For the last two or three decades, television advertising has enjoyed the status being the leading advertising medium of choice. However, the outlook for the future is bleak in TV land for future advertising revenues and that's setting off an alarm. If it's bad in TV land, how much worse can it get in other media outlets such as newspapers?
It's true, televisionis losing viewers. (Newspapers have been losing subscribers for half a century and they're still around.) According to the San Diego Business Journal, "the outlook isn't getting any better for advertising via traditional media. But where television, newspapers and radio end, the Internet brings loads of potential when it comes to maximizing return on investment."
They key word to take note of in the SDBJ quote is the word "potential."
Ah, the internet is full of untapped potential. Well, it's time for a reality check. Television, newspaper and radio still have the ability to deliver your advertising message to hundreds of thousands of consumers. The problem advertisers are experiencing in the above media is the message they're being paid to deliver is usually boring and ineffective.
Want to know the reason for the "gold rush" to the internet? Because advertisers think the web will provide the "magic marketing bullet" for easy, no-brainer marketing.
The internet is just a new band aid for an old problem. If you don't know why customers are buying, then creating a captivating You Tube video will do nothing for your bottom line. PERIOD.
If you don't know why your customers are buying it doesn't matter what kind of online marketing type ad or website you create, it's still not going to work at bringing customers to your business.
You've got to know who your customers are and what they want out of life. Then you get to figure how your product or service fits into their wants and needs. THEN you can begin marketing EFFECTIVELY to them. When that happens, then the internet doesn't look like a magic bullet but rather it becomes another communication channel.
The death of traditional media has been greatly over-estimated and definitely over-reported. Don't kid yourself. The internet can be JUST as ineffective as traditional media at getting your message out. Heck, the internet can be even MORE ineffective than traditional media if you make sure to use lots of Flash and very little HTML when you create it.
The key to effective message delivery is to first make sure the message is efffective. If you're not saying the right things, don't blame the messenger when the public turns a deaf ear.
Kathy Hendershot-Hurd is a Marketing Maven who speaks fluent Geek. She founded Virtual Impax, a web development and marketing company in 1997. Kathy has recently published, "Beyond the Niche: Essential Tools You Need to Create Marketing Messages that Deliver Results. Look for it on Amazon.com and other online retailers.