2011 Internet Trends: The Future of Business Advertising

2011 Internet Trends: The Future of Business Advertising

From Online Ads to Mobile Campaigns

Once, computers were used only for encoding documents and computing columns and columns of numbers. Computers are utilitarian job machines that need no frills. Designs should be simple so as not to distract the users from their work.

That was before Steve Jobs, according to Mary Meeker, hardware and software technology analyst. When Steve Jobs unveiled and unleashed the Mac, computers became beautiful objects filled with applications that help make the quality of life better. Jobs, in his majestic creativity and vision, revealed designs and aesthetics that cannot be easily matched by just any computer, mobile phone and musical device.

In the 1980s, text was the only thing visible in desktop screens. 1990s brought about graphics, which made the minimalist text designs more visually appealing. 2000 arrived and with it, the whole user interface was revolutionized. Touch, sound and movement became essential in making electronic devices work. Touch-screen capabilities are offered and greater audio power was integrated into the machines, once prized only for its function.

Due to this development, e-commerce was born. Now, business can be conducted online without any need for people to get out of their homes and endure the inconvenience of going to a store when they don’t have the time to spare. There came a spike in the first quarter of 2010 and now increasing through 2011. So far, it can only go up unless the Internet collapses.

Mobile sales increased with eBay leading the way, followed by Paypal and Amazon.com. Target and Square followed. There is money to be made in venturing into mobile sales. What businesses can do is to study the medium and determine if mobile is indeed right for their products and services. If you’re on retail, there is a huge potential for you to make much profit. You need to take good pictures of your goods and frame them in an aesthetic manner. You should also pay for domain hosting and protect your website against hacking, phishing and malware threats to ensure the security and trust of your consumers.

‘Click and buy’ is the reigning method in mobile sales. When customers access your website using their mobile device, they’re directed to your ads and pictures of merchandise. SECURE shopping carts should be available to make online shopping trustworthy and easy with your shop.

Here are some aspects and corresponding applications of local mobile commerce requirements you might find useful for your venture:

1.  Check-Ins and Driving Foot Traffic

  • Foursquare
  • Shopkick
  • Facebook Places
  • Gowalla

2.  Reviews and Business Information or Leads

  • Yelp
  • Google Places
  • Angies List
  • Zaarly

3.  Payments and Inventory Management

  • Square
  • OpenTable
  • ZocDoc

4.  Coupons and Demand Generation

  • Groupon
  • Livingsocial
  • Google Offers
  • Plum District

 

Due to the advance of mobile phone technology, more and more ads are popping out in smartphones. Instead of the traditional newspapers and flyers and radio advertisements, televisions are more popular mediums to disseminate information about your products. Internet and mobile ads are increasing in revenue now, because more people are in tune with their computers and mobile phones than they are with newsprint and radios. One proof of this is Meeker’s study of global Internet ad revenue, which grew from $55 million to $73 billion since 1995 to 2011.

Social networking sites also became popular avenues for advertisements, since potential customers go there to get in touch with people they know. While passing the time, why not show them some ads on the site. They might be interested in doing some shopping or getting loved ones those gifts they’ve been wanting.

This caused a need for content specially tailored for mobile users. Since cell phone screens are far smaller than tablets and computers, content has to be short and catchy enough to intrigue the customers enough to click and take a look around the mobile-optimized site for anything they might need or have to buy.

Would that be sufficient enough to tickle your mind in going mobile for your business? Consider the benefits and disadvantages. Look for more information about your situation today and ask a social media expert.