The beauty of online advertisement is that there is no TIME LIMIT. Unlike television, where you need to make your point across in a minute or less, the online advertisement allows you to capture a storm in a bottle.
The question is: Do people actually spend time online and view the videos or do people click on “X” and close the advertisement window? Well, it all depends on how you present your product. Check out the GAP’s Facebook fan page: Born To Fit. It is not a fan page, it is a hand-shake – between GAP and customers. GAP details the theory behind its famous jeans, and presents a series of “Born to be” videos with various inspiring artists. GAP lets it customers know that it is social media savvy – available on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter and Iphone.
The customers on the other hand can upload photos and videos showing off their “Born to be” sides. A gap.com link allows customers access to a GAP store once they have visually checked out different jeans and their fit via interactive models. Diehard fans of GAP are going to love this new style of advertisement and newbies are going to enjoy the tour of GAP.
Planning to follow GAP? Looks like Best Buy will be spending more time on its Fan page hoping to get a buzz for the holiday season (www.adage.com). It would be nice if Best Buy could show comparison chart of TVs, laptops, cameras, or an interactive game that one can test drive before buying it in their stores. How about giveaways (right around the season), coupons, sales and news?
Even though the website of a company sells its products, the fan page sells the company. Now here is an excellent example of the above statement:
Check out all the points that Dunkin Donuts make in one fan page:
• Showing its fans that it is FAIR TRADE CERTIFIED. Who would not buy their coffee knowing that the company is making a big difference in lives of farmers all over the world.
• A quick link to Dunkin Donuts home page so that the fans can immediately find the nearest Dunkin Donut store.
• Free enrollment to Dunkin Donuts perk card that could give them a chance to win coffee for a whole year (a lucky drawing happening every week).
Companies (big or small) do not realize how much they can convey in one Fan page and how much free feedback they can get from their fans. A company is only successful if its customers are happy and heard. What better way to find where you stand with your customers than a social media app?
Television, magazine, radio advertisement will promote your product to be a household name, whereas social media advertisement will make your product a household name.
