Expert: Michael Michelini - 7/22/2009

Question
how has technology influenced the way businesses advertise - as an aspiring business owner i want to know what i can do to maximize profits.

Answer
Hi Kate,

Technology, well I would more like to say the internet, has influenced people to reach a wide audience quickly, and on a budget, if they are willing to work hard.

Advertising was once controlled by large media companies, and to advertise to the public meant buying blocks of advertising on television, newspapers, or radio.  This normally required the business owner to allocate a large budget and reach a large, sometimes unfocused, audience.  Then, to measure results, you would count phone calls or measure increase in sales during the time after.

Today, advertising is not PUSHED on television, it is PULLED by customers LOOKING for what they want.  They search online, they see an advertisement that is related to the topic.

Therefore, its on-demand, and business owners can fine tune who they are targeting, and have a budget that turns off when its filled.  It is scalable and allows small businesses to reach NICHE / focused groups of people in their industry.

So in summary, technology has interupted the advertising business by allowing small businesses, with smaller budgets, target small groups of focused industries get what they want.

Mike