Any fan of AMC's Mad Men probably
marvels on a weekly basis at just how dynamically things have changed in the advertising world since the
dawn of the Internet as a mainstream communication and promotion tool. Indeed,
effectively promoting a company is now about brand and reputation management,
as well as promotional activities, slick corporate slogans, and relevant
imagery. Today's advertising campaigns need to be adapted to a world that relies
on viral communication, social media interaction, and entirely new avenues of
consumer perception.
The Rise of Reputation Management at Online Advertising Companies
Any ad agency that bills itself as an online advertising company must be significantly involved not only in selling a product or brand, but also in extensively managing the online reputation of that product or brand. This requirement is driven by sites like Yelp and Google Reviews, as well as the deepening influence of social media sites on consumer buying habits and brand awareness. Today, an advertising company needs to focus on conveying a positive brand message through status updates and tweets, as well as encouraging customers to post friendly reviews on websites that judge a product's quality, value, and long-term impact.
Reputation management has essentially taken the place of the slick corporate slogan, though it's still certainly important to have one. Consumers, though, are now smart and connected enough to look beyond the initial sales pitch and the slogans targeted to them by an online marketing company. They'll take to Google, Bing, or Yahoo, searching for the product and comparing prices, experiences, and overall value. If they don't like what they see, even the best traditional advertisement won't win their business.
A Minute-By-Minute Approach to Effective Advertising and Engagement
The approach in today's online advertising world is to make sure that customers are engaging with the brands they most enjoy. In addition to funneling these positive interactions in a positive brand reputation, these engagements serve as "endorsements" on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. In this way, an Internet advertising company can actually leverage consumer engagement as a source of increased brand awareness and revenues.
Furthermore, it's always been true that consumers are more likely to buy a product recommended to them by a friend than one recommended to them by an advertising company. By encouraging consumer interaction and online sharing, these recommendations are inherent. Research continually shows that people are more likely to click on a product or link that has already been clicked by someone they know and follow on social media sites.
Viral Advertising Decentralizes Product Promotion and Awareness
Advertising companies in the era before the Internet were used to functioning as a centralized way of creating a coherent message and distributing it to television, radio, and print. Their ad buys determined how often that message would be seen, and how effective the advertisement would be with their client. Today, that central approach to advertising almost seems quaint. Sure, an Internet advertising company still controls the prominence of its ads by purchasing contextual ad space, promoted posts on social media, and more. But increasingly, these companies rely on viral ads to do their work for them.
Today, an online advertising company is charged with creating Internet "meme" images or viral video advertisements that use humor, likeable characters, and a shareable nature, to further their reach among their demographic groups. These ads are shared because of their content, but it is the inherent endorsement of the brand that can work for the client's bottom line. Friends endorsing hilarious car insurance ads, and talking about them with friends and family, takes a brand off the screen and into everyday life. This is something that was not as easily possible with television advertising.
The Rise of the Internet Marketing Company in Online Ads
Traditionally, advertising was the consumer-facing promotional technique that backed up well-researched demographic data provided by a marketing firm. In that reality, these two businesses worked in tandem but rarely collaborating on meeting the same goals. Today, though, search engine optimization is changing the very definition of marketing. Indeed, an Internet marketing company is often key to managing a brand's reputation so that its ads are effective.
Today, ad agencies must work with their counterparts in marketing to ensure that a Google search promoted by the advertisement reveals their client's website first, and positive reviews second. They need to work with a structured set of demographic keywords, key phrases, and trending topics. All of these things are the work of marketing, but they all determine exactly how effective and advertisement, viral video, meme, or social media status update, will be among the target audience. If an ad prompts users to conduct a Google search for a company, and they’re greeted with either negative reviews or the wrong website, that's a huge oversight and a missed opportunity.
Today's Advertising Agencies are More Responsive, Data-Driven, and Decentralized
In the world of advertising, few things have transformed the profession as profoundly as the Internet. The advertisingagency now essentially relies on customer interaction, engagement, and sharing, to do much of the promotional legwork that used to take place behind closed doors. Consumers' positive reviews help to promote a brand's reputation better than any form of advertising could possibly do in the 21st century. And data, which was always the underlying reason for an advertisement, has become an ad campaign of its own.
As "big data" starts to learn everything about consumer shopping habits, clicks, and website page views, the role of an Internet marketing company will only continue to change. Soon, ad companies will need to target ads to specific types of website visitors, and specific areas of each website, with messages that are relevant to increasingly microscopic groups of potential consumers. It's a future that will see a continual blurring of consumer-facing advertising and marketing-driven data.
The Rise of Reputation Management at Online Advertising Companies
Any ad agency that bills itself as an online advertising company must be significantly involved not only in selling a product or brand, but also in extensively managing the online reputation of that product or brand. This requirement is driven by sites like Yelp and Google Reviews, as well as the deepening influence of social media sites on consumer buying habits and brand awareness. Today, an advertising company needs to focus on conveying a positive brand message through status updates and tweets, as well as encouraging customers to post friendly reviews on websites that judge a product's quality, value, and long-term impact.
Reputation management has essentially taken the place of the slick corporate slogan, though it's still certainly important to have one. Consumers, though, are now smart and connected enough to look beyond the initial sales pitch and the slogans targeted to them by an online marketing company. They'll take to Google, Bing, or Yahoo, searching for the product and comparing prices, experiences, and overall value. If they don't like what they see, even the best traditional advertisement won't win their business.
A Minute-By-Minute Approach to Effective Advertising and Engagement
The approach in today's online advertising world is to make sure that customers are engaging with the brands they most enjoy. In addition to funneling these positive interactions in a positive brand reputation, these engagements serve as "endorsements" on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. In this way, an Internet advertising company can actually leverage consumer engagement as a source of increased brand awareness and revenues.
Furthermore, it's always been true that consumers are more likely to buy a product recommended to them by a friend than one recommended to them by an advertising company. By encouraging consumer interaction and online sharing, these recommendations are inherent. Research continually shows that people are more likely to click on a product or link that has already been clicked by someone they know and follow on social media sites.
Viral Advertising Decentralizes Product Promotion and Awareness
Advertising companies in the era before the Internet were used to functioning as a centralized way of creating a coherent message and distributing it to television, radio, and print. Their ad buys determined how often that message would be seen, and how effective the advertisement would be with their client. Today, that central approach to advertising almost seems quaint. Sure, an Internet advertising company still controls the prominence of its ads by purchasing contextual ad space, promoted posts on social media, and more. But increasingly, these companies rely on viral ads to do their work for them.
Today, an online advertising company is charged with creating Internet "meme" images or viral video advertisements that use humor, likeable characters, and a shareable nature, to further their reach among their demographic groups. These ads are shared because of their content, but it is the inherent endorsement of the brand that can work for the client's bottom line. Friends endorsing hilarious car insurance ads, and talking about them with friends and family, takes a brand off the screen and into everyday life. This is something that was not as easily possible with television advertising.
The Rise of the Internet Marketing Company in Online Ads
Traditionally, advertising was the consumer-facing promotional technique that backed up well-researched demographic data provided by a marketing firm. In that reality, these two businesses worked in tandem but rarely collaborating on meeting the same goals. Today, though, search engine optimization is changing the very definition of marketing. Indeed, an Internet marketing company is often key to managing a brand's reputation so that its ads are effective.
Today, ad agencies must work with their counterparts in marketing to ensure that a Google search promoted by the advertisement reveals their client's website first, and positive reviews second. They need to work with a structured set of demographic keywords, key phrases, and trending topics. All of these things are the work of marketing, but they all determine exactly how effective and advertisement, viral video, meme, or social media status update, will be among the target audience. If an ad prompts users to conduct a Google search for a company, and they’re greeted with either negative reviews or the wrong website, that's a huge oversight and a missed opportunity.
Today's Advertising Agencies are More Responsive, Data-Driven, and Decentralized
In the world of advertising, few things have transformed the profession as profoundly as the Internet. The advertisingagency now essentially relies on customer interaction, engagement, and sharing, to do much of the promotional legwork that used to take place behind closed doors. Consumers' positive reviews help to promote a brand's reputation better than any form of advertising could possibly do in the 21st century. And data, which was always the underlying reason for an advertisement, has become an ad campaign of its own.
As "big data" starts to learn everything about consumer shopping habits, clicks, and website page views, the role of an Internet marketing company will only continue to change. Soon, ad companies will need to target ads to specific types of website visitors, and specific areas of each website, with messages that are relevant to increasingly microscopic groups of potential consumers. It's a future that will see a continual blurring of consumer-facing advertising and marketing-driven data.
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