I found it very interesting to learn about all the different strategies and techniques used to market via the internet and other mobile devices, as we are seeing now happen. When I first found out that I was going to have to write a blog I was not very excited about it and was actually dreading the assignment. It was something that I had never done before and I would have preferred to write a paper and hand it in. But in doing the blog, I found myself getting more anxious about the assignment because it was out there for the whole world to see. I was also having a hard time narrowing down to one topic and limiting my research to that topic. This time I would like to talk about the past, the present, and the future with internet marketing. I have found it amazing the number of different titles and measuring techniques that have been created with internet marketing alone.
It is interesting to look at some of the statistics around internet marketing before discussing the different strategies used. The first banner ads used brought back a 30% click-through rate. In 2007, similar ads were measured and they brought back a .04% click-through rate. It is very interesting because a very small number of internet users, 6 percent, who generate nearly half of all clicks. (Strauss, 2009)This is interesting to me because it is something that marketers have to take into consideration when developing their marketing plan. These people are responsible for such a large number of clicks that they are most likely not the target market and create more cost for those using a cost per click plan. So what are some of the different internet advertising formats that have been used in the past and some that are currently still being used?
One of the most important things in internet marketing is keywords. They are important for a number of reasons; they can increase your ranking on a search, attract target market, and could direct consumers to your site. Keywords are registered with different search engines when the webpage is created. Then when a consumer is searching for something that matches some of the keywords provided then the page will be displayed in the search results. Keywords are also often used to determine what advertisements are shown to you when you are on the internet. Have you even notice that when you are trying to book your flight to New York City that you get about 3 different pop-ups from Orbitz, Travelocity, and Southwest Airlines, all with great deals on flights to NYC. Most likely this is because you were using a site that had similar keywords to theirs and then they were able to look at the keywords you were searching (NYC), gather their rates on this specific keyword and then their pop-ups were linked with your computer.
Display ads is a term that is used to define a large number of different formats. It incorporates banner and other sizes, including pop-ups, buttons and rectangles. There is not a standard size for display ads. The ads are pretty much the same as what you would see in a newspaper advertisement. They are not interactive and contain more graphics and white space then text. The Interactive Advertising Bureau has suggested different ad sizes in order to attempt to create an industry standard. (Strauss, 2009)
Another category of advertising formats is rich media ads. These are ads that are interactive, they allow a consumer to click on the ad and they are transported to the advertiser’s Web site. They can also have built in games, have check boxes or drop-down menus to engage the user to search. Many also use flash animation to attract the attention of the user. There are a number of formats that can be rich media, for example a floating ad is one that floats across the screen or above the web page content. Pop-ups and pop-unders are those that open a new window and appear either on top of or below the page the user is looking at. Video ads are similar to banner ads but they display video clips. Also trick ads are those that look like a dialog box, often times they looks like an error message. (Strauss, 2009)These are just a few examples of different rich media formats that are used in internet marketing. I am sure that we have all seen examples of these and in some way we have become accustomed to seeing them and not paying much attention to them.
Next is e-mail advertising, I have talked a little about this in previous blogs but e-mail advertising was a new way for marketers to reach out to consumers. It was the least expensive marketing strategy and allows for advertisements to be sent directly to the inbox’s of their target market. It was also used by embedding a few lines at the end of e-mails that were received by those within their target market. (Strauss, 2009) Following e-mail advertising is mobile advertising which is on the rise and I have discussed in previous blogs as well. This includes sending a message to a mobile device.
As I mentioned before, I and probably many others have learned to ignore the flashing ads as I am surfing the web. Well I think the next move for marketers was to turn to the new “in thing.” Social networks are the new biggest things. Many have turned to Facebook and MySpace for their advertising plans. Facebook now allows for ads to have many different focuses. Before it may have just been a display ad or a flashing now one is able to watch a video, RSVP to an event, take a poll or become a fan. Their ads have definitely become more interactive. There are two major benefits to this; they go viral and the ability to target market. When a social action is taken by the user then it shows all their friends what they just did. (Gold, 2009) So if Mary were to click on become a fan of Victoria’s Secret, then VS would then know that she is a fan of their product and is part of their target market. This use of one click advertising is known as “inline fanning.” Also the ads that are displayed on Facebook while you are looking at your account are focused towards your interests and keywords that are found within your profile. Another type of advertising that is relatively new and seems to be the new upcoming thing is a combination of Twitter and Google AdSense Network. This type of advertising would display Twitter chats and live time tweets onto the Google page. (Gold, 2009)
Twitter offers a number of advertising options. Thomases discusses two formats for leveraging Twitter for advertising. The first is sponsored posting which advertisers and willing Twitter users are linked together. The second is to incorporate tweets into rich media ads. (Thomases, 2009) These are just the formats are there are a number of ways that these could be used to market. The Google and Twitter combo mentioned above is an example of how this technology could be put to use. The attractiveness of advertising on Twitter is that it is low to moderate cost, it is easy to implement, and it is a new way to reach people and to raise awareness. Before a company chooses to use Twitter there must be a mutual trust between the Twitter community and the brand. (Thomases, 2009)If there is not that trust, then the marketing plan could most likely backfire and negative things about the brand could go viral. It seems to me that Twitter is a little more risky than the internet alone. The internet is already risky because people can post and comment whatever they want about a product but the large amount of information on the internet, decreases the amount of people who will read those comments. If a company chooses to use Twitter, they must develop a Twitter strategy. This could include team members who continuously chat with the Twitter community, also follow-through and continuous check-ups on the ads’ progress. I found it very interesting that Thomases commented about companies making more money off Twitter than Twitter was making. (Thomases, 2009) After thinking about it, I was not surprised to hear it and I would not doubt it were true. I think Twitter is in its growth stage and they may be working on getting the name out still. Many people used Craigslist to search for everything including jobs, pets, cars, homes and furniture. Once the name became well known and many were accustomed to using it, Craigslist began adding charges for things such as job posts. I think similar to Craigslist, this may be a strategy that they may using. If they started out as a network that required a fee do you think they would have grown to the size they are now?
Works Cited:
Gold, H. (2009, June 23). Socially Enabled Ads: An Update. Retrieved June 23, 2009, from ClickZ.com: http://www.clickz.com/3634169
Strauss, J. (2009). E-Marketing. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall.
Thomases, H. (2009, June 16). Integrating Twitter into Ad Campaigns. Retrieved June 23, 2009, from ClickZ.com: http://www.clickz.com/3634090
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