First of all, I don’t mean to diminish Advertising’s classic Golden Age of the 60’s. The creative of that time stretched the envelope of their technology to the breaking point, with amazing results. This whole new Golden Age, coming soon, will eclipse it. It will grow out of a wealth of new mini-canvases created specifically for technologies undreamed of back then. These aren’t the full page ads or double page spreads of yore, these are deceptively little doors that open directly onto your site, your videos and even your store.  As you read this, the ads to fill those canvases are being written and art directed, videoed and “info-graphiced” and personalized in a way never possible before.  Even in these formative years, the potential for online branding, advertising and promotion is on the cusp of astonishing.

 

The foundation is already set. Without spending a penny on media, companies can now project their images and engage customers within a multi-layered, virtual landscape of social media. Websites establish and reinforce branding, and direct, heart-to-heart engagement is carried out through Texts, Email, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat, etc. Virtually all social media outlets will show you ways to “expand” your audience (i.e. buy ads) on their platform. And they can all provide the richness of full page ads with the added advantage of a direct, virtually personal connection. But that only works for the people who know where to find you.

When the time comes to go beyond your core audience and attract a new one, you can. And you can get to that audience directly. Agencies today can not only target exactly the kind of audience they want to reach, but capture that audience at its most receptive – when they’re actively searching for what you’ve got. At the exact moment your buyers want it most, you can be right in front of their eyes. You not only get customers into your stores, you can get impulse buyers to your cash registers, card (or PayPal) in hand.

 It’s like magic! And right now, Google holds the wand.

Google has stirred up all the best of its magic ingredients into their AdWords caldron. That unique combination of search, native, display and image advertising creates a powerful way to capture any audience.

And it doesn’t stop with mere capturing, Adwords analytics throws open a window for agencies and clients to capture end customers, directly and anonymously, through their dreams, wants and desires. At the same time, the ads themselves point the way for those valuable end customers to find the quickest and easiest way to fulfill those desires. It’s a win/win.

By constantly assessing traffic patterns, these in-depth analytics also show what routes that highly prized “right-now” impulse buyer is most likely to take. Google AdWords algorithms are at their best when it comes to snagging active searchers, the most motivated buyers. If you’ve got what those searchers want when they’re ready to buy, then make the buying easy, because you’ve got a sale.  You only need to have just what they want, and they have to able to buy it right away. It’s an impulse buyer’s dream. When customers decide they need something, there it is at their fingertips. Add mobile, and it gets ridiculous. But no matter what the platform is, AdWords campaigns drive your audience into your arms.

They can also help establish or reinforce a brand by engaging with your audience on whatever screen is in their hands when your audience is thinking of you. If that weren’t enough, AdWords ads can reach them even when they’re not thinking of you specifically, but just something related. Their algorithm calculates what attributes your specific audience shares in common with a number of other key audiences.

When your potential customers search for something else that interests them, they become familiar with you. You establish and reinforce your brand by appearing on pages that your audience frequents, so that they will associate you with other brands or activities they trust. They learn to trust you before they are ready to buy. And when they are ready, they think of you first. In other words, branding.

Getting the right message to the right people at the right time. Bringing motivated buyers directly to your site or your store or office, either online or offline, that’s just about the perfect definition of reaching people in the mood to buy. Considering how far we’ve come in the past 5 years, it is almost like magic.

I guess that’s it. Our work here is done. But…

There’s always a but.

The new expanded online advertising engagement capability has added literally dozens of new advertising options and delivery methods. However, to achieve the full power of this expanded advertising landscape, we have to consider all of these options as part of a whole: a new creative canvas on which each part establishes and reinforces the overall sales, promotion and brand message. For that we need new creative. The exciting thing is, the creative to make those spaces sparkle is now being written, art directed and quite simply being invented. This new creative landscape is like a sandbox for new young talent, in other words, a proving ground for a whole new Golden Age.

Stay tuned.