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 Online
marketing and advertising is back with a vengeance. According to
Forbes, 62% of the US population is already online, and is
expected to attract $8 billion in advertising this year.
After the explosion of the infamous "internet bubble," companies are starting to get more savvy to the
opportunities and capabilities online marketing can provide them:
potential reach levels similar to cable
television, and the ability to segment users down to their
individual area codes.
Gone are the days where SPAM (or
euphemistically-named "email blasts") are the centerpiece of a
reputable company's online advertising strategy. Annoying banners, pop-ups and pop-unders
have seen a sharp decrease in effectiveness as users tune them out,
either mentally or using software blockers.
Happily, the dismal age of the
Internet's younger years is now past and the paradigm is changing.
It's no longer a game of "impressions" (how many people see your
ad), and the smartest online advertisers know it's not a game about
"click-thrus" (how many people click your ad) either.
The ultimate goal of an online advertising
campaign is to drive a conversion: be it a customer filling out a
lead form, someone signing up for a service, or purchasing your
product online.
Today, there are many new tools to achieve this end. Unlike
television or radio,
where advertisers rely on a "mass marketing" approach, the internet
allows advertising strategists the flexibility to "mass customize"
their campaigns, based on flags like geographical location (DMA),
time of day/week/month, points of expressed interest and previous surfing
behavior. Different surfers with different profiles see different
pages, each with content specifically "tweaked" to maximize the
chances of turning their visit to your website into a lead.
And leads are the key. Without a
tangible and measurable return, your company's webmaster can talk
about click-thru, traffic and impression rates until he's
blue-in-the-face: but without generating a positive net return, it's
all just hot air.
At
Superfriends Marketing and Promotions Group our
company focuses on the real goal: making
your website profitable, not just pretty. We offer
comprehensive solutions for website design/redesign and online
marketing support aimed at turning your website into a viable
money-making machine with a positive return, instead of a yearly cash indulgence for the
sake of keeping up with the times. Your website can be much more
than your company's extended business card. If you want to start transforming
your website into a valuable sales tool and not just a line-item
expense,
give us a call, or contact us
electronically for a
free 15-minute marketing analysis.
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