Over the years, advancements in technology changed the way people were exposed to information and ideas. For decades, sending flyers through the mail or advertising on billboards were the best ways to attract attention. Often, store owners would allow advertisers to place their ads in the front windows of their store. With technological advancements, however, the advertising world has been forever changed.
Radio and Television Advertising
Radio in the 1920s opened up a new medium for advertisers. During station breaks from the news and other programs, listeners would be tempted by a number of products. With the invention of television 20 years later, the playing field was changed even more. For the first time, consumers could see products being used in real time. Vacuum cleaners showed dirt being picked up and people ate a variety of treats and packaged dinners. As advertisers got more creative, their ads became more entertaining. In fact, some ads today are so clever you might not realize what’s being sold until you get to the end of the ad.
Digital Marketing
The emergence of high-speed internet uprooted the well-established methods of selling products. Digital marketing allowed consumers to buy goods online without leaving the comfort of their homes. With customers’ waning attention spans and limited time, the internet met the fast-paced demands of today’s consumers. Prospective buyers need only power up their search engine to find a wide range of products.
Social media has become a successful platform for marketers as well. Twitter, Instagram and Facebook allow advertisers to market their wares without paying the hefty airtime fees that are required on television.
Content for Optimal Searching
Search engine optimization, or SEO for short, has become a successful method for advertisers in the internet age. Since hundreds of entries usually appear in a search for a particular product, advertisers want to ensure their information makes it near the top of the list. Research has shown that most consumers limit their product selection to the first few entries that pop up in the search.
Great content writing is the key to ensuring your page appears as close to the top as possible. It also helps you to build your own unique brand. Because each website targets a specific audience, the content must be relevant to the business being advertised. Most importantly, the content must include keywords to improve the SEO of the search. Those keywords are typically terms related to the business and are words that consumers would most likely use when searching for specific products and services.
SEO content can utilize a number of digital means, including articles, e-books, videos and blog posts. The writing, however, must be geared toward helping people find the intended website.
Targeted Advertising
A targeted ad is one that serves a designated audience. Ads are chosen based on the targeted individuals’ tastes and other factors.
Targeted advertising uses a number of measures to determine which consumers to target. A couple of examples of this niche marketing include:
- Geotargeting – Ads can steer individuals to a certain market based on their geographic location. A product with a regional flair may be geared toward the consumers in specific cities or regions in the country or the world.
- Contextual advertising – Technology has become so sophisticated that algorithms are able to track people’s online behavior. Ads that appear are based on search queries and websites visited. Groups can also be targeted based on specific user data, such as gender and age.
Advertising has evolved with technology. The goal, however, is the same. Advertisers want to market their products in a way that entices consumers to buy them.
