The Internet has definitely had a large impact on almost everyone’s lives. One of the biggest areas it has impacted has been the way advertisers formulate their marketing campaigns. The Internet has opened up avenues that were previously never dreamt of. Now advertisers have a plethora of methods to gain exposure for their products. Online advertising provides numerous methods to deliver product information to consumers.One way that Internet advertising has affected traditional advertising is the method of injecting an advertisement directly into another piece of media that the consumer is already interested in. This concept is not a new one, but the methods used are definitely revolutionary. Television has previously used this method in the form of commercials that appear between segments of a show. The invention of DVRs has made it possible for a potential consumer to skip directly through the commercials. A technique that came from online advertising is to inject an advertisement directly into the show that the viewer is watching. Product placement spots, where the characters on television shows use specific brand names of products, are everywhere now. This exposes products to potential customers without distracting them or taking away from the show. This placement means that when ignored during a commercial, the potential customer will still be exposed to the product during the show they are watching.Due to these new processes of reaching out, mass mailings are going the way of the dinosaur. A large budget for thousands of mailings to be sent is no longer required. Marketing campaigns can be viewed by millions of people daily for a very small amount of money on sites across the web. Online advertising is also much better for the environment, which is always a good thing in this modern, environmentally conscious world we now live in.The Internet also gives brand new methods for reaching customers, previous as well as potential ones. One example would be the little video advertisements that are shown while users wait for an online video or game to load. Advertisers have a captive audience during these two examples. Users want to get to the item that they’ve selected, so most are content to watch an advertisement or two while they wait patiently for their content to be delivered. This way feels different than television advertisements, because content on the Internet is not always instantaneous and most users are grateful to have something to occupy their minds instead of staring at a blank screen.Another way Internet advertising has affected traditional advertising is that it’s cheaper and can expose products to far more consumers. The entry cost is cheaper and millions of viewers worldwide, who spend multiple hours every day online, can see advertisements. The price per viewer is far less for online advertising. Also, online marketing is more targeted in that advertisements can be placed on sites that are already targeted to specific people, geographic regions, and cultures. Online advertising also provides far better conversion tracking in that advertisers can tell when users are actually actively trying to learn more about products as a result of their advertising.Internet advertising has definitely had a big affect on traditional advertising and has opened up a whole new world to marketers.
