Mobile advertising is relatively new in the U.S. and still has not hit the main stream. It is currently starting to get some traction, especially with the rollout of high-speed (3G) mobile networks and more sophisticated cell phones that allow easy access to email, internet browsing and widgets designed to deliver specific information, like the weather or access to social networks. Many feel that ultimately cell phones and other connected portable devices will be the best and most accurate instruments for targeting an audience. Technological standards, privacy concerns and audience acclamation to more invasive advertising make this emerging technology one to watch, but not one for most advertisers to participate in just yet. It is a delivery platform to keep an eye on for the not too distant future.

Traditional Media websites have been growing in popularity over the last few years. Some of these sites represent a great opportunity for local as well as regional advertisers. The decision to incorporate these sites into an online campaign depends on your product or service, your marketing goals and your physical geography as it applies. Before we recommend these sites a careful analysis of the site traffic is done as well as comparisons to other website and online opportunities. As the importance of these types of sites continue to grow, they will be more likely to be part of the online marketing planning landscape.

In most cases it is necessary to edit or rebuild parts of your website to optimize it for search engines. In some instances a complete rebuild of the site may be required as is the case with sites that were built entirely with flash programming. These sites may look exciting but the software robots that search the Internet and catalog websites for search engines don’t do a good job with these types of sites. Some advertisers will use paid search to make sure that they have representation on search engines, but if your goal is to attract as many people as possible who are looking for whatever you offer, there is a compelling benefit to making your site easy to find. Many companies offer SEO services, and competition has brought the cost down. To access whether SEO is worth the cost, you’ll need to determine the cost benefit of building a new site with state of the art SEO and perhaps other upgrades vs. updating and maintaining your current site.

Perhaps the most often asked and least easy to answer question is “how much will it cost me?” Online campaigns run the gamut from sending emails out to an existing customer email list to a full blown marketing effort that includes search engines, banner and video ads running on individual sites, portals and ad networks, social network development, procuring email lists and developing an email campaign, development of mini landing sites or pages within a site, widget development (a widget is a small computer application that often resides on a users desk top, like a measurement conversion calculator,) and development of viral advertising (like those funny little animated cartoons set to music, or short movies your friends send you.)

We’ve seen online ad budgets in the first example for as little as $5,000, and full blown campaigns that run in the millions. The decision on what to spend has to be made based on what is sensible for the size of your business, the intended goals, and the resources available to you. There is one certainty in all of this, and that is the world of advertising is moving online, and that at some point so will your advertising need to do so. Whether you start with a modest or robust budget, it is important to start and to learn what will work for your business today and in the future.