The pace of today's society has diminished the practicality of traditional media and increased the importance of interactive (online) advertising. By better understanding how interactive advertising works and how your company can benefit from transitioning your advertising dollars, you are better able to make informed decisions that benefit your company as a whole. Here are some things you should know:
Reach your audience — Advertisers follow eyeballs
The advertising is only effective if it reaches your consumers and your consumers are now online. The audience reached through traditional media has been decreasing over the last decade. You’re paying increasing rates to reach a decreasing population. Even paying the same rates to reach less people is simply not good for your company. But the audience still exists, it is just no longer going to the local newsstand to get information, these people are online, searching free content that is available immediately. The audience has moved on... and it is time your company does as well.
Here are some facts about today's consumers
- Internet usage has grown 129.6% from 2000 to 2008 in the US. (InternetWorldStats.com)
- As of June 30 2008, 73.6% of the US population uses the Internet; this means 248,241,969 people in the US are online. (InternetWorldStats.com)
- Over 1.4 billion people worldwide are online (InternetWorldStats.com)
- More than 85% of the world’s Internet users surveyed have purchased something online, according to The Nielsen Company (emarketer.com)
- Nielson said that more than half of Internet users had made at least one purchase online within the past month. (emarketer.com)
- More than 9 out of 10 online shoppers surveyed who eventually purchased in brick-and-mortar stores used the Internet to research their purchases, according to STORES Magazine’s “Favorite 50” study, sponsored by Microsoft and conducted in October 2007 by BIGresearch. (emarketer.com)
- Young US consumers surveyed spent more time on the Internet than with any other type of media in May 2008, according to a study conducted by DoubleClick Performics and ROI Research. (emarketer.com)
Only pay for what you get — It's all about impressions
The days of spending money creating and placing an advertisement and then crossing your fingers that your ad isn’t skipped are over. Internet advertising is the only medium where you only pay for exactly what you get. The term “impressions” refers to the number of times your ad is actually seen. Not only can you choose the number of times you want your ad to be seen, you can verify that you are getting what you pay for. In today’s economy, advertising dollars cannot be wasted. Make sure you get what you pay for.
And the tracking doesn't stop there...
In addition to tracking ad impressions, you can evaluate and adjust your ad throughout your campaign. You don’t have to wait until the next campaign to make improvements... they can be made immediately. It is possible to use multiple banners to determine which product or advertisement receives the best response.
Advertising effectiveness — How do you know what you get?
Although internet advertising is still seen as somewhat new and is easily misunderstood it is without question both effective and verifiable. There is no guesswork as to how your campaign is doing or whether or not you are getting your money’s worth. You can easily track the results yourself.
Emarketer.com states that "online ads are more measurable than other media, making them increasingly appealing to advertisers."
With traditional advertising like print, tracking methods are less reliable. This leaves your company without knowledge of the true campaign effectiveness or lack thereof. Internet advertising is the only medium you can verify whether or not the numbers you’re being given are true or not. Not only does this reinforce your previous advertising spending decisions, it allows you to plan future campaigns in a more effective way. When third party systems track and compare sites against each other and report the information directly to you, the advertiser, there is simply no room for bias, exaggerated numbers or marketing fluff.
Select the right site
It is important when choosing your site to look for industry support. The major motorcycle OEMs hire agencies to research the site options and find the most effective ways of reaching consumers. If the major motorcycle OEMs are advertising on a particular site, they have likely done the research and have found the site to be trustworthy. If you don’t have the resources to conduct your own research, follow the industry.
Learn the language
- Unique Visitors is the term that carries the most value. This is the number of different people verified to visit the site and view your ad each month.
- Impressions are the exact number of times your ad will be seen.
- Visits or Views is marketing fluff and most commonly used when referring to total viewer traffic.
- CPM is cost per one thousand impressions. This is a dollar amount you pay to have your ad displayed 1,000 times. Generally, you can choose how many thousands of times you want your ad seen - this adds an element of flexibility unlike print media where you are subject to purchasing the entire claimed circulation.
Digital Media = Internet Advertising = Interactive Advertising = Profit
Contact us today for additional information on our many advertising opportunities.