Why I spend online

In today’s competitive media environment, there are many options and areas where you can spend your advertising budget. I choose to spend my money online because it is the most effective, both from a cost and a new client acquisition perspective. And I am able to build awareness of my brand directly to my target market, writes Francois Vorster.

Media is usually measured in terms of reach, frequency and impact. Reach being the percentage of your target market you are reaching, frequency how often each person sees your ad, and impact is the impact your ad makes and how it stands out through the clutter of other ads.

So the question is: which would be more effective – some banner ads on a website, or a full-page ad in a magazine? For simplicity’s sake, I will use a site that publishes its content both online and in a print form.

If you are going to spend R20 000 online or on a full-page ad, which would be more effective? Strangely enough, both. Well, rather half and half.

Research from the United States has shown that convergence of multiple media forms (one of which is online for the study) is more effective that any single media form. That is assuming you are a traditional bricks and mortar company that sells from traditional outlets. If you never had a choice of both, the decision would be based on some answers to the following questions:

• How long is the publication kept by the target market? Some publications are read once and discarded, while some are kept for weeks or even months;
• Why is the publication purchased? Is it for an entertaining read, or to acquire insights and learn? Gossip mag vs. business mag?;
• If a person sees my ad and discards the publication, how do they get hold of me, find me or remember me?
• In how many editions of the publication am I advertising? The longer a publication is kept the better, and a higher frequency in the same publication is also more effective generally;
• How often does you target market use the publisher's website?
• Why would a person be navigating this particular website?
• What are the website's average click-through rates?
• How many unique pairs of eyeballs am I getting for my spend?

You can compare cost per eyeball or unique users across the media forms for your target market. More information can be displayed in a print ad compared to an online ad, but online you can click through to a website with unlimited information.

Globally, we are seeing leading newspapers being knocked off their number-one positions by websites (often owned by the publishers themselves) as more and more people read online and not via print or press.

So for the moment, if you can, spread your spend (and I mean spread, not 2% online and 98% traditional) and advertise in the spaces where people can be exposed to you when they are looking for your types of products or service.  Additionally, monitor your responses and check where you customers are finding you or searching for you.

So spend some real money online and compare it to your traditional spend and see what works best for you. Do it properly and I almost guarantee great results. Besides, I advertise online and it works well for me.

If you are interested in a test campaign (we have a few freebies – thanks, Cape Media Online), contact me on 011 0234 369 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and we can make the online environment work well for you. Alternatively, visit www.solarstorm.co.za and be sure to think about your business and its growth potential in 2010.