Re: Why online advertising sucks
I have been reading responses to this question now for
a couple of weeks. I finally decided I needed to jump in
the fray. It seems to me that the focus of this
discussion is all wrong. It is not that online
advertising sucks, it is that agencies (or clients)
don't know if it is working or not. The objective of an
online ad is to drive traffic to the site TO MAKE A SALE.
If the advertising campaign cannot be tracked from the
click all the way through conversion and then identifying
who that customer is, there is no way to determine success.
Without that level of customer intelligence it is just as
impossible to say that the "advertising sucks" as it is
to say that the "advertising is a huge success".
Online advertisers need to focus on the end result.
There is, in my opinion, little or no branding value in
a typical online ad. The branding value comes when they
click through to the site and become an engaged user.
The advertising effectiveness, or lack thereof, can then
be determined by the actions of that user. Then,
through an integrated database, you can understand who
that customer is and their value.
No one should spend money online without first being able
to quantify the results. Don't shoot the messenger.
Instead, understand exactly what happens to the one who
receives the message. This type of customer intelligence
will help validate online advertising and in fact, make
it a successful medium for those who understand it.
Tom Cuthbert
tom_at_OptimaliQ.com
www.OptimaliQ.com
Received on Thu Mar 22 2001 - 10:08:25 CST
