Friday, April 13, 2007

Some May Say the Internet is The Devil, One Church Calls it a Miracle.

I was always taught in college that advertising dollars should not all be spent on one advertising medium. "It is about finding the right combination of mediums,"my professors would preach, but the more I learn about the internet the more I am doubting my professors understanding of today's advertising world.

This article spoke about a church that increased it's congregation by 277% in just 18 months with just $11,500. They used a combination of billboards, direct mail and internet. But the article also stated that their website traffic increased 73% in the first month, making the site the deciding conversion factor in the mix. Sure most of this spike in traffic was due to the people seeing the outdoor and direct mail advertising, but it was ultimately their visit to the website that got them to attend.

So in some sense my professors were right, you can never really go wrong by using multiple mediums, but the internet is the best medium, in my opinion, for conversion into sales. If the internet can convert passersby on the highway into one huge congregation, what can combining the internet with portable mediums do? Very soon our cell phones will be a huge advertising medium. Once this happens advertising will be extremely personal and internet advertising will be in people's faces 24/7. Will you really still need other advertising mediums?

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