Ongoing testing and measurement are the basis for success in marketing. If you are not continuously testing your campaigns, you're probably losing money.
Of course the first thing is to measure results, the internet is an instrument where results are objective, measured either by you or through specialized third parties.
But after knowing how many users clicked on your advertising and how many of them finally made a purchase, ¿how do you know if the results are good or bad?, most especially, ¿can they be improved?
A Microsoft Advertising White Paper looks at changes in audience behavior regarding print and online media.
Advertisers must ensure the balance between print and online advertising reflects the changing role of public consumption habits, particularly the growing importance of online advertising in various stages of the purchase funnel.
It is estimated that by 2012, the number of Europeans who regularly use the Internet will overtake newspaper readers (in fact, it already has among those under 34 years). Equally rapid is the change in the roles which both channels play in the lives of readers. Europeans who read print and online use the Internet more frequently, allowing them access to more content and information and allows them to enjoy many of the main qualities of traditional newspapers and magazines.
People are migrating from television to the digital media, where they interact.
Advertising is changing rapidly, to respond to rapid changes in public behavior, which is increasingly spending more time in front of computers, connected to the Internet, at the expense of time devoted to traditional media like television and especially printed media.
The ability to interact with the public in digital media can learn preferences, habits and interests of people, which in turn allows advertising messages to develop more and more tailored to those preferences, habits and interests, making the content of information in advertising of high-value for individuals.
Marketing Managers are applying financial engineering methods to optimize their portfolio of marketing campaigns.
The growing concern from Marketing Managers about return on advertising is making them look more and more like financial managers.
Many millions are spent on advertising (in Central America about $ 1.8 billion per year), usually in a mix of different types of media and to apply expense optimization methods of portfolio investments, will lead to better rates of return on investments.
Internet users feel three times more confident in the publicity they find at information portals, than they do in that found on "Social Media" sites
In the marketing world, "social media" is the buzzword of the moment and many, often without much web experience, feel they should recommend clients put publicity on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
In 2010, online advertising spending will grow to $25 billion, and will represent 20% of the entire advertising market by 2014.
The figures of a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers called “Global Entretainment and Media Outlook for 2010 to 2014” match the data from another study by David Hallerman, senior analyst at eMarketer.
“Steady gains in online ad spending will mean an additional $11 billion flowing into the space over the next four years, increasing the Internet’s share of total media ad spending from a bit more than 15% in 2010 to over 20% in 2014”, reported eMarketer.com.
Online video and display advertising are effective at driving significant uplift in site visitation and advertiser search queries, even in the face of minimal clicks on ads.
Fox Networks and comScore, a leader in measuring the digital world, unveiled the findings of a U.K. study:
-Video and display advertising both successfully increased brand engagement in each of the four campaigns analysed.
A new web site helps understand what is advertising targeted to user interests, and how to protect privacy online.
IAB Spain, a representative of the Internet Advertising Industry, launched a website on Internet privacy, which aims to help the user protect its privacy and inform on how targeted advertising and cookies work.
The fall in newspaper advertising revenue equals the increase in internet advertising.
Theslogan Magazine remarked how advertising spending has recovered in the United Kingdom, as the economic and financial crisis comes to an end. However, only Internet and movie theathers registered more spending in 2009 than in 2008.
“In fact, online advertising increased exactly as the same amount lost by newspapers (4.2%).
Advertising online is not an option anymore but a necessity, and requires stricter planning than traditional advertising.
Every cent spent in an advertising budget must be carefully planned. These are though times, with fierce competition in all fields. Preparing successful advertising campaigns requires a lot of work, and actions in several fronts. A balanced online marketing plan is much more than just spending some dollars on Google’s Adwords.
Interaction between mobile telephony, barcodes, cameras and software permits "traveling" from print media to the web.
On its Friday edition, the print versions of Wall Street Journal had advertising from BMO Capital Markets. In the lower left part of the ad there was a barcode.
Those readers with a camera-enabled mobile phone and the right software, could aim it to the barcode, take the picture and directly access BMO Capital Markets, where they would get more information.
A great concern for marketing chiefs is how to measure the return on investment of online advertising, especially brand impact.
When reviewing result data of online advertising, one must separate its two basic components:
• Was the target market successfully and effectively reached?
• Did the campaign influence consumer attitudes, perceptions and behaviors in relation to the brand?
The first to go will be traditional marketing specialists, who speak only of the brand, buy non- measurable advertising and organize events that do not generate prospects.
These jobs only survived in good times, because the money was plentiful and it seemed not to matter that it was spent unnecessarily.
But these challenging times have created a demand for accountability.
The recession has only slowed its pace of growth. Strange as it may seem, the crisis accelerated the transition to digital advertising for many businesses.
In contrast to traditional advertising, digital advertising continues to grow. Internet participation in the total expenditure on advertising is growing at least 1% annually. To put it in simple terms: Advertisers are increasingly putting more money into Internet advertising, while they are decreasing spending on newspapers, radio and magazines.