Why online advertising is becoming more important

Many companies still restrict their advertising to the printed page. Some add radio, posters, cinema, TV. But more and more companies are realising the value of advertising on the internet.

Before you dismiss this as a fad it pays to look at the results of some recent research in America. Although Britain is often behind the US in terms of adopting new technology, the recent increase in broadband connections in the UK mean that the figures revealed in the latest research are more relevant than one might at first suppose.

In the US, broadband connections now reach more than half of American households. Advertising on the net accounts for just 4.3% of American ad revenue although Americans spend 14% of the ‘media time’ online. So there is some way to go for the Internet to get its fair share of ad spend. It’s catching up fast. While the overall ad industry rose 7.7% last year, internet ad spend rose by 28.8%. New York consulting firm eMarketer predicts online advertising will reach $9.3 billion this year.

So how do you advertise on the Net and how do you measure its effectiveness?

The beauty of the net and the latest technology is that you can target precisely and measure accurately. Advertisers can pay to have their websites listed alongside common search words or phrases with the major search engines for example. So when you type in ‘spanish hotels’ in Yahoo or Google, you see a list of several ‘paid-for’ companies as well as the normal search ones. The cost to the advertiser is based on the number of people who click onto your site , so you are only paying for ‘effective’ advertising. This paid for advertising on search engine sites has proved tremendously popular and profitable and has helped Google in its public flotation recently.

There are all sorts of other ad opportunities available, however. These include the ubiquitous banner ads, but there are many other ways you can advertise using pop-ups, and video ads with moving pictures.

The trick is to place your ads on the right pages of the right sites. Unlike press or TV ads, you can precisely target who you want to be exposed to your ads. So you don’t have big wastage and every penny you spend goes to hitting people who are likely to be interested in your product. An example is Taylor Made Golf clubs. They used internet ads to promote their new R7 driver during the US Open in June. Things could not have gone better. As longshot Retief Goosen overtook the field to lead he was using the R7 driver. The company adjusted the banner ads on the PGA’s highly-trafficked site to match the on-going drama. As a result there was a big boost in people visiting the Taylormade site with 11% of the people coming directly from the banners on the PGA site.

While search-engine advertising has grown enormously, the latest trend is for brand advertisers to start using the medium too. Many companies have run TV campaigns and linked them to their website for further information, distribution information etc. Volvo is one such company that has created films on the internet which are referred to in their TV ads.

Of course, some companies still don’t have good selling websites. Their sites are often out-of-date or merely copies of their printed material. It is important to have your agency ensure that your websites is saying the right things in the right way to the right people. It needs continuous updating and it will repay this attention by producing measurable additional sales. If you would like The Brandmakers Company to look at your website and suggest how it could be made into a more effective sales tool, ring Richard Rogers on 01483 301333