What’s the best medium to advertise your business? ……… Confessions of a reformed radio and television advertising salesperson.

There is only one clear winner when it comes to which medium your business should be advertising in.  We can all agree that any business that wants to increase their profitability looks for the least expensive and most effective advertising vehicle to promote their business.  No matter whether they choose television, radio, print or outdoor, the objective of advertising really boils down to getting the maximum amount of consumer response for your product or service with a minimum amount of expenditure.  There is only one clear winner when it comes to available media that I believe every business should be focusing their efforts on to get the maximum return on their advertising investment.  That medium is The Internet.  Let’s look at why this single medium is the hands down best way to increase the revenue for your business.  

The philosophy of advertising is very simple.  The more people that are exposed to your message the more business (sales) your company should be getting.   There are other factors that come into play with effective advertising like good creative messages that are memorable, etc., but in this article we will focus on which medium works the best and why it is superior to all others in helping your business grow. 

You need to start thinking of The Internet as just another medium like radio, television, print or outdoor .  The big difference is that unlike other media where you are looking for customers…on the Internet customers are looking for you.   Knowing how to utilize the power of search engines on the Internet (like Google, Yahoo or MSN) can quickly and dramatically increase your business and unlike other media this advertising option will not require the kind of huge financial investment that may be keeping your business out of radio, tv, print and outdoor advertising. 

 When your business uses the Internet you not only sell what your customers want, but you also sell it while they are actively looking for your products and services.  If you can achieve getting prospects to your web site before your competition gets them to theirs….you win!  The Internet is a new medium that many business owners don’t understand yet.  Most business owners who discovered the power and appeal of the Internet adopted what I like to call the “field of dreams” philosophy for their web site…..if we build it, they will come.  Business owners felt that a beautiful web site is what they needed to attract customers.  The truth is you can have the best looking web site on the planet and if people can’t find it, it does your business no good whatsoever.  The sheer size and growth of the Internet has proven how easily your business can be lost in a vast sea of competition.  How many times have you gone to Google or Yahoo looking for something and seen a million or more results for your inquiry?  The truth is an ugly web site that understands how to market itself on the Internet stands a much better chance of increasing your business’ revenue than the most beautiful web site in the world that can’t be found by your prospects.  (More on this later in a future article titled:  Getting Found in a Sea of Competition.) 

So why do I believe the Internet is superior to all other media?  Simple.  The Internet is the only medium that lets you know exactly where your customers are coming from and how they found you.   I like to say that other media offer a “spray and pray” philosophy of targeting their audience….you spray a bunch of tv or radio or newspaper ads to an audience and then you pray that this audience has a need for your product or service.  How ludicrous is that when the Internet offers you the ability to target consumers that are actually looking for you and it accomplishes this with less waste for less money.  Properly marketing on the Internet to target your customers versus utilizing other media is the difference between using a laser beam vs. a shotgun.  Less waste with more efficient results, that’s only about 30% of why the Internet is the medium your business should chose to focus its advertising and marketing efforts on.  The other 70% can be found in only one word…..measureable.  The Internet is the only medium that will tell you moment by moment how many people have come to your web site, how they got there and where they are coming from.  Try doing that with your radio, tv or newspaper ads. 

There is much more to discuss, but now you have the basics of why the Internet is hands down the best medium for your business to be advertising itself.  Future articles will help you understand how you can create a simple but effective Internet Marketing Strategy for your business. 

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