Impact of the Internet of the Field of Advertising - Essay Example

Impact of Internet of the Field of Advertising There is no denying that the advent of the internet has transformed the commercial landscape. Advertising, a key facet of commercialism, has inadvertently undergone swift restructuring, with companies now opting more and more for online publicity instead of traditional sources of mass media. So, the question is whether this change and transformation of internet marketing has been beneficial for the firms or not and whether this is another increased cost and investment for the firms. Online advertising has changed how businesses advertise today. However, whether investing in different online marketing mediums is effectiveness or not is the questions that marketers are asking. Moreover, the other important question is regarding the effectiveness of online advertising. It is said that the online advertising is less costly but whether the returns on investment from online advertising are more profitable than traditional advertising is another important question that needs to be answered. Kim & McMillan, (2008) believe that the internet is allowing companies to engage with consumers in a more interactive and personalized manner, which is why we see companies employing online mechanisms heavily for consumer related advertising. So how are companies exactly reaching out to customers via the internet is the question. Online promotion can take different shapes and forms, with firm’s using a combination of methods according to what they perceive is the best way to approach their target audience. Web marketing is one such method, whereby a corporation creates its own websites to inform customers of its products and services, places adverts on search engines or other relevant pages of affiliate websites to increase awareness, or makes its own page available to users who search for it using such search engines (Manchanda, et al., 2006). Email marketing is another technique whereby a firm sends promotional messages, newsletters, product updates etc. to the personal email accounts of its customers (Saeed, Hwang, & Grover, 2003). In some cases, potential customers who form the target audience are also included for wider reach if they subscribe to the service (Saeed, Hwang, & Grover, 2003). The third and perhaps the most powerful approach is social media marketing (Kim & McMillan, 2008). The internet has set up social networking platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and GooglePlus which hosts large swathes of the world population. Firms have used this facility to their advantage by setting up their own company pages which not only provide informative content, but offer discounts and promotions, conduct competitions and luck draws, respond to feedback from customers etc. The power of online advertising is perhaps best illustrated with the use of an example; Nike’s counter marketing effort in response to Adidas to be precise. After losing out to Adidas on the bidding to be the official sponsors of the 2012 London Olympics, Nike faced the threat of an imminent marketing coup since they had historically been the market leaders in the United Kingdom (McNaughton, 2012). Nike however responded to the challenge by launching its “Find Your Greatness campaign” which showcased adverts with ordinary individuals striving for success in their own personal context (McNaughton, 2012). The campaign was mainly conducted online due to the unavailability of TV spots during the games. The company managed to obtain enormous levels of audience engagement with about 59,000 online mentions and 16,000 tweets compared to 26,000 and 9,000 respectively for Adidas, the official sponsor (Bruzzone et al., 2013). Nike’s reverted to social media for advertising to counter Adidas’ marketing onslaught on traditional media, and not only did it prove to be an effective tactic, but a very effective one as well. Survey results suggested that approximately 37% of Americans associated Nike as the brand officially sponsoring the Olympics rather than Adidas, which boasted a figure of 27% (Bruzzone et al., 2013). Nike’s Facebook followers also rose by 11% as opposed to Adidas’ 4% increase during the Olympics (Bruzzone et al., 2013). This just goes on to show how the internet has discarded the notion that effective advertising is achieved via high levels of financial resources. It has leveled the playing field for participants of the advertising industry by supplying the arsenal to reach mass audiences. Businesses of today can use such successful stories of online advertisement to formulate stratagems in order to make the most of social media and other online marketing tools. Nike did manage to ambush Adidas with its advertising and marketing efforts online, but the question remains as to why this approach was effective. This is down to the plethora of factors, or benefits, which the internet offers to advertisers such as Nike who want to reach out to consumers. Perhaps the most basic one of them is cost efficiency. Traditional mass media sources such as television, radio, billboards etc. are very expensive especially when compared with online advertising. Social media advertising on the other hand is relatively costless, as companies incur no cost in creating their Facebook or Twitter accounts. These accounts can be viewed any time by millions of people for free, whereas each time a company airs its advert on television or radio accrues a huge financial cost to the company (Jin & Villegas, 2006). On the other hand, advertising via search engines, though paid, still turn out to be cheaper than conventional forms and help reduce ‘wastage’, i.e., the amount of resources exhausted in reaching out to the wrong people or none at all (The Economist, 2006). Such ineffective advertising is curtailed with innovations in software development. For instance, Google’s introduction of the Adsense and Adwords has allowed companies to place their adverts alongside search results (Tan, 2009). But these companies only end up being charged if users click on the adverts. Hence, advertisers only have to pay per click which helps them avoid unnecessary costs, such as repeatedly running TV adverts which the majority of the target audience has already seen. It also possesses the added benefit of allowing firms to monitor the progress or effectiveness of their ad campaigns, as advertisers can view statistics about the number of visitors on the page, the number of actual clicks on the adverts etc. Applications like ‘Mention’ also allow companies to view the number of impressions, positive or negative mentions about the company etc (Kim & McMillan, 2008). Another substantial impact of internet advertising is giving massive coverage to advertisers. No matter how small the firm or how limited its budget, the internet will allow customers from anywhere around the world to view its company page or Facebook profile. The internet has severely undermined the role of geographical boundaries to the advantage of advertisers. This inadvertently also allows them to cut costs as the advertising costs per person also decreases (Ha, 2008). Furthermore, not only can larger audiences be reached, but the right profile of customers can also be targeted. Social media helps marketers refine consumer groups based on certain demographic characteristics. These groups can then be appealed to whilst employing different marketing approaches which fit best. Specialty websites also exist which are home to users sharing similar interests such as sports, adventure etc. Moreover, online forums and blogs cater to similar kinds of people and can be used by advertisers to reach their intended audience. For instance, new video game adverts can be placed on gaming forums to maximize the impact of the advert. Tools like Google Adsense and Adwords facilitate this practice (Davis, 2006). Internet advertising is valuable as it is often complemented by two sided communication between the company and the consumer. Customers have the option of posting comments on adverts and other promotional content put up by the social networking pages of the company. The company can thus entertain such customer feedback and use it as first hand input for its future campaigns to ensure that it meets the needs of the customers the best (Kim & McMillan, 2008). Online advertising can also be difficult to ignore. Whilst people retain the option of changing channels on television, frequency on radio, and pages in a newspaper, they might find it difficult to avoid online adverts as they tend to interfere with the user’s vision as long as he’s active on a particular page. Some adverts are strategically placed on streaming websites where customers do not possess the option of skipping them, and are thus forced to view the content if they are to watch their favorite videos etc (Kim & McMillan, 2008). Many businesses also find the art of online promotion as very simple and easy to employ. The internet offers the added benefit of avoiding intermediaries, such as advertising agencies, going through whom is a long and tedious process. A business can simply instruct its own marketing team to place promotional content on its page. This is supplemented with faster conversion, as the online selling has lessened the time lag between viewing adverts and purchasing the product, boosting profits of vendors (Kim & McMillan, 2008). It is evident from the aforementioned analysis that the internet has induced large changes to the dynamics of the advertising process. Though a flip side does exist, such as bogus online selling and click fraud, it does not compare well against the weight of the positive arguments that have been made in favor of online advertising. Online advertising has emerged as a worldwide phenomenon integral to the survival and progress of corporate players, so much so that companies without an online presence are doomed to vanish due to the unmatched pedigree provided by the internet (Kim & McMillan, 2008). It is critical for businesses to make the most of the online advertising. However with the increasing use of internet firms need to modify their strategies and come up with a specific internet and online marketing plan to make that businesses make the most of the opportunities from online advertising. References Bruzzone, R., Ciobanu, V., Chummun, M., & Fabbroni, F. (2013). Hijacker brands win the Socialympics. Business Today, 22(20), 104. Davis, H. (2006). Google advertising tools: Cashing in with AdSense, AdWords, and the Google APIs. " OReilly Media, Inc. Ha, L. (2008). Online advertising research in advertising journals: A review. Journal of Current Issues & Research in Advertising, 30(1), 31-48. Jin, C. H., & Villegas, J. (2006). Consumer responses to advertising on the Internet: The effect of individual difference on ambivalence and avoidance.CyberPsychology & Behavior, 10(2), 258-266. Kim, J., & McMillan, S. J. (2008). 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