Only the weather changes faster than advertising methods.
Marketers today must constantly change and adapt to an advertising landscape that is ever-evolving. Advents in technology and ad-delivery formats force businesses to continually re-appraise and advance their advertising methods.
The Rise of Viral Videos
Today’s consumers spend less time watching conventional television and reading print ads than ever before. Rather, they are watching YouTube and TiVo and are logged-on to Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, and other constantly emerging social media platforms. Advertisers are literally required to adapt or perish in such an environment. The good news, with a little research and effective application of these contemporary communication mediums, the smart company can incorporate them and thrive in doing so.
Research indicates that online videos are playing an increasingly crucial role in reaching desired consumers in all categories. The big players are already deeply immersed in utilizing online video advertising to stay relevant and prosperous. Where once a targeted customer might be predictably in front of their TV, today they more likely online and their attention span is shorter. This occurs day and night, too, with workers escaping tedium online for a quick respite from their arduous workday.
Opportunities in Viral Videos
Woven in and around these viral online videos and webisodes are logos, promotional text, and ‘pre-rolls,’ short introductions one must view mandatorily before the wanted content can be viewed. It’s a captive and attentive audience willing and ready to digest advertising, and the smart-money is shifting increasingly away from conventional TV and print advertising towards these new and effective means of reaching targeted clientele.
Clever companies have even found ways to integrate themselves into comedic videos or popular web-programming through product placement or being scripted-in to a show’s dialogue. In this way, the commercial-skipping abilities of TiVo are thwarted and advertising and art intersect in a way even Warhol didn’t envision.
It’s impossible to ignore these new avenues of advertising and it can be daunting to those not fond of changing ways which were once successful. However, to those who do adapt and utilize the many new conduits of commerce, the possibilities for growth and increased business are infinite. Better to embrace the new than be left behind.