Ok, I will jump right in and say it.
Advertising is dead. Or nearly so.
Certainly, in the world of e-commerce, I would go so far and be so brave as to say that nearly any money spent on advertising is wasted money. Yes, it can create some awareness. It seldom creates direct sales.
There. I said it.
Look, in days gone by, people bought ads. Ads were designed to draw attention. The attention was drawn away from something the buyer wanted to do (watch a tv show, read news, etc) and presented the potential buyer with a sales message. This is interruptive. People simply don't want to hear a message that is shoved in their face while they are trying to pay attention to something else.
Again, those of you who know me know that I state that this is like shoving a hook into a fish's mouth and trying to make it bite. This does not work with fish. It does not work with people.
People have really come to associate advertising, any advertising, with spam - unwanted messages from someone they don't know and most likely don't wish to know.
In a manner of speaking, the Internet has destroyed the effectiveness of advertising. The Internet is content. People go to the Internet to get that content. They want free content. Listen and see if you can see the sense in what I am saying here.
Inexperienced marketers make the mistake of trying to CREATE interest in a product through advertising. This will never work. Ever. If I am in a hardware store shopping for a hammer, and someone shoves a flyer in my hand detailing all the benefits of using a screwdriver, I will ignore it. I will trash it. More importantly, I will resent the intrusion. You cannot CREATE interest. In this case, I want a hammer, not a stupid screwdriver.
However, if I am looking for that hammer, and some older dude at the end of the aisle starts telling me about the benefits of a new cutting edge type of hammer, and all that it did for him, I will be very interested. That, in a few sentences, is the primary difference between the Internet and traditional advertising.
People who are searching the Internet, googling about for this or that, are there because they are ALREADY interested. There is no need whatsoever to engage in a futile attempt to CREATE interest, or to try to get them to change their mind about what might hold interest for them. This is a waste of time and money. Yes, some people will look - about 1/2 of 1%, on the average. Is this effective? No. Is this expensive? Yes. Advertising is a component of marketing that is expensive and produces few results.
As a member of the Internet community, if I want a hammer, the first thing I will do is google the word 'hammer'. I am interested in hammers. What I have just done is SEARCHED. Next, I will be presented with a list of sites that contain content having to do with hammers. Now, I have moved from SEARCHING to BROWSING.
Therefore, if you are selling hammers on the Internet (and assuming that people are searching for hammers on the Internet), the key to success now is to create the impression that YOU are the leading expert in the field of say, hammers. How is this accomplished? Informative content. This is why informative websites work. This is why blogs work. This is why social sites work. Content is king.
Most likely I will ignore the hammer ads for now, however, because I know these people are attempting to sell me a hammer now. I am not ready to buy a hammer . . . yet. I want to know what is available, I want to know my choices, I want to know the cost and I want to know what others think about the different types of hammers available. I am browsing for informative content.
Others will be posting what they think. I will explore the advice they give. Now, we come to the good part . . .
All successful marketers know that the number one, all time winner in the results race is relational based marketing - word of mouth. You tell a friend about something you like. That friend tells his/her friends. Referrals are pre-sold gold to the marketer. Relation based marketing works like nothing else ever has, or ever will. It's money in the bank. If one friend tells another that you know what you're talking about, and that you provide good informative content, friend number two is gonna show up, guaranteed.
Notice that I said 'good content'. Not 'good sales pitch'.
Advertising is akin to shoving a hook into a fish's mouth. Publicity is akin to dropping a bait and wiggling it. If hungry, the fish will bite.
Relational marketing, on the other hand is one hungry fish looking at another hungry fish and saying to it's friends 'pssst . . . . come over here. This is really good!"
This is why it works so well. This is why it works better than any other strategy. This is why those who keep this in mind at all times are successful, regardless of the product or service they might be hoping to market. If you can impress others with your knowledge, and they in turn tell their friends or associates, they will come in droves. Learn how to create relationships like this and you simply cannot fail. They psychology of this has been proven time and time again. Give people what they want and they will tell their friends. No blatant advertising method can provide this. This is no comparison between the two.
So how do you get other people to tell other people? This is what I'll be covering over the coming posts - word of mouth marketing on steroids.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Some Marketers Just Don't Get It
Friday, July 18, 2008
Midsummer Massacre? A Bloodbath?
The large US newspapers are getting hit very hard. Check it out . . . .
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.san&s=86831&Nid=45201&p=932294
I believe a bit of clarification is in order here. I still recommend LOCAL newspapers, if advertising is your thing, in that the local rags generally have a very loyal readership. However, many of these smaller papers are owned by the big boys. Two of our local newspapers are feeling this crunch from the trickle-down, the other two are not.
Both categories will suffer to varying degrees from Internet competition however. Local papers will continue to be a good resource for local awareness advertising if your target market is age 50+.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Even More Proof That The Internet Is Hurting Traditional Media
If there was ever any doubt, here is the proof . . . .
Check this out
If you have not yet made a change in your strategy, now is the time.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Uh oh . . newspapers are making a move . . .
Eric Sass wrote today in MediaDailyNews that the Tribune Company intends to slash editorial content so that their publications maintain a 50/50 advertising to content ratio. Of course this appears to be a cost cutting measure. However . . .
In my humble opinion, people are moving away from newspapers in droves in an attempt to find ad free content. If this is true, INCREASING advertising percentages in newspapers while DECREASING content could be a major catastrophe. This is just an opinion on my part and I am in no position to make any predictions regarding the future.
However, from a personal perspective, this gives me even more reason to shun the daily and go to electronic formats instead to get my information.
Only time will tell . . . .
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
More Bad News For Newspapers And Print Media
Erik Sass, in Media Daily News wrote this morning, and I quote, . . . .
"U.S. marketers say they will be cutting print and boosting online ad spending over the next three years, according to a survey by Eloqua, a Canadian-based company that helps marketers increase lead generation and customer acquisition with integrated campaigns, including online and offline components.
The survey, titled "State of the Marketer" for 2008, asked roughly 200 marketing executives from companies with revenues between $10 million and $500 million about their plans for the future.
Overall, 90% of respondents said they plan to increase online ad spending, and 15% said they would boost it "radically." Seventy-eight percent said they will increase spending on social media, 74% on email campaigns, and 65% on mobile texting.
In part, respondents said the move to digital media is driven by increased pressure for accountability in marketing by the rest of their organizations, with 86% saying corporate pressure has increased over the last three years.
The outlook for offline media isn't as promising, with print media taking the punches. Fifty-five percent of the marketers surveyed said they anticipate spending less on print advertising in three years. The Eloqua study did not specify newspapers, magazines or both."
The article is here:
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=83381&Nid=43132&p=932294
Thursday, April 24, 2008
We Have Come Full Circle At Last
I saw an interesting study today that confirms what, up to this point, was a suspicion for me. I knew in my heart this was happening but could find no proof sources. Now at last there is a proof source. Newspaper ads still work. They are not quite dead yet. The key is to tie the ad into your Internet site. Most people do this anyway. But the question was, can we prove that this increases sales? Check out this article . . . .
http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.san&s=81286&Nid=41945&p=932294
There at last is the verifiable proof.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Get Booked On Radio
Mark Kaye is offering a teleseminar that may interest many of you.
Mark is offering a money-back guarantee if you are not satisfied with the information he will be providing here. Mark produces results and he certainly has the experience. I recommend you take a serious look at the seminar here if radio or tv is a part of your marketing plan!
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