keep track of what you are watching. Your TV will even
know what kind of car you own because you’ll tell for the
free oil change you’re offered in exchange. The oil change
will be compliments of DirecTV, and it is only good at Jiffy
Lube, which has paid to be the official oil-change provider
for DirecTV.” That’s the way it will work.
Service Initiative Advertising
Another major trend is what I call “Service Initiative
Advertising”. Let’s face it; consumers are tired of
advertising as usual. Many people say they hate commercials.
The success of Tivo and satellite radio can attest to this.
They want more from their advertising. And who could blame
them? People are inundated with advertising today- every
where they go. Service Initiative Advertising takes the
whole process one step further. Essentially how it works is
that it requires advertising to offer some value to the
consumer.
For example: Kraft Foods creates a website that offers busy
mothers a source for quick recipes for the family evening
meal. The idea isn’t to push Kraft products, but to promote
Kraft as a brand that offers a service to customers. There
have been companies who positioned their entire marketing
strategy on this tenant. Now, it will become a key part of
advertising for almost everyone. The consumer wants to know
you care.
It’s important to realize that advertising mediums of the
past will still be here. But, they may look a little
different in the future. Direct mail will always be around
as long as people like to receive mail. And despite external
challenges, the U.S. Postal service will still be around. TV
and radio will be here too.
But the future is here. And advertising will never be the
same.
One thing that is certain is that it will continue to be as
exciting and dynamic as it has been in the past. But now,
the consumer is a part of the process.
(C) 2005 Jon Wuebben. Do you need Search Engine Optimized (SEO)
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