Advertising in Cyberspace

 

Advertising and its underlying psychology have been developed and refined over the past hundred years into a sophisticated and effective marketing science. On the Internet, however, this precise science is reduced to little more than vague guesswork.

It's a whole new ballgame out there in cyberspace and the old rule book doesn't apply to this playing field.

INFORMATION: THE BIG DIFFERENCE

Traditional advertising methods are based primarily on associative imagery - the sport vehicle posed against a dramatic wilderness backdrop, the cigarette dangling from the cowboy's lips, the implications of a beautiful woman. The use of manipulative imagery was necessary because advertising had to appeal to a passive mass audience - magazine readers, radio listeners and TV viewers. The more universal the appeal of the ad, the greater the audience it would reach. But the effectiveness of advertising was limited by this very need to reach and influence the widest possible audience (or, some would say, the lowest common denominator). The imagery of advertising cut across the lines of social and demographic factors, while conveying no real information about the product in anything other than general, associative terms: longer, faster, bigger, better, whiter, brighter, stronger, milder.

This approach to advertising and promotion fails to achieve the same results in cyberspace because the Internet is an interactive, information-based medium. Its users take the active step of visiting your Web site because they want to know something about your company or your product. They want information. A few pictures and some copy grabbed from existing product literature just won't cut it. Web sites like that are derided as "brochureware", and in cyberspace, it's about the worst thing anyone can say about your site.

Through a well-engineered Web site, you can interact with your customers, effectively assess their needs and respond to those needs by providing the specific information they're seeking. Successful Web marketing means taking full advantage of the medium to offer your customers an interesting, informative, interactive experience, a give and take of needs, wants and information.

TRADITIONAL MEDIA: WORKING HAND IN HAND WITH THE WEB

Traditional media advertising isn't out of the picture just yet, however, but its role is changing. You still need to attract visitors to your site - no one's going to come to your party unless they get an invitation. The most effective approach is to use desire motivation imagery in traditional media advertising to attract initial interest and pique the curiosity of your potential customers.

For example, print and TV advertising can create the initial desire for a new automobile and direct potential customers to the manufacturer's Web site. The site can then analyze and respond to the individual customer's specific needs and preferences, as well as the practical aspects of the customer's ability to afford the product. From the accumulated data, the site creates an individually customized package which fits the customer's preferences perfectly. By processing the information and creating the package online, the selection and ordering process is simplified for both the customer and the manufacturer. The ordering and purchase can be made even more efficient by directly forwarding the information to the manufacturing facility where the package is created, and to the local dealer who finalizes the sale.

It is important to remember that, in using this new approach to traditional media advertising, you're not trying to sell them your product, you're selling them on visiting your Web site. Once they arrive at your site you can enhance their interest with an enjoyable experience and respond with information that they can explore to their satisfaction. Their interactve experience and the information you provide online are the things that sell your product.

THE WEB: LOWER ADVERTISING COSTS

Since it is no longer necessary to provide as much information in your primary advertising, you can often save more than the cost of your Web presence by reducing the time/space requirements of traditional ads. That 60 second commercial can be trimmed to a 15 second splash that will motivate your audience to visit your site for in-depth information.

Graphical Planet can not only create and implement every aspect of an effective Web presence for your company, we can coordinate a supplementary traditional media advertising campaign that will insure the highest possible traffic.