rss feedI attended a panel discussion last week called “The Future of Online Advertising.” The panel consisted of Jennifer Reynolds: Director, Worldwide Advertising/Campaign Expression at Adobe, Brian Axe: Director of Product Management for AdSense at Google, Jed Nahum: Business Integration Director, AdECN at Microsoft and Amir Ashkenazi: CEO and Co-Founder at adap.tv. The panel was moderated by Emanual Rosen, author of The Anatomy of Buzz: How to create word of mouth marketing. The discussion was quite good, but the common theme that was continually reiterated throughout the evening was relevance and value.
Advertising, no matter what the medium, MUST be relevant to the intended audience and it MUST provide value. But this is especially true online. Its so easy for a user to click ON an ad or click AWAY from an ad.
This point could not have been driven home more clearly than when Brian (the guy from Google) said, “I’m probably going to get in trouble for saying this, but I’d like to see fewer ads out there but more relevant ads.”
I look at it this way. If you are at a party with 100 people, who are you most likely to engage with or converse with? Probably the guy that talks about things that are relevant to your interests and the one that provides conversation you find valuable. That’s the guy you want to talk to and that’s the guy you probably want to connect with on Facebook or Linkedin when you get home. The same is true of advertising online. The only difference being, its much easier to get away from an annoying ad than it is an annoying party guest.
Be relevant to your audience and provide content they will value.
Filed under: Advertising, General Observations
