Web is now #1 media
C/Net today published the results of the latest news and information consumption by media channel among Americans of all ages. The conclusion: the web is now the most used media - period.
This is big. In part, because as we've posited here at Billups Design for years, many organizations moving forward can and should build out their marketing and sales programs from the center - web media.
"I hear more and more from marketers that they have shifted their business to be more responsive and realign. There is an active movement by traditional advertisers to be able to explore platform strategies," said Pam Horan, president of the Online Publishers Association (OPA). She believes that research studies are attracting the attention of advertisers and media buyers and may result in a faster shift in advertising dollars to match the actual statistics of consumer media usage.
As this sample diagram from past client consulting shows, BD has consistently placed web marketing and web media at the center of its marketing program strategies. The R.O.I. for clients who build around this model has been impressive in the first three years of operations.
The advantages include: marketing program focus on one project that reaches the greatest number of customers and prospects - the web site. Content, messaging and identity are built around this project, then developed and shared for other projects down the line: powerpoint presentations, leave-behinds, traditional media advertising, direct mail, etc. in fact, developing these media without a web site to support and receive customers from these initiatives would be self-defeating. it's not a stretch to liken it to that grizzly story of the pied piper using his sweet music to no greater end than sending hundreds of children over the cliffs, gone forever. That's not a bad analogy and it's a chilling visual for any marketing or sales director trying to retain as many prospects as possible. That's why the web site has become the center-piece of so many marketing programs.
This new model is a big strategic watershed for marketers everywhere, and Billups Design (trumpet sounds here) has been advocating it to its clients for years. We were right again, and apparently are no more the humble for it. :-)