Week 13 Part A

Online Advertising - Analysis of the Marketplace

My Attention

Video. I have ADD. As such I love bright, shiny flashing, moving things. I hate that I do, but I do. Any type of image is more effective at getting my attention, but video is king. I want it to be engaging though. Don't tell me about your product, show me what your product can do, or what it can mean. I don't watch much TV, but one of my favorite commercials of all time is a TV commercial that I saw on Facebook. It's an Oreo commercial about a dad and his LGBTQ daughter. They never had a call to action, just a reminder of who they are and what they may have meant in different times in your life. I bought 2 bags the next day. Meet me where I am and entertain me and I will become a follower and a customer.

Feelings. I'm a big softie, ask anyone that knows me. Emotional appeals work well for me as long as they are heartfelt (see above). Another Facebook advertiser that has won me over is the International Rescue Committee. Their ads are touching and simple. Their purchase methods are easy and inexpensive. They even make donating social by allowing shares, likes, or donating as gifts.

Social Media Advertising can be Much More Effective. Social media ads can be targeted in a way that traditional ads can never dream of being. I remember listening to the radio several years ago, about a year after the crash in 2008. I was listening to alternative rock and heavy metal. Then I heard an ad to but your significant other a Lexus as a Christmas gift. I was 29, struggling to make ends meet. The financial crisis at the time had cost me my job, and I had been forced to move out of my apartment and move in with my parents to support my 1 year old daughter and my pregnant wife. No one that I knew was doing well financially, and most alternative and metal fans can't afford a decent used Ford, much less a Lexus as a gift. I know they were looking for a needle in a haystack. They had a deal with a radio conglomerate for dozens or hundreds of radio commercials. I know they only needed to sell a couple of extra Lexuses to make a decent ROI, but it really seemed like a poorly targeted ad. Social media ads don't ever need to have that kind of swing and miss for anyone. They can reach people where they are through appropriate targeting. That kind of efficiency and effectiveness couldn't have been imagined by marketers 30 years ago, and now it is the norm.

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