One of the revenue streams created by the Internet for thousands of companies is advertising revenue. But even though the Internet can reach millions of people all over the world, it still has its limits as an advertising medium. To understand maximize your Internet advertising, you must first understand the constraints that can sometimes be put on Web marketing.
Client Relationships
Advertising on the Internet allows a company to engage in mass marketing to audiences throughout the world, but it does not allow a company to establish a one-on-one relationship with clients. Television, newspaper and radio advertising can be configured to appeal to specific geographic regions, while telemarketing and retail sales professionals can make personal contact with each individual customer. But Internet advertising goes out to a broad audience with a single message that may or may not appeal to each prospect it reaches. In this way, Web advertising becomes too vague to be effective.
Information Presentation
In a 30-second television commercial, a company can explain the technical merits of its product to prospective clients and even do a quick demonstration of the product's abilities. Unless the client is inclined to click on a Web advertisement and get more information, an Internet banner or block does not offer enough space for companies with more technically involved products to make an adequate presentation. There can be no quick demonstration, and the limited space means that there can be no explanation of all of the product's benefits and features.
Information Collection
Over the years, various governments have placed restrictions on the data a company can collect while running an Internet advertisement, according to the Adweek website. While a magazine can offer clients cards to fill out and return to the advertiser, federal laws prohibit how much information an advertiser can collect from an Internet advertisement. This limits the interactive nature of Internet advertising and can make it ineffective for determining customers' buying habits.
Reputation and Trust
The success of an Internet campaign is limited by how much prospects are willing to trust the advertiser. Pop-up advertising, viruses and spyware can all result from Internet advertisements. As less reputable marketing companies continue to use these tactics to try to collect information from consumers and increase advertising exposure, the ability of reputable Internet marketers to get their message out is severely limited. Online consumers have come to be wary of Internet advertising, which limits its effectiveness.
