There was an article in the New York Times today describing a very important test that went on at the end of 2008. This test was performed by Yahoo and several major newspapers to see how well the two could work together to aid each other in serving advertisements.
Yahoo was able to serve ads on the newspapers websites and vice versa. These ads were targeted to the reading behavior of the users.
“a new ad system from Yahoo, currently installed at about 100 newspapers, that allows them to sell graphical ads on their sites that are aimed at specific audiences, like car buyers or sports enthusiasts. The system puts users into those groups based on the pages they visit online, a technique known as behavioral targeting.
This allows publishers to sell, say, high-priced travel ads not only on travel pages but also on any page visited by a user interested in travel. “
By all accounts this cooperation has been a wonderful success in an otherwise challenging year for both parties.
Old Meets New
What struck me as interesting was that during this 2 week test old media veterans were introduced to some of the virtues of online advertising.
The marketing industry is in a very interesting stage. The veteran marketers are struggling to fully understand that capabilities of online marketing. Permission based marketing is replacing repetition marketing. Those who are positioned on the crest of these two waves should count themselves very fortunate.
Danger Lurking in a Strong Position
As an internet marketer I would recommend you pause to consider the potential danger in this otherwise enviable position.
A great number of the young marketers are limiting themselves to online media. In the short term this makes good sense. There is huge demand for online marketing – even in a down economy it’s not hard to get a job if you understand search engine marketing. Companies need search worse than ever. Online marketing is intuitive for a lot of young people who grew up understanding computers and how they work, for whom the internet is not just a series of tubes. On the other hand, the old media veterans have a vast pool of knowledge that will be left untapped if the youth don’t seek them as mentors.
In this article Mike Carlton talks about the lost art of mentoring and why it is so important for the next generation of advertising professionals.
Don’t forget them just because you’re well positioned on the latest trend.
Another strong reason to consider reaching out is the vast supply of connections that these industry veterans have. A very talented internet marketer will quickly realize that skills will only take you so far. At a certain point it breaks down to who you know. Whether it is a direct connection or a friend of a friend, at some point you will unexpectedly need the help of a specialist. It is so important that young internet marketers don’t become silos. Without someone to add the extra umph to your campaign, point out a mistaken assumption, correct your perspective or otherwise point you in the right direction, you might find yourself struggling with a losing battle.
There is a mentoring program at AMA Atlanta.
