A Case For Internet Marketing

As companies strive to use the internet to reach customers in a global market, online advertising has become a popular way for firms to reach their audience. Online advertising is the most dynamic, inexpensive, and easiest way to reach a target market. It is less costly than print publication; it is more targeted than television or radio broadcasts, and has more availability than place-based media. Online advertising can provide a unique dynamic of scalability, desirable demographics, cost-effectiveness, and unmatched tracking capabilities. While some people get annoyed with the persistence of pop-up ads, flamboyant blinking banners and always irritating spam e-mail, the dirty truth is that these techniques are functional ways of delivering a message to the consumer. With more and more people logging on to the internet worldwide the more people web advertising will reach.
The benefits of online advertising far exceed that of traditional print publication through costs, availability, wider consumer markets, and the potential for increased profit margins. Considering that traditional print methods and distribution are tried and true, the technological trends of the internet surpass it at each level of the marketing process. To better understand the differences, some clarity in the two advertising mediums must be identified. Traditional print advertising is composed mostly of brochures, pamphlets, newspaper advertisements, and business cards. In print publication hefty expenses are incurred through printing fees, storage facilities to house boxes and bundles of material, the distribution costs, costs of labor to compile the marketing material, transportation to deliver the quantities of print material, and of course, the postage itself. The cost of sending just one promotion or campaign for “fifteen-percent off, this week only,” can become astronomical. In contrast Internet advertising uses no raw materials. They are developed, delivered and received virtually on a web page or an electronic storefront for a fraction of the cost of traditional print publication advertising. while the initial startup costs of an Internet website may be at times comparable to that of a one-time promotion in traditional print media, the costs are considerably lower for the following reasons; there is no postage to affix, no expense bared for storage, delivery, or repeated design fees for each new promotion. The Internet website is reusable, recyclable, and rarely falls into redundancy with outdated material. Monthly fees are minimal for site hosting. In addition if an error is found in a traditionally printed promotion, it may incur nearly all of the costs to be paid, yet a second time, even for something as simple proofreader’s oversight. When considering the advantages of Internet-based advertising, the error modification incurs little to no costs to repair typographical errors and wrong promotion dates. In fact the change can be made at a moments notice.
Television and radio advertising has become the choice advertising media for many firms While the idea of reaching a mass audience through a television or radio broadcast might be appealing to some firms. It’s targeting of the market attempted to be reached is limited. While a firm may be able to reach a large audience in an approximate age group or interest by advertising during a specific program it cannot compare to the ability for internet advertising to target a market so specifically as someone searching the internet, for example, for specific auto parts. Internet advertising offers some targeting methods that insure that those who see your ads are the ones most likely to buy. Programs like Google’s Adwords and Adsense match up advertisers with content that their target market browses regularly. Forget the costly repetitive strategy of television and radio advertisements; internet advertising is more specifically targeted. Additionally, with the growing use of digital video recorders such as Tivo and DirecTV DVR people are skipping right over the advertisements, and television commercials are reaching less and less people. Again when you way the costs of the two options, internet advertising is a fraction of the cost of a thirty second spot on primetime television.
Place-based advertising is most affective for captive audiences in public places like in a city bus or on an airplane. A person has no choice but to look around and see the announcement, the problem of course is that this type of placement doesn’t reach a large enough audience, and that audience doesn’t spend all that much time in the place where the ad is located, so the may miss it. With internet usage on the rise it has recently edged out even television consumption in hours viewed. According to a recent study by the Stanford Institute for the Quantitative Study of Society, the researchers found the average internet user spends three hours per day online. Almost double that of the average respondent spends watching television. With the time users spend online they are similar to traditional captive audiences and are subject to three hours of advertisements.
With all the success and benefits for firms for advertising over the internet there are some downfalls. People often have strong negative reactions to advertisements during their internet browsing experience whether they're visiting the main portals such as Yahoo or MSN, local newspapers, or even tiny personal sites. Advertisements are seemingly everywhere on the internet and they can display themselves in a variety of ways. The following is a list of specific design elements that online advertisers use and the percentage of respondents that had a negative or very negative reaction to them.
Design ElementUsers Answering"Very Negatively"or "Negatively"Pops-up in front of your window95%Loads slowly94%Tries to trick you into clicking on it94%Does not have a "Close" button93%Covers what you are trying to see93%Doesn't say what it is for92%Moves content around92%Occupies most of the page90%Courtesy: http://www.useit.com/alertbox/20041206.htmlAccording to the table above, the most unsavory advertisement is the pop-up. This finding is in line with the rise in popularity of pop-up blockers. Pop-up blockers have caused a similar problem in what digital video recorders have caused for television commercials. Users not only dislike pop-ups, they transfer their dislike to the advertisers behind the ad and to the website that exposed them to it. Thankfully for the online advertiser there are many different ways to get the message across that are not as negatively received. Advertisements that were well received included promotions that were related to what they were doing online and that will indicate what will happen if people click on them. Websites that follow the unwritten usability guidelines: make the users' options clear, speak plainly, and provide the information users want, are more positively received and most likely to be successful.
In conclusion online advertising is the most dynamic, inexpensive, and easiest way to reach a firms target market. In weighing the advantages of Internet versus traditional print methods, television broadcasts and place-based media, it is clear to see that the consumer market potential is extremely limited in venue with geographical restrictions in most media being available only to the local viewing area with the exception of national broadcast television media. Rarely can a small-mid-size business approach sales on a national, or global level. By comparison, the Internet is an extreme opposite, having no physical or geographical limitations, and broadening the consumer base on the massive global scale. There is no cost associated with reaching and opening up the potential for consumers across the globe. The website is readily available to any consumer with a computer, and in this day and age, includes the majority of consumers throughout the world. The only downfall is the potential of irritating the future customer. However if advertisements are clear, speak plainly, and provide the information users want this risk can be minimized.
Sources:Stanford University. (2008). Quantitative Study for Society. RetrievedApril 30, 2008, fromhttp://www.stanford.edu/group/siqss/cgi-bin/index.phpHansell Saul. 2007. As Consumers Revolt, a Rush to Block Pop-Up Online Ads. Retrieved.
April 30, 2008, from http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F06E4DB1439F93AA25752C0A9629C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=allNielsen Jacob. 2005. The Most Hated Advertising Techniques. RetrievedApril 30, 2008, fromhttp://www.useit.com/alertbox/20041206.htmlMantor Desmond. 2005. Benefits of Online Advertising. Retrieved.
April 30, 2008, fromhttp://tools.devshed.com/c/a/Website-Advertising/Benefits-of-Online-Advertising/Mehta, Urvi. 2007. Internet Marketing Vs Television and Radio Advertising; a Panel of Experts to Share Tips and Advice on New Age Advertising Techniques. RetrievedApril 30, 2008, from http://www.1888pressrelease.com/internet-marketing-vs-television-and-radio-advertising-a-pa-pr-2t476a6kv.html