When the iPhone 5s came out in the fall last year, where’s
the first place you could look to find specs on the hot, new Apple product?
Online, right? Any time we want to find new information, the first place we go
is to Google or even Youtube. When we go online, we get the information we need
instantaneously. For this reason, more people have started using the Internet
on a daily basis which provides a means of communication between a company and
the consumer.
A driving force to organizational success is advertising.
According to dictionary.com, advertising is the act or practice of calling
public attention to one’s product, service, or need. Online advertising is thus
done by other means such as through websites and e-mails. By advertising
through web-based sources, companies are able to gather information about us in
a way like no other. Online advertising has also been more efficient for
companies in the sense that they can produce fewer advertisements and reach
more people.
According to news.yahoo.com, the average person spends
approximately 23 hours online every week. During that time online, we are
exposed to approximately 1700 display ads and promotions in a month. With all of this information coming at us, how are we supposed to remember all of it? We are more likely to remember the ads that cater to us and our needs.
The ability to go online has taken advertising to a whole
new level. Companies can now gather information about our needs and desires, create a product that will satisfy our needs, and market it to us all while we’re sitting at home. They do this through targeted
advertising, which is the process of gathering information about us as the
consumer in order to segment the market into groups based on our traits and
interests. Also known as behavioral targeting, this strategy has proven to be
very effective.
According to a survey conducted by ChoiceStream.com, 38% of
respondents say that they are more likely to pay attention to an ad that is
targeted towards them. For example,
while I was apartment shopping this year, I was researching student apartments
in the University area. After searching, I logged onto Facebook and began
seeing banner advertisements for apartments in Charlotte. I thought it was just a coincidence! Little did I know that the apartment ads were tailored to me specifically. I was introduced to
several new apartment complexes that I did not know about previously, which
had a huge impact on my decision.
Some would argue that there are privacy concerns regarding
online advertising and the information that companies are allowed to gather
about us. As of right now, companies are using a self-regulated approach on
privacy guidelines.Congress is anticipating establishing a more uniform privacy law in the future. How do you as the consumer feel about this? Do you feel that self regulation is enough?
Traditional advertising seems to be a thing of the past as
the concept of online advertising emerges. Companies are able to use the
information they gather about us online to their advantage to provide us with a
more personal marketing experience. As you can see, when we go online, not only
are we looking for information about companies, they’re looking for information
about us too.What are your thoughts? Should companies be able to gather information about us? How far should companies go to figure out our needs as a market?
Please feel free to comment,subscribe, or follow to see more
information about recent developments in Online Advertising and how it is
changing our future as consumers.
Sources:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/advertising
http://www.entrepreneur.com/encyclopedia/online-advertising
http://news.yahoo.com/americans-spend-23-hours-per-week-online-texting-092010569.html
http://www.itvdictionary.com/targeted_advertising.html
When I think about technology I think about the way it changed our lives. The way we are connected to one another, and the way we could search and find answers to all the questions we had. I research a lot on the internet about interesting things that I like and favor. I never really understood how when I do research on Google or even yahoo and then sign on to my Facebook advertisements that I’m interested in pop up. Now that reviewing your topic I get it. It’s hard to believe how just by researching a site certain things or cookies are stored in my computer and that is what marketers and advertisers feed of. If you really think about it it’s kind of scary. I do agree with you that in the future these things will become accessible on our mobile phones as well. I rarely ever open up my laptop, and most of the time I do it just because of school. I’m on my phone 24/7 and to be honest I don’t feel like I’m the only one. Everywhere I go I always see people won their iPhone’s and mobile devices that are looking something up on their phones or playing some type of game. These things have become so much part of our lives that we not need to focus on the new values like spending time with family and finding better things to spend our times with. I do agree that it will happen one day, but I just hope it doesn’t go overboard to the point where it starts to scare people and making them wish they don’t research another topic on the internet any more.
ReplyDeleteOnline advertising is a trend that you cant avoid. But for a business I think it is a very good idea due to the fact that most people do spend a lot of time on the computer. Businesses are just adapting and staying prosperous. In this particular case of target advertising and behavioral targeting I think it is the best and least annoying way to conduct any kind of online advertising. Rather than companies just buying up space to post their ads all over the internet and users are forced to deal with an abundance of random insignificant ads. This method is the most acceptable.
ReplyDeleteI agree, online advertising has majorly increased over the past years and is something that we can not avoid. Companies will now hurt in sales if they do not provide a website to advertise all of the products or services that they provide. Also, not only do they advertise what they are selling but the address and phone numbers in order to find the company or contact them. Several places that i shop i would not even know about if they did not provide this information.
ReplyDeleteI intern at a business as an advertising and marketing intern. We use the online approach for 80 percent of our advertising. I agree, that some of the advertisements we use are targeted to persuade certain groups of people to believe that what we are advertising is desirable. However I do not necessarily think that it is a bad thing. When most people come in they are very satisfied with their visit. Some even say that they never would of even know about us with out online advertising such as twitter, facebook, and advertisements on other web pages. We also make a point to get out and about in our community advertising face to face. I think that it is more efficient to advertise traditionally, however, we cant always get out and about to everyone. I think that online advertising is not avoidable and people just need to be careful what they are reading, and be able to read past scams. I don't think that further regulating this will do much help. Some people are very smart with computers as well as hacking, and can always find a way around things. Also, it may not hurt to have certain advertisements lead to others, it gives us as consumers more options.
ReplyDeleteI know that online advertisement is the wave of the future, and I also know that it enables us to get services sponsered by businesses so we can get them for free. But still I can't help but get annoyed when I'm trying to get something done or watch a video and those friggin advertisements are flashing in my face like Vegas light!
ReplyDeleteFrom my experience online advertising can sometimes be annoying. Online advertising has become a very popular thing and has become essential especially for web-based companies. I would not know about most websites if it wasn't for the advertisements. Although it may be annoying having to close out of ads and mute the video ads on every webpage I visit, I do catch myself clicking on the ads from now and then. As mentioned in this post, after you viewed apartments online, the ads were tailored to your interest and you started seeing ads about apartments. I've been noticing this more and more recently and for someone who is addicted to online shopping (me...>_<) the ads are very persuasive. Obviously, online ads are doing their job.
ReplyDelete