Advertising in a Down Economy
Your website needs advertising, and your advertising needs your website. The most interactive and beautiful website is worthless if no one sees it, and all the site traffic in the world is no good unless your website is able to capture attention and translate traffic into customers.
But, as we face an economic slowdown that’s surely effecting everyone, businesses everywhere face the difficult dilemma of tight spending limiting advertising budgets at a time when new business and customers are needed more than ever. The result? A shift in spending from traditional media to online spending.
To be clear, the increase in online advertising is not offsetting the decline in traditional ad spend, and overall US advertising spend will be down in 2009 according to Media Futurist Jack Myers. But amidst this decline, emarketer is still projecting double digit growth for online advertising.
Perhaps the hardest hit sector of the media landscape is TV. According to the November 3, 2008 Advertising Age, TV advertising slipped 1.3% 2008 – even when you include the boost from the election and the Olympics. Without political spending and Olympic advertising, TV ad dollars would have fallen 2.4%. This while online advertising is projected to grow some 14-16%.
It seems that in a time when ad dollars are becoming more and more precious, advertisers are counting on the two big promises of Internet advertising – Targeting and Tracking.
These concepts aren’t new! Every TV show targets a specific demographic which advertisers try to latch onto, and the TV ratings of any given program will give you an idea of who saw what. But between DVR and the growth of online media, who knows who’s actually watching those commercials. Online advertisers can reach out to people based on their web history, demographics, and even the interests they express in their social networks. So instead of paying a lot to reach everyone, they can pay less to reach just the audience that they’re looking to sell to. Search ads go a step further, reaching out to people actively seeking to buy.
Also, with Google Analytics leading the charge, free tools exist that allow websites to track an absurd amount of user actions with their website. Ultimately, advertisers can see what ads are working, and make changes on the fly to constantly improve.
Analytical tools are also crucial to understanding how users interact with your website, and how users move through the buying process. Remember, driving traffic to a website is only half the battle! Once a user’s found you, they’ll need to be able to find what they need quickly. Online, we all have the attention span of a 5-year old.
I’m sure none of this is groundbreaking stuff, but as the economy scares everyone and shrinks budgets worldwide, the message is important:
A user-friendly website that converts traffic into buyers and informed online advertising is the most effective mix for winning in a down economy.