The best advantage that internet presents is its flexibility. Once a banner has been published it is pretty easy to monitor the results. Once feedback is achieved it can be analyzed and the e-advertising campaign can be improved in a constant manner unlike the offline campaign which remains the same for the entire duration which was decided before it even begun.
Since modifications and improvements can be made at short intervals, while the reaction of the target audience is supervised in continuation, the chances of achieving success can be considered bigger as well. The internet allows placement optimization as well as the improvement of the format based on elements such as scheduling and capping.
When an online advertising campaign is conceived one must also decide how many people will see the ads, but also the number of times that a single person will see the same ad on the same site. This variable can be improved and controlled thanks to the flexible character of the communication medium.
Another element that can be discussed when analyzing e-advertising is represented by the availability of the information. For example, a spot on the radio has a limited duration and a very high cost. The spot is available for thirty seconds and although it is repeated at certain intervals and for a certain period of time, its nature is temporary. Such is not the case with the information used in e-advertising.
In other words, a potential client has the possibility to access this information at whatever time and for how long he pleases. This allows the clients to acquire more information about the brand and perceive it as being open towards him. In terms if brand image and brand identity this represents a long-term advantage that all the companies should take into consideration.
Offline advertising campaigns last for a limited period and afterwards its results are analyzed in terms of increased sales. However, it is difficult to make a direct causal connection between advertising and sales. The social and cultural context is important as it might shape the preferences of the clients for certain attributes that are to be found in certain brands. In addition it must be underlined that a company does not use advertising as the only marketing and communication technique.
PR strategies, pricing policies are other elements which contribute to the reaction of the potential clients regarding the brand (and naturally the branded products and services). When the internet is being used as a medium it is far easier to understand if the advertising campaign is efficient or not. The fact that the online clients can provide direct feedback, even under the form of comments and debates represents a key element for the long-term development of a company and its public image.
An element of strategic importance for the marketing techniques is represented by personalization. The contemporary tendencies of globalization tend to erase the borders between countries and continents. While this has a positive consequence in the sense that people get to know each other better. Open geographic borders and real time communication (both supported by the existence of the internet) contribute to open cultural borders. On the one hand the individual has greater opportunities to understand people and values which are different from him. On the other hand the individual might under go an identity crisis being since he may feel as an anonymous part of a huge crowd.
This feeling might be induced by the international communication and advertising campaigns. It is true that people can be targeted according to their common preferences and characteristics (such as gender, level of education, the place where they live, etc.), but it is just as true that inside a single group of potential clients one can find more differences than similarities.
The internet allows for a deeper and more complex segmentation of the target customers and therefore for the personalization of the message. A personalized message responds to the need of the contemporary individual to be recognized for what he is. In addition, a more complex segmentation allows for a better understanding of the potential client. This understanding is a valuable insight which helps the companies create better adapted messages which have greater opportunities of convincing the potential client to become a client and afterwards a client who is loyal to the brand.
However, personalisation offers advantages for the clients as well, not just...
By knowing the client better the companies have on the one hand the opportunity of conceiving a better, more efficient message that advertising will afterwards convey but at the same time the companies are offered with the possibility of improving their products and adapting them better to the needs of the customer, no matter if we are speaking about an improvement of the functional characteristics or the psychological ones.
Personalisation has various forms. On the one hand we can speak about the messages that a company might transmit addressing a certain target (which still includes more than a person). On the other hand we can talk about the contact with the individual through means such as the e-mail (direct marketing). The latter one is more complex but it presents various complications as well. At this level personalisation is based on personal data provided by the client. The issue which occurs at this point is represented by the privacy policies.
Studies have demonstrated that people feel uncomfortable about disclosing information about themselves to entities which might afterwards use this information in order to convince them to acquire something. Personalisation and trend advertisements might be perceived in a negative manner by people who are aware that sires record information about them, especially in the absence of their explicit consent. It must be important to create a climate of safety should a company decide to use this type of personalisation, otherwise there is the risk for people to become afraid and stop using the website in question. After all, this requires just the click of a mouse.
The procedures through which the companies might end up using e-advertising often employ the use of a broker. His role is to take the ads and place them on the sites which are the most appropriate under the given circumstances. The company which wants to be advertised as well as the website which will eventually publish the ads both pay a certain quota to the advertising broker. The process can be made easier and can be undergone faster if one is provided with metadata regarding the geographic data and the key words. Once this information is obtained, the broker only needs to decide the typology of the website which is needed as a host. Matching the data is the only remaining step.
The price paid for having an ad hosted depends on the popularity of the key words. Auctions are often made on websites. Advertisers usually start by choosing a specific area where they wish to advertise. Depending on the region they also choose the most appropriate language.
A headline and a short description are conceived, together with a format, hoping that the mix will be attractive enough to have the viewer click on it and be redirected to the site of the company selling the advertised product.
The key words play a very important role. Once the advertiser decides which these key words are, they must be matched to the websites where the ads will be placed. The logic is that if a person is interested in that word and will enter that web site, it will probably be the same interest that will make him click on the ad. All the words of the website that will act as a host are analyzed by the broker. He is the one who determines which words are important and which are not.
The publisher has control upon the location of the ad. He will decide what the hosting website is and also the position of the ad on the site will be. This is done using a code such as JavaScript into the html code of the page. It must be underlined that the hosting page is paid not for the fact that it actually hosts the ad. The number of clicks on the ad are the criterion according to which the payment is done. This stimulates the host to choose the best possible location for the ad.
All in all it can be stated that the importance of e-commerce is just as big as the one of trade made under "normal" circumstances. Multi-channel distribution is a must and it is here that e-advertising comes into place, allowing companies to reach a multitude of potential clients in a dynamic and interactive manner with the main advantage of a highly reduced costs.
Bibliography
Benbasat, I., Gefen, D., Pavlou, P.A., "Trust in Online environments," Journal of Management Information Systems, vol. 24, no.4, spring 2008, pp.5-11
Haegele, Katie. E-advertising and e-marketing. The Rosen Publishing Group, 2008
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