It's what you do with it

I've been inspired today. After reading various articles and blogs, some marketing magazines, and discussions with colleagues, it seems that the only recent trend anyone wants to discuss is online. "Growth in online advertising is enormous"......"companies should be allocating more resources to online...." etc.

That's all great, but there's two things to be mindful of. Firstly yes, it's all happening online but that's no surprise. Secondly, let's not simply rely on the media to solve all our problems.

Interestingly some articles reiterate that traditional media ('offline' - it's starting to sound a little vintage!) is still the best format. Research shows that newspapers are still the #1 trusted medium for advertisers. But it's hard to go past the direct response of online, or the accountability for that matter.

The point I'd like to make is this. I'm seeing more and more that advertisers are sensibly utilising online media, but are not being smart about the execution. It's easy to say that a web banner is beneficial because people can click through, but the banner shouldn't simply be a rezsize of their latest press ad.

As internet usage grows, desensitisation to online advertising grows. Since the early days before spam filters came along, our time has been wasted trying to discern the genuine relevant information from the annoying. Luckily for the advertiser, the most common way to pay for online advertising is 'per click'. Suddenly all of those impressions that went nowhere aren't an issue. Good stuff. This means that for the users who do click through, we'd better ensure their expectations are met at the other side. Bespoke landing pages are a great start.

My receptiveness to banners is low, but my propensity to click from a Google (or equiv) search is high. It's still the most effective solution because I am empowered - I get to 'choose my own adventure". For this reason, Google Adwords (again, or equiv) is often one of my first recommendations to clients in search of an effective online tool. Click throughs may not be any higher, but the click through rate is far higher, and the quality of user is better as they are automatically pre-qualified due to their search words. Again, the key to maximising effectiveness is not to simply start a campaign, but to ensure the design of it (in this case the keyword selection, and the accompanying copy) is well thought out.

It's a vast online world out there, and there are no blanket solutions. The common theme to successful campaigns is smart strategy and planning.