A website is an island. Advertising is a bridge to that island. Large and small businesses online are discovering that truth in a hurry - or else. Advertising is not what it used to be. The internet has changed its purpose and its strength. Rather than making advertising in
traditional media weaker, net has made it stronger. That’s why all guerrillas must be aware of new power of advertising.The first thing to know, and this should come as good news, is that advertising no longer has to make sale.
Not very long ago, advertising’s main goal was to make sale, though there are many other goals. But that has changed dramatically with growth of dotcom companies all over internet. Today, goal of much advertising is not to make sale but to direct people to websites.
That does not diminish power of advertising. Instead, it increases it. With many, if not most, guerrilla-run companies establishing webturf, advertising’s newest function is to motivate people to visit a website where they can get far more information than can be delivered by standard media advertising.
Advertising has become first step in a permission marketing campaign. It invites dialogue and interactivity with prospects and customers by directing people to websites, by offering free brochures, by generating kind of action that leads to permission to receive marketing messages. Once people grant that permission, which they do at a website or by simply calling to request a brochure -- printed or electronic --- that’s when serious guerrilla marketing attempts to close sale.
That means prime obligation of advertising is to motivate an easy-to-take-action. This should come as good news because it places less of an onus on advertising than ever before. Motivating action of getting person to click to your website is a whole lot simpler than motivating a person to part with his or her hard-earned money and risk spending it wrong way.
Not only is it easier to motivate action, but that action is becoming even easier as being online is now endemic. Over 100 million people are now online, though America Online’s chief, Steve Case, pegs number as being closer to 200 million.
It’s not always a whole lot of fun to visit your store or order from your toll-free number, but it is fairly enjoyable to click over to a website and take a gander at what is being offered and how you can benefit. There is a risk when somebody responds to advertising with an order. There is no risk at all if they check your website. Advertising seems to grease skids to sale. It takes far less time to learn about you online than to cruise around a mall or drive to a location further away than their computer.
That means advertising can be short, concise, to point. It no longer has to curry favor of prospects with long copy, involved graphics or detailed explanations. The internet can do that for you, allowing you to save on advertising costs. Advertising your website works in all media -- from TV to radio, from magazines to newspaper, from direct mail to billboards. It doesn’t take a lot of time or verbiage to get them to spend a few moments checking how your website can improve their lives.
