Once upon a time, marketers had to choose from print, television and radio. Would it be a full-page ad in the Town Crier or a 30-second spot on the wacky Morning Zoo radio show? Then the Internet came along — and marketers were sent into a tailspin, being forced to choose from thousands, then millions, of sites.
As if the introduction of social networks wasn’t enough to further fragment online marketing opportunities, we now have to throw devices (and their new platforms) into the mix. Forrester’s Josh Bernoff explains that in the era of the “Splinternet,” “each new device has its own ad networks, format, and technology. Each new social site has its login and many hide content from search engines.”
Wow. These developments seem unwieldy to most of us, but it’s important to recognize what an exciting time this is. A marketer charged with driving luxury travel tours now can refine his strategy around where his or her customers are. Are high-end travelers online? Do they spend most of their time on a computer or are they a mobile bunch? One step further: Are they more likely to be accessing information on Facebook, Twitter, via an iPhone, an Android device or (gasp) an iPad?
The phrase “hyper-targeting” doesn’t seem to do the reality of a “Splinternet” justice. Many of us are still playing catch up and learning to work with analytics currently available.
The question is, are marketers ready for this level of super-duper mega-hyper targeting? Will you be targeting left-handed, upper-middle class Midwestern Android users?