Effectiveness Solutions in Online Advertising

To understand Internet advertising effectiveness, special features of advertising formats should be assessed. In this regard, marketers must develop new criteria for measuring online advertising effectiveness. First, the effectiveness criteria should be totally revised, and a set of new features must be defined so that marketers can utilize the new criteria for online advertising measurement. Then, advertisers must develop a typology of different online advertising formats and scrutinize scholars’ research in an online context. In this chapter, Internet advertising is discussed from two points of view: first, from a general viewpoint (effectiveness in advertising as whole), and then from each format’s viewpoint.

Internet Advertising Strategies

Advertising is a broad concept; in this book, the authors have presented a precise look at its practical domains. Modern advertising has become low-cost with fast access to target users, transferring a persuasive concept to customers and getting a positive behavioral reaction. The last part of their definition is indicative of a new method of advertising, which goes a step further than other methods. A positive reaction embedded in an advertising function comes from advertisers’ use of new communicational practices to transfer and receive messages. The emergence and application of new technology necessitates using the appropriate tools. In this chapter, the authors first define these new tools (strategies). Then, they discuss the differences between online and traditional advertising strategies, and offer an integrated model of Internet advertising strategies. Finally, the authors introduce different kinds of appropriate Internet advertising strategies. The purpose of this chapter is to focus on online advertising strategies and provide a fundamental understanding of their relationship to marketing practices. They examine why firms must use online advertising strategies and give some examples of how online advertising strategies can help companies make sound marketing decisions.

Lead Generation and Behavioral Marketing

The importance of introducing lead generation is that it is the most basic activity before publishing an advertisement or conducting any other strategic activity on the Internet. Advertisements formed by a true understanding of the target customers, their wants, motives, and the main reasons for purchasing are more efficient and effective. Thus, marketers always try to adapt their solution based on the sensitive needs and wants of their audience. These efforts of marketers on the one hand, and emergence of new technologies in interactive media on the other, have led to the creation of a new concept of lead generation in marketing and online advertising with the responsibility of collecting information, trends, and surfing methods of various customers. This chapter focuses on lead generation as a new responsibility of interactive agencies and its role in B2B and B2C. Also, the way of launching a successful lead generation strategy will be reviewed, and new concepts such as behavioral targeting and behavioral marketing will be mentioned. Meanwhile, by studying forums and online communities, the chapter will show how focus groups based on traditional marketing research are being replaced by free online focus groups. The main emphasis of this chapter is the application of new technologies for making Internet advertising more effective.

Advertising and E-Business

In today’s online marketing arena, there are remarkable concepts which are rarely available for public study and consideration. For instance, the e-business models are considered trendy by many Internet specialists who do not consider superior operational efficiency as a critical factor for success in companies such as Cisco, EBay, Dell, and Amazon. However, they believe that the business model or method adopted in modern technology is the basis for their success. With the implicit awareness of success in these kinds of companies, few of them have explicit insight regarding this success; therefore, they cannot distinguish the different kinds of businesses and business models utilized by giant merchants. Thus, this chapter introduces e-business and draws a line between e-business and e-commerce. Also, different kinds of e-business models are examined because an advertiser should know the business models of the websites which may be publishing his advertising. Above all, at the end of this chapter, the reader will be able to distinguish between the businesses and business models of commercial and non-commercial websites and understand their earning methods.

Advertising Agencies and Interactive Media

For advertising to be efficient, various methods are used. Forming emotional or rational attractions, characterizations, animation, developing memorable mottos, and propaganda are some methods that allow an advertisement to achieve more success. To design a dynamic advertisement, a department should be organized inside or outside of an organization, with a staff demonstrating outstanding marketing skills. This chapter provides a detailed analysis of advertising agencies. It first presents a perspective of advertising agencies, and follows with the nature of the industry, work environment, and other involved elements. Next it deals with the role of advertising agencies in the new media and introduces concepts that have emerged due to changes made in the agency environment. Moreover, two groups of interactive agencies which play a significant role in online interactions are discussed: network advertising and lead generation.

Integrated Internet Marketing Communication (IIMC)

The main goal of this book is to improve the reader’s knowledge of Internet advertising and to explore novel marketing channels of communication. The information herein applies to a medium that has been playing a role in business for less than 20 years and yet has made incredible changes in this domain. Integrated Internet Marketing Communication (IIMC) is addressed in the first chapter of this book because, on one hand, it discusses the specific marketing issues related to Internet marketing, and on the other hand, it investigates the ways through which the concept of Internet communication can be expanded. IIMC is introduced as a theoretical comprehensive framework and a vanguard for Internet advertising approach. Explaining new marketing issues using core marketing concepts not only demonstrates the important role played by these concepts, but also illustrates the innovative tasks as applied to these concepts in a modern marketing arena. Hence, this chapter first examines the core marketing concepts and then explains the novel roles played by such concepts in Internet advertising. In this way, the reader is introduced to the IIMC model. Further in this chapter, some creative concepts of marketing, integrated communication and Internet advertising methods such as Self-Pulling and Need for Check, are explained.

How Online Advertising Affects Buyer Behavior

Being informed about customer reactions, especially when they are exposed to online advertising, requires comprehensive knowledge of consumer motives. Reacting and displaying a given behavior is based on the reasons or motives that led a customer to the Web. In this chapter, the authors will discuss online buyer behavior when faced with an online advertisement. In this regard, the terminology, methods, and models will be introduced in detail, and they will identify the key concepts that form customer behavior, and distinguish between tangible and intangible features that affect online user behavior.

Online Advertising vs. Offline Advertising

In this chapter, the authors first study the differences between traditional advertising and Internet advertising by focusing on their implicit meaning. Next, the consumer’s elaboration model and consumer’s involvement model that are applicable both in traditional and modern media are discussed. 28 advantages of Internet publicity are presented, and finally, the authors deal with the changes occurring in the consumer’s information environment.

Internet Advertising

The ideal advertisement is one that has the best possible reach within a well-organized range of customers (selectivity) with proper possibilities of feedback and low cost. Conversely, mass communication often forces the marketer to accept high reach with relatively low selectivity and no feedback opportunities while achieving reasonable cost-effectiveness (Steptrup, 1991; Thomsen, 1996). The marketer’s challenge is to decide which medium, or combination of media, can best achieve the advertising goal for the company. This chapter provides an integrated definition of Internet advertising, describing its features and advantages. Additional discussion involves the emergence of Internet advertising, statistics of incomes, and costs. Finally, the chapter explains how marketers should select the right website for their advertising placement.

The Right Internet Advertising Format (RIAF)

This chapter will develop a general framework to illustrate the factors, criteria, and features that are involved in determining the proper format of Internet advertising, and then compare these criteria with alternative advertising formats to provide the appropriate Internet advertising format. In sum, the present chapter classifies various possible scenarios and selects the most appropriate Internet advertisement format from each group.