Due to the introduction and widespread prevalence of technology, particularly the world wide web, small businesses are no longer what they were even a couple of decades back and their possibilities are now endless. To succeed in this changed scenario and tap into the vast pool of potential consumers who are all tech savvy and interaction oriented, you too need to step up on the gas and harness the power of technology to boost your sales.
One of the most potent internet advertising tools that can give a fillip to your small business growth is interactive advertising – a kind of mutual electronic system of communication (via computer/cable TV/phone) which takes into account user responses or orders for merchandise/information.
Techniques of Interactive Advertising
- Paid listings/ keyword search
- Pop up ads or interstitial
- Slotting
- Referrals
- Rich Media
- Email
- Sponsorships
- Display Ads/Banner Ads
The current top 3 media according to the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s 2004 survey are keyword search, Rich Media and classifieds. Sponsorships and banner ads have fallen from their once mighty pedestals, though they are still around.
How does interactive advertising boost the growth of small businesses?
- Interactive advertising can help a small business grow by enhancing brand recognition and creating awareness, besides resulting in attitudinal brand shifts.
- Small business owners have to advertise in the right place, at the right time, using the right format, after conducting a lot of painstaking research.
- The interactive ad also has to deliver the right amount of relevant information to the consumer when required.
The main challenges that a small business owner faces are to identify the ideal interactive advertising methods and integrate them with more traditional techniques of advertising to elicit broader and quicker responses.
