But will users really watch television shows online? As more and more flat screen and high definition televisions enter more homes, advertisers wonder if users will actually download shows to their laptops and home computers.
The answer is yes. Consumers are willing to watch their favorite shows online. In fact, according to Arbitron Internet Media, more than 45 percent of all Americans have listened to audio or watched videos on the Internet at some point. According to the same study, 30 million Americans listen to or watch Internet streams every week.
When CBS streamed more than 15 million live broadcasts of the 2006 March Madness, the sheer numbers proved beyond a doubt that users are willing to view web content online. According to CBS SportsLine, more than 1.3 million people signed up for the free service and visited the site around 5 million times during the NCAA Tournament. The advertisers as well as the network were more than pleasantly surprised by the massive turnout online (La Monica, April 2006a).
However, I want to stress that this book is not simply about buying ads online. Truly effective Internet marketing is not about simply moving a 30-second commercial that was once on television or radio to the web. Internet marketing is much more complex than this. With that said, the complexity of new media should not be seen as an obstacle or intimidate you. Rather, it is a fresh new playing field where almost anything can be tested and implemented — at often a fraction of the cost of traditional media campaigns. This new media opens up exciting new options to reach consumers on a more effective and personal level than ever before. These new forms of marketing are much more accountable, and thus cost-effective, than any other form of advertising.
Internet Marketing in a Nutshell
Online marketing is much more than buying ads online. It’s about how you communicate with your customers via email, message boards, chat rooms, and blogs. It is about updating your website with important product information and offers. It is any kind of promotion your company does using the Internet.
Internet marketing also includes using RSS feeds and podcasting to transfer messages over the web. Podcasting refers to the transfer of video or audio files over the Internet to a personal device such as an iPod. RSS feeds, which is an older technology but has recently caught the interest of online PR and marketing experts, allows for easy syndication of information over the Internet and is often used on news websites (more about RSS feeds and online PR in Chapter 7). Understanding the benefits, opportunities, and limitations of new media technology helps you to more effectively market your brand and gain increased access to your intended audience.
The Radio Industry’s Movement toward New Media
Last week I had a meeting with an ad rep from Clear Channel Radio to discuss the new online opportunities they were offering for advertisers. I was disappointed when the presentation largely consisted of banner ads that ran on their radio station websites or alongside streaming radio programs. I pushed the rep a bit further, asking, “Why would I recommend a banner ad on one of your websites, when online marketing options such as pay-per-click are a quarter of the cost and already proven effective?” Although the rep did mention an opportunity to sponsor an original podcast and was open to doing some custom campaigns with me, he admitted that he did not yet have any case studies, rates, or advertisers willing to commit to the newer media opportunities. Most companies considering moving advertising dollars online felt more comfortable with something a bit more familiar, such as banner ads.
I then realized that the radio industry is experiencing many of the same problems as television, with advertisers looking for more new media components for their messages. And like television, most radio executives aren’t quite sure how to combine new and traditional media advertising. However, along with the sales pack, I was given a list of impressive stats proving the effectiveness of advertising on online radio. For example, during a one-week study in 2004, 19 million Americans (8 percent of the US population) listened to online radio. The same group also reported that Internet radio is their soundtrack for online shopping — more than 42 percent of people who listen to Internet radio do so while buying or researching a product or service online.
Given these impressive stats on Internet radio use (and similar stats for online video), why are so many major advertisers so slow to take advantage of new media opportunities? The fact is, new media is still growing, and both advertisers and media giants are continuing to test what works. With new technology constantly evolving, there will always be new ways to generate consumer interest through new media.
Rather than overwhelm you with all the new marketing trends emerging almost daily, this book was written to give you insight into the basics of Internet marketing and the absolutely essential elements that must be incorporated into your traditional campaigns to give you maximum return on investment.
Make Your Website the Center of All Your Marketing
The first key to effective new media advertising is your website. Your website should be the center of all your advertising efforts. Sending users to your website to claim a coupon or take advantage of a promotion allows you, as the marketer, a direct way to track which advertising channel is most cost-effective and provides the best results. It also allows you to track your messages, promotions, and ad buys more accurately than in any other medium. This gives you the information you need to refine your media and messages as needed.
The design of your website is essential to the success of your marketing efforts, as this is often the final step to close the lead and capture a user’s information in some way. The feelings consumers have when they visit your website carry over to how they perceive your entire company or organization. It is essential that all of your marketing efforts, both traditional and new, are in sync and offer the same branding message across all platforms. No matter how effective your marketing campaign is, if you don’t have a well-designed, professional-looking website, people will not buy from you. (See Chapters 4 and 7 for more about ensuring your website is ready for a new media campaign.)
Using your website as the center of your marketing also allows you to interact with consumers on a much more personal level than other forms of marketing. The producers of the popular ABC television show Lost have set up a website not only to promote the show but also as a way for writers and marketers to essentially listen to what fans are saying about the show — and make changes accordingly. Allowing users to freely post comments on message boards is a great way to generate honest feedback about your product, so you can know what elements to tweak to make it even better.
On an interview posted on a fan website Lost-TV.com, creator and executive producer Damon Lindeloff said, “The fan reaction has a lot of influence … the biggest example is that we began to sense the real frustration from fans that we weren’t answering any questions and just asking new ones … [So we] gave the audience more answers than we were originally planning to” (Parker, April 2006).
Although opening up your product or service (or in this case a television show) to your audience’s honest feedback is a great market research tool, be careful. Make sure your message boards and chat rooms are monitored on a continual basis so you can keep some control over what is posted. After all, you don’t want visitors posting derogatory or negative things that may affect your public image. And while customer feedback from websites may encourage you to modify your product or service, don’t let visitors control your brand. (Even the writers of Lost allowed only certain staff members to see the viewer comments, to make sure the entire show didn’t get skewed in the wrong direction.)
Combine Traditional Ads with Keyword Buys for Maximum Impact
The importance of directing potential customers to one’s website was proven during the 2006 Super Bowl. During the game, top companies spent more than $200 million with ABC to showcase their brands, but only 40 percent mentioned a website. The companies that not only mentioned their website but also made