Thirty years ago there was no Internet, no e-mail, no online marketing, and no SMS text messaging. Marketing and advertising managers utilized age-old mediums to get their messages out to potential customers – television, radio, newspapers, magazines, direct mail – and each of these avenues had advantages and disadvantages.
The major advantage was that each of these advertising options reached large numbers of consumers, yet this “wide-net” approach to gaining new customers was expensive and marginally effective. The return on investment (ROI) was often difficult to calculate and advertising budgets were strained to the breaking point, especially within small to medium sized businesses. Then in the 1990s, a revolutionary paradigm shift, called the Internet, would alter the advertising landscape forever.
In the 1990s, the explosion of the Internet enabled businesses of all sizes to step onto a level playing field. As the World-Wide Web grew in size and scope, business owners began employing developers to create Web sites for their businesses, which served as online “storefronts” in addition to their “brick and mortar” establishments.
As the number of businesses that established an online presence increased, many of them utilized e-mail as an advertising option. This new technology quickly gained traction as marketing and advertising managers grasped the power and scope of this relatively inexpensive means to reach potential customers. And at the same time, they were learning how to integrate e-mail advertising into their marketing plans in order to reach even greater numbers of potential clients with this explosive new advertising channel.
Between 1992 and 1996, the use of e-mail exploded, and it was not only a means for people to communicate quicker and easier with family and friends, it became a staple means of communication between, and within, businesses of all sizes. Since there were no production or mailing costs, advertisers could write their ad messages, rent lists of names from list brokers, and send “blitz blasts” to consumers. Yet as with any new technology, there comes a point of diminishing returns.
In the past few years there have been numerous studies conducted by research groups that suggest that the effectiveness of e-mail marketing has slipped due to increased saturation. Response rates have decreased as the number of advertising messages has increased. Yet due to the relatively low cost of e-mail marketing, compared to other options, determined e-mail marketers have continued their quest to gain new customers.
The resulting “static” in consumers’ inboxes has caused them to become more selective as to what they read; annoying unwanted messages are generally deleted without being opened. And further studies reveal that consumers are refining their buying decisions by utilizing several media options.
According to a recent study performed by Pew Research, nearly 80 percent of consumers today are utilizing more than one media option before making their purchasing decisions, many consulting three or more channels regularly. Additionally, consumers receive 15 or more brand messages in their email in-boxes every day.
And although this “multi-channel” approach to making buying decisions may eliminate some of the confusion involved in making those smart choices, the overall appeal of Internet ads begins to lose its luster because of the transient nature of the beast.
As vast and amazing as the Internet is, consumers must sift through many pages of information to find the golden nuggets within the advertisers message. This requires time and in today’s “instant gratification” world, people don’t want to work that hard.
Another consideration is physical tangibility. Whether in an e-mail, on a Web site, or within a message on a mobile device, consumers can’t “hold” the Internet ads in their hands, see the eye-catching appeal of the high-value offer, and even more important, they can’t save the message for future consideration.
So how can marketers and advertisers deliver a quality message without alienating the consumers that they want to convert into new customers?
Front Door advertising offers an underutilized yet highly effective channel, which is free of the static that clutters consumers’ inboxes, thus calling greater attention to your high value offer. Custom door-hangers and personalized postcards are very effective options, enabling businesses to gain greater consumer engagement.
When you combine a great offer with less static, target a precisely defined audience, and utilize state-of-the-art sampling measurement technologies, you will create the foundation for a winning campaign. And while the advances in technology in the past thirty years have enabled marketers and advertisers to reach more potential customers, the options available from Front Door Advertising will elevate your campaign above the competition.
Visit our Web site fdadvertising.com to view our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) or call us today at 1-888-754-4111 for a FREE quote on how we can help you develop new leads to boost your bottom line!