…We think it’s shifted!
Back in 2012 we won a Telstra Business Award here in WA - it was in the category sponsored by a large media publishing company. Our prize was a fairly substantial amount of money that could be spent in contra, advertising on any of their platforms. Not one to usually go down the advertising route, we didn’t rush in! 18 months later it was a case of use it or lose it!
Well, yesterday our one month campaign on a couple of websites came to an end. According to the report sent through, we had had fantastic results!
Let me just say, their definition of fantastic isn’t quite the same as ours!
“Overall the campaign attracted 153 clicks with click through rates of 0.04% and 0.20% which is fantastic. Our network average for similar activity is 0.03% to 0.05%”
We were staggered - 0.03%-0.05% is considered successful?
These figures in my opinion mean nothing. I’m only interested in ONE thing - did it do anything for business?
And the answer to that is a categorical NO!
Why? You could argue our ad was pretty ordinary, not creative enough, too simplistic etc? But quite simply I believe it’s because banner advertising or any of the equivalent is interruptive. People didn’t go to that site for our advert! As a result we were irrelevant and perhaps “annoying”! These days, there is a lot of noise - we are being interrupted left, right and centre. But is that what WE want?
We are of the opinion that people want information/entertainment that is USEFUL! Something that educates, inspires, motivates and creates a greater brand connection.
Our aim is to create that sort of content - and over the last 5 years we’ve probably created around 1000 productions along these lines.
So to go back to our original opening statement…
We’re not saying advertising is dead, we think it has shifted. To work well today, our belief is that it has to compliment and work alongside all the other content that is being produced. Only by deepening that brand relationship with your audience will you see the long term benefits - the issue is that this can take time!
Throwing money at an ad campaign falls in to the “this is what we’ve done before” category. But, are there better alternative options available today? And could we run a marketing and content strategy alongside each other to have even greater success?
James Lush
Image: courtesy of Will Lion
Advertising is not dead but there is so much noise out there that your advertisement better be award winning if it is going to have an impact. If you understand your target audience then create something your target audience will consume. A good example of this is Universities should stop taking out full page newspaper advertisements telling us how good you are and start contributing to the conversations in media that the public can see you practice what you preach.
Advertising is part of a communications strategy and should be supported by a good new and traditional media approach. The best investment any business can make is understand how your target market consumes and advertising should be a small part of the strategy.
Great comments James. I think most companies need to rethink their marketing strategy and be open to new ideas. Ps “like” the new format!
Praise the Lord! Common sense at last………. If it can’t be measured it can’t be managed. So much of this is a waste and even when it is measured it can still be wasteful. as you guys have proven. Wynnie x
Interesting article James! We have had similar issues around web based advertising, and find in Perth it is word of mouth that drives our business. That said, content advertising such as your piece certainly helps!
It isn’t that web advertising is unhelpful per se, it is that it is best used to direct and reinforce a decision already in train rather than prompt a new one. If you want to buy a car, then seeing web ads for a Mini Cooper might get you to phone your local distributor or click through for specs. If you weren’t thinking of buying a car, then all the banner ads in the world aren’t likely to make you dash to a dealer.
Totally agree.
I really like vertical content pillars that speak to an audience of devoted followers. If you provide something remarkable then results follow. The talk ability of your content will give the momentum for people to spread the message for you as it gives them social currency.
A Journalist here suggested to me that this had all happened before during the Industrial Revolution with the invention of The Printing Press. Initially the presses were prolific but eventually content ruled and only the best survived.
I think on a different scale this happens on the internet where for every “crazy pet video” with 10million views there are millions with one view, the content creators!
John Dawson
CFO Business News
Thought provoking data James. I am wondering about the purpose of a website - and they aren’t cheap to build or maintain a good one - for a not-for-profit like Fiona Wood Foundation?? Any suggestions as to how to optimize click conversion ratio for such entities gratefully received!! Cheers Dale