Advertising is the engine of all sales. After all, it is mainly advertising that makes people prefer a particular product in the presence of analogues. That is why various manufacturers spend huge amounts of money on the development of more sophisticated advertising tools in order to attract more buyers. Thus, interactive advertising is the result of just such a desire.
Definition
Interactive advertising is a new type of advertising technology, the essence of which is direct interaction with a potential buyer or consumer using special technologies. This type differs from conventional advertising in that it does not put pressure on the buyer with an obsessive idea to buy a product. On the contrary, the main purpose of this type of advertising is to increase brand loy alty through close contact between the consumer and the product.
In truth, interactive advertising is entering modern life by leaps and bounds. Nowadays, it is used not only by international corporations, but also by small firms of national oreven local. That is why current entrepreneurs should pay special attention to this type of advertising now in order to be able to use it with maximum benefit in the future.
Benefits
Interactive advertising has only two advantages, but they are worth the effort and expense to develop promotional products. So these benefits look like this:
- Recognition.
- Dynamism.
As for the number one benefit, this ad incarnation can outperform all other types of advertising put together. The thing is that brand awareness is mainly formed due to the visual image. And if this image is interactive, then the desired effect will be twice, or even three times more.
Dynamism, in turn, means that interactive advertising elements can be programmed in various ways. For example, you can make the advertised content respond in a certain way to some specific actions or gestures of customers. As a result, your brand awareness increases accordingly.
Flaws
Despite its massive positives, interactive advertising has its drawbacks. The most obvious are:
- lasting impact on customers;
- more costly to make adjustments to the advertising campaign, if any;
- cautious about new types of advertising.
Here the thing is that"Soft" impact on customers has a major drawback. It will take more time for a sufficient number of potential consumers to correctly understand the message of the advertising message.
As for the financial side of the issue, everything should be very clear here. New technology needs a little more investment to implement. Well, the alertness to new types of advertising was mentioned simply so that manufacturers would not forget about this phenomenon.
Types of interactive advertising
Because this advertisement is quite a new phenomenon, not all consumers and manufacturers fully understand its varieties. So, there are two large groups of advertising we are interested in:
- offline advertising;
- online advertising.
Also known as online interactive advertising, online advertising is represented by various targeted games, applications, videos and the like. The main characteristic of this content is the instant impact on the client and the complete capture of his attention for a certain period of time.
For example, if this is a game, then the client must have a desire to go through it to the end. If it's a video, there should be an incentive to watch it in its entirety. When this goal is achieved, the advertiser has the opportunity to fill the content with the necessary amount of marketing information for a certain impact on potential buyers.
On the other hand, offline advertising isadvertising that is distributed on the streets or in buildings. Although some types of offline interactive advertising involve the use of the Internet, its main difference from online advertising is that it is designed for a "live" audience (not Internet users).
Types of offline advertising
Currently, there are a huge number of types of offline advertising. All of them differ in the place of reproduction. So, the most popular option is interactive advertising on glass, walls, floors and other flat surfaces. In this case, the advertisement does not require any additional materials to display it.
The next type is interactive advertising stands, which are the simplest and oldest incarnation of this type of advertising. In this case, the interactive screen with accessibility is installed on appropriate supports in order to provide customers with easy access to advertising content.
The last type is interactive panels for advertising, which, by the way, are very popular with modern manufacturers. Such panels resemble large plasma TVs in appearance, but their functionality is much more.
Good examples
Today, there are a number of successful examples of the use of interactive advertising in the field of marketing. One of them is an advertisement for stationery. A seemingly ordinary video about a hunter, to whichcrept up by a bear, turns into a real masterpiece of interactive advertising.
The next example is an advertisement for a Lexus car. This advertisement is made in the form of a full-fledged movie, in which you can upload your own photo and voice recording. In this way, you will get the impression of full participation in the process itself.
Well, the Hell Pizza pizza delivery ad is considered to be the most successful example of interactive advertising. Here, customers are given the opportunity to influence the fate of a pizza delivery man who must do his job in a city overrun by zombies. The fate of the delivery man and the pizza itself depends on the customers.
Conclusion
From all of the above, it becomes clear that interactive advertising has already become an integral and noticeable part of the modern economy. In this regard, it is necessary to pay special attention to this type of advertising and not to ignore its advantages. Despite certain shortcomings, interactive advertising still remains a great combination of advertising and modern technology. The purpose of this combination is to achieve clear marketing targets to attract more potential customers.
