Social Media Skills for Journalists

There are many advantages and disadvantages associated with advertising online. The first aspect of
advantages is the World Wide Web opens up new communication possibilities for personalized messages
to be delivered to targeted individuals (Davis 2000, 113). By positioning an [advertisement] on a website
which relates to the target markets specific interests, interest and further speculation should occur.
Advertising online enables target marketing, message tailoring, information access, sales potential,
creativity, exposure and speed. Secondly, online advertising has the capability to reach a global audience
at a fast rate. This enables extensive exposure and is an important characteristic of online advertising, and
a major component of why online advertising is so successful.
Thirdly, marketers undertaking new possibilities to perform traditional marketing strategies in electronic
environments push higher chances to create synergy. Janal (1995, 47) mentioned that the Internet offers
the best multimedia tools for presenting information, through the World Wide Web, a hypermedia
environment. It is as further explained that it is a place where marketers can present their information with
pictures, animation, sound and text. Indeed the power of Internet has impact on the multitude of
advertising formats. This can be seen from the numerous web tools such as banners, rich media, intertials,
and interactive broadband commercials as seen on the websites nowadays. These are the multiple forms
of online advertising tools used by advertisers over the time aiming towards developing exciting,
interactive, eye catching advertisements that can draw consumers’ attention, at the same time increasing
their brand or sales online. Strauss and Frost (1999, 202) states that the Net’s big strength is direct
response advertising where direct response leverages the Internet’s unique opportunity for two way
communication with consumers. Placing advertising in this environment will grants advertises unique
opportunity for in the element of interactivity. The interactive capabilities of ‘cyberads’ offer key
advantages for vendors to establish and maintain dialogues with customers (Janal 1995, 269).
The opportunities for creativity in online advertising are limitless. IAB (2005) on the other hand had
drafted out a very comprehensive set of 28 good reasons to use interactive advertising that places the
overview of interactive advertising advantages. In the list, it provides 28 points on a marketer’s potential
uses of the internet and corresponds with 28 ways of measure performance.
Disadvantages
Even though there are many advantages for companies who advertise online, there are also some
disadvantages involved. Disadvantages of advertising online include: measurement problems, audience
characteristics, websnarl, clutter, potential for deception, costs, limited production quality, poor reach and
lack of Intrusiveness.
Definition
Online advertising is advertising carried out in the online environment. For example, via Web Sites,
email, ads supported software, etc. Though the vehicles have changed, (for example web space and
advergaming as opposed to magazine and outdoor advertising) many of the basic principles remain the
same as traditional advertising - organizations utilizing paid space to promote their businesses.
Online Advertising
Online advertising is an important element of a business online marketing operations. Online advertising
is considered as non-personal information usually persuasive in nature about a product or service by an
identified sponsor, hence all paid space on the web or in an e-mail (Strauss, El-Ansary and Frost, 2003, p
367). Businesses clearly recognize that by advertising online they reach their target market in a fast and
an efficient way where they can interact with consumers; this is clearly indicated by the fact that
advertising spending is up to 12.6% [1] during the first part of 2005. In Australia alone, online
advertising expenditure rose by 64% in 2004 hitting a record high of $388 million (The audit Bureau of
Circulations). Online advertising can be divided into two categories: legitimate and illegitimate.
Legitimate advertising can be found in the form of advertising networks and opt-ine-mail advertising.
Illegitimate advertising is predominantly evident in spamming. Online advertising creates
innovative, comparatively low cost and highly targeted opportunities for the online advertisers/marketers.