The End of Advertising As We Know It

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Everybody is well aware that the advertising game has undergone some pretty radical changes. Online advertising, animation, keywords and contextual ads, to name a few. But that’s just the beginning according to IBM, which is predicting that the next five years will bring more change for the advertising industry than we saw during the previous 50 years.That’s the conclusion of an IBM Institute for Business Value report titled “The end of advertising as we know it.” The study’s results are based on the input of 2,400 consumers and 80 advertising experts. It invites us to imagine a bold new frontier in advertising, a marketing environment where:

Spending on interactive, one-to-one advertising formats surpasses traditional, one-to-many advertising vehicles that we’ve used for decades in the form of newspaper, radio stations and TV networks.

A significant share of ad space is sold through auctions and exchanges, rather than proprietary channels.

Advertisers know who viewed and acted on an ad, and pay for their advertising based on results rather than “impressions.”

Consumers self-select which ads, choosing to receive only those messages about products and services that interest them. They then share preferred ads with their peers.

User-generated advertising that is as prevalent as spots created by professional advertising agencies.
Naturally, these conclusions don’t bode well for radio, television and newspaper advertising, though that is assuming their operational models don’t undergo some significant changes, which is already happening. Traditional media outlets all have websites and are experimenting with new advertising models and packages. This aside, notions that companies are going to entirely abandon brand-building ad campaigns entirely in favor of measurable direct-response campaigns is surely folly.Still, statistics show there is a major reordering of spending priorities underway by advertisers, as more and more ad dollars continue migrating from traditional media venues to online channels. This is due in part to the high priority advertisers place on reach young people who haven’t yet established their buying patterns.The IBM report believes there are four powerful trends at work that are reconfiguring the advertising business.Attention. Consumers are increasingly in control of how they view, interact with and filter advertising in a multimedia environment. TiVo alone shook up the television advertising business, as viewers shifted their attention away from linear TV watching and have adopted tools that allow them to skip advertisements, as well as rate their favorite ads and easily share them with friends. This is happening while people spend less time with tradition media outlets and more time with online media. Those surveyed for the IBM report say they spent as much time online as they do watching television.Creativity. Technology has unleashed the creativity of everyday people. Popularity of user-generated and peer-delivered content is rising. People aren’t happy just consuming media; they want to participate in its creation. New ad revenue-sharing models – such as YouTube, Crackle and Current TV – have allowed amateurs and semiprofessionals to create low-cost advertising content. IBM’s study indicates the trend will continue. Example: User-generated content sites were the top destination for viewing online video, attracting 39 percent of survey respondents. Meanwhile, established media players, like publishers and broadcasters, are taking on traditional agency functions and developing more of their own creative.Measurement. Advertisers are demanding more targeted and measurable advertising campaigns, putting pressure on the traditional mass-market model created by newspapers, radio and television. Two-thirds of the advertising experts IBM polled expect results-based formats to account for 20 percent of ad spending within three years. Those dollars will be shifted from the currently dominant impression-based model. The exodus from traditional media ad campaigns began at least a couple of years ago and shows no signs of letting up.Advertising inventories. New advertising industry players are making ad space that once was proprietary available through open exchanges. As a result, more than half of the ad professionals polled expect that within the next five years open platforms will account for 30 percent of the revenue currently flowing to proprietary advertising channels, such as TV channels and radio stations. Mighty media empires have already been crippled by the new world order created by the internet. Ad exchanges will further democratize the business and take the media moguls down yet another peg.Advertising campaigns have been a key component of corporate empire building for generations. The advertising agency business itself became a big industry. Those were simple days by comparison to the fragmentation taking place today. New technologies have proliferated options for ad creation, placement, targeting and measurement. The array of diagnostics available for analyzing online performance is seemingly endless, and technology’s rapid advance means we’ve just reached the edge of this new landscape.It’s all become very unpredictable, interesting and egalitarian.

The Best Advertising Space You Already Own and Aren’t Using – And How to Get Started Right Now!

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Between the complexities of new media marketing and expensive print, radio and TV advertising, making the right advertising choice for your small business (and staying within budget) is a challenge. Worry no longer. The best advertising for your business is right outside your front door. And even better news? You already own the space!If your business has a storefront, take a good, hard look at your windows. What do they say about your business to the average consumer walking down the street? What impression are you making? If you’re like most businesses, you’ve been so busy worrying about complex advertising strategies that you’ve neglected the most basic and affordable one: window advertising.Window advertising is a tried and true way to attract customers and showcase your company’s products and services. This proven marketing strategy helps you maximize your revenue while minimizing advertising costs.Stop selling, start marketing: generate customers who want to buy from you!If you’re like most small businesses, the rising cost of traditional advertising has made print, radio and TV ads simply unaffordable. The Yellow Pages, once the premier advertising space for local businesses, is overpriced and no longer effective. And for all the hype, online advertising can be expensive (those pay-per-clicks really add up) and ineffective (it’s true; most of your marketing emails go straight to the spam folder).Advertising is like sending your best salesman out into the world to tell potential customers all about your business. However, if your customers don’t see or read your ads, that’s a pretty big waste of your best salesman (and your money.) And it doesn’t matter how good a salesman you have – if your salesman doesn’t have anyone to talk to, he’s not going to sell anything.Fortunately, if you’ve got a storefront, you’ve got a window – and that’s all you need for immediate, effective marketing! What does this mean for you? You can finally stop trying to give your customers the hard sell – your window advertisements will increase visibility and naturally bring customers to you! You can finally stop wasting your money on ineffective, over-priced print ads that don’t generate sales leads. And you can finally stop spending your time worrying about the right advertising strategy. You’ll be too busy helping all your new customers!More impressions, more money: the marketing science behind window advertising.The effectiveness of marketing is measured not only in dollars generated, but also in impressions. When you buy an online advertisement, for example, you may pay by ‘cost per impression.’ This means that you pay a fixed price every time a person views your advertisement. The greater the number of impressions, the better, as this indicates that more people are seeing your advertisement. For a storefront window, every person that comes by will see your window advertisement, whether they are driving past on their daily commute or walking down the sidewalk to another store. On a busy street or in a popular shopping mall, that adds up to a lot of impressions very quickly, for not a lot of money! In a strip mall, all the stores look the same. Stand out from the other stores with a fun window graphic and watch as the customers start coming!Bold graphics, bold design: getting the biggest bang for your buck with window advertising.Let’s face it; simple signs and ordinary lettering is boring. When was the last time a basic sign caught your eye as you walked down the street? If you have a storefront on a busy street, you need an eye-catching sign to attract foot traffic and to stand out to cars driving by.Fortunately, thanks to the latest technology, window signs can be anything but boring. Using large format digital printers and computer cutters, graphic sign companies can produce custom, eye-catching and fade-resistant graphic displays. Their window perforations and window vinyl will get you noticed! They can even create the illusion of etched or frosted glass for a fraction of the cost of the real thing.The technical stuff: how window advertising works.When choosing a type of window advertising, consider your needs. Are you looking to brand your storefront or simply highlight a seasonal special? Are you advertising a storewide sale or a specific product? The most important decision you will make is the team you choose to design and install your window graphics. No matter the job, be sure to choose the reputable, experienced professionals. When properly applied, a window vinyl can last for years. However, improperly applied graphics or poorly designed graphics can sink your marketing plans and end up costing you big bucks. A professional team will take the time to understand your needs and will ensure the job gets done right the first time.Have an idea for a design but not sure how to make it work? Use experienced marketing staff and a graphic designer who will work with you to turn your idea into reality and create a totally custom job. Below is a list of commonly asked questions about the window graphic advertising process.How do window vinyl get applied and how long will it take?Window vinyl is computer cut and made to fit on either the outside or inside of your window. The process usually takes around 10 days from concept to completion, although jobs can be completed faster under tight deadlines. “Temporary” window vinyls can be custom made or use pre-cut shapes. These vinyls cling to the window and can easily be removed or repositioned multiple times.How long will my window advertising last?The short answer: as long as you want it to! Because window vinyl is an outdoor sign, it is always laminated to protect the sign from the elements. Your window advertising is fade and peel resistant, and designed to last for at least five years.What if I just want temporary advertising?Looking to highlight a seasonal promotion or special deal? Temporary window vinyls are a cost-effective, eye-catching, creative solution. These designs easily peel on and off the window, and are designed for multiple applications. So feel free to advertise a Valentine’s Day special – with the peace of mind that when the holiday is over, you can easily swap the advertisement out for a spring theme. No mess, no fuss!Are window graphics see-through?Some window vinyls can be designed so that you can see through from the inside while the outside observer can only see the marketing graphic. These vinyls are also known as ‘window perfs.’ The one downside to window perfs is that when it is dark outside at night, the perf will not be visible when the interior store light is on. Other vinyls are opaque, and you cannot see through them.The bottom line: your business simply can’t afford for you NOT to use window advertising!Your storefront window truly is your company’s ‘window to the world.’ Window advertising is a tried and true way to attract customers and showcase your business’s products and services. You already own or rent the space – so stop wasting money and energy on expensive advertisements and install window graphics today!

How to Implement Advertising on Your Website Or Blog and Create Your Own Advertising Rate Card

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If you are looking to implement advertising on your website or blog, here are some guidelines on how to do it. Also, if you are wondering how to get sponsors for what you are doing, offering advertising positions on your website for your sponsors should be one option.Building your ad positions with the help of ad networksBegin by joining Google AdSense, an affiliate program (or programs), and/or one or more ad networks where you can register and start displaying their ads in your site. Some ad networks have limitations or eligibility requirements that you must meet, like the number of visitors per week or Google page rank, but services like Google AdSense and most of the affiliate programs don’t.The next step is to design your ad positions on your website or blog layout on all the pages where you want to allow advertising, or directly on your website or blog template. Using these ad networks, you can get all your ad positions filled out and begin receiving advertising revenue.Once you have chosen and created your ad positions, you are already well on your way to showing potential advertisers the type of advertising options you can offer, like where the ad positions are on your site and what ad sizes (various banner dimensions) are available.Depending on which ad networks you use and what tools they provide, you will get lots of statistical information about how the ads are performing in different ad positions on your website. Given the ad network and settings that you have selected, you will also start to understand what kind of advertisements from which advertisers are starting to show up on your website or blog, and where.Determining your advertising ratesEstablishing your advertising rates will probably feel challenging. When determining your rates, you have many options for getting information, but the most important tip is to get it started somewhere. The easiest way is to start is to calculate the revenue you are receiving via the ad networks. The revenue from direct sales should be somewhat higher.Using the statistical information that you receive from the ad network(s) you are using, you can identify the best-performing positions and target those when you first start to create your own ad rate card for attracting direct advertising on your website or blogTo determine the right prices, you can do the following. Begin by looking at the ad networks statistics to identify the average revenue per position. Multiply that by a number ranging from two to five. Then offer a 20% discount on that price to attract advertisers.You should also search the web to see what the average advertising rates are on other websites or blogs in your subject area. Understand that just like there are multiple ad types, sizes and positions, there are also many kinds of price models and revenue models, like CPI (cost per impression), CPM and CPT (cost per mille and cost per thousand), CPC (cost per click), and PPC (pay per click). Other rates are based on duration, like per week, per month, etc.The right advertising rate depends very much on your audience and readers. The more targeted your website or blog is on a particular topic, the more valuable it is. So the right price depends on the volume of your visitors and the profile of your readers. The better you can match advertisers and readers, the better the relationship will be for you, your readers and for the advertiser.Creating your very own ad rate cardAfter you have determined your ad positions, pricing models and advertising rates, you can easily create your own rate card. If you are looking for sample ad rate cards, you can find them in ad rate card directory, which has many rate cards created by other people. In this directory, rate cards are done based on a rate card template. You can use this template to create your own ad rate card. All you have to do is fill out a few web forms.Advertise your advertisingAfter you have created your rate card, you should advertise your advertising opportunities on your website with a “view ad rate card” or “advertising details” link. To promote your advertising opportunities, you can also add your rate card to directory for free. Advertisers use rate card directory to search for sites where they can advertise.Now you have opened the door for potential direct advertising on your site and created a professional way for advertisers to find your site, study the advertising opportunities you are offering and contact you easily.Offering direct advertising opportunities on your site is not really a big or burdensome step if you already have some ad network ads on your site. Naturally you replace network ads with direct ads only if/when you get them. This way, all your ad positions are generating maximum advertising revenue all the time.There are good, free tools for managing your ad positions and ads from multiple sources. A tool like openX, can automatically switch your ads depending on the given criteria. For example, you can have AdWord ads running in one position and then you can add direct ads into the circulation with a higher ad revenue value. After the CPM or duration has ended for that particular ad, the tool switches back to lower-revenue ad.Selling and promoting your ad positionsThe next step beyond opening the door for potential advertisers to contact you is to promote and sell your ad space (or have someone else do it for you), but that’s only if you choose to go this far. Giving advertisers an option to buy direct does not mean that you have to start selling, too.If you would like to sell, then you need to see which ads are performing well on your site, based on the ad networks’ ad statistics. Contact those advertisers or their competitors directly to offer them your best positions with a fixed term. This allows the advertiser to “own” your best position and shut out the competitionIf you are not so keen to sell, you can try to make a tempting offer, which lowers the barrier to contact you and get ads created. You could try to offer free advertising for one week, 10 CPM, or something similar to get things started. This will increase your contacts with advertisers and start building relationships with them. You can target only those that you will accept on your site, meaning those that you believe have potential value for your visitors and readers.Why does direct advertising generate more revenue? (Why can you expect more revenue from direct advertising than from ad networks?)
There is no middle man to take a cut.
You are building the advertiser/publisher relationship, so when you work directly with the advertiser you can help to modify the ad to “hit” better with your readers, since you know your audience and to what it responds to.
The greater the effort you make, the more revenue you will receive.
Direct ad sales are not intended to replace your other advertising revenue models (i.e., ad networks / affiliates) unless you can fill all your ad positions all the time with direct ad sales. Use both direct ad sales and other advertising revenue models, and always using the highest revenue source for each ad position.