Month: October 2012

Advertising like everything else raises serious ethical questions. Today many ethical questions surround the practice called targeted advertising.

A targeted advertisement uses Jacksonville web design or Jacksonville video production to create a commercial tailored to a particular individual. This practice raises serious questions because companies that employ it often gather information about their customers and use it to create advertisements.

A restaurant might track which meals its customers buy then hire a Jacksonville advertising agency to create targeted ads. If customer A buys a lot of steaks the agency can send him a special announcement next time steaks are the special. If customer B always orders a certain brand of beer the restaurant can send him a coupon giving her a discount on that beer next time she comes in.

Do Ethical Problems Outweigh Advantages

Targeted advertisements can build a stronger relationship with customers but it can also violate their rights. Advertisers that create targeted ads gather large amounts of data about customers some of it pretty sensitive. They also use it in an effort to connect with the customers.

There are rumors that both political parties are making an effort to have volunteers call people they know and tell them who to vote for. News reports indicate that volunteers are supplied with a lot of information about those they are contact. They might know which sports teams the person supports and which websites he visits and use it in an effort to strike up a conversation.

The problem with such efforts is that it crosses an ethical boundary. The campaigns are invading an individual’s private life with such advertising. Entrepreneurs and Jacksonville advertising agencies need to take notice of this. Targeted advertising can save a lot of money but it can also invade a customer’s private life.

Is it right to gather potentially sensitive information about a person or information given a business in confidence to create a targeted ad? Most people would say no but targeted advertising is one of the most cost effective methods. Instead of spending several thousand dollars to buy TV airtime you can send a Jacksonville video production to only those that might be interested it.

A pool fence company can send video of its latest fence to all of the pool owners in town or all those who just got permits for the construction of a new swimming pool. The pool fence company might also try to buy customer lists from swimming pool builders or pool maintenance companies. That of course creates an ethical dilemma because it involves the use of information that customers gave a customer for one purpose for another.

Are You Invading Customers’ Privacy?

There are obviously some ways to get around the dilemma. One of them is to ask customers whether they want their information shared with other businesses or with a Jacksonville advertising agency or not. Another is to give customers the option refuse targeted advertisements.

Targeted advertising raises another serious question where does privacy begin and the public sphere end? In our hectic world with people having less and less time do advertisers have the right to take more and more of that time. Does a business have the right to send a Jacksonville video production to e-mail addresses or Twitter addresses provided by customers? After all watching the video will take up the customers’ time. Businesses need to ask this question in order to respect their customers.

Happy Friday!!

Advertising on mobile devices is fast emerging as the most cost effective method of marketing for smaller firms. The amount of money spent on mobile advertising is expected to grow to $20 billion in the next few years and a large percentage of that money will be spent by small businesses.

Mobile advertising allows small businesses to take advantage of some of the tools previously reserved for large corporations. This includes coupons, Jacksonville video production and targeted advertising campaigns. For example Auntie Anne’s, a chain of small pretzel shops in Atlanta, was able to send coupons to customers through Millennial Media which is now the number 2 provider of mobile advertising in the US behind Google.

The emergence of mobile advertising shows why businesses of all shapes and sizes need the kind of services that can be provided by a Jacksonville advertising agency. Aggressive marketing campaigns that target customers have become the norm even for small businesses. Even if you are not taking advantage of new methods such as mobile advertising, targeted marketing campaigns, digital coupons and video production Jacksonville there’s a good chance that your competition is.

Advertising is Getting more Aggressive and Competitive

In today’s economy businesses have to fight for every customer and every dollar. Resources are more limited but so is the customer base. Customers have less money so they are more frugal and more willing to search out discounts. That means businesses are going to have to get bolder and more aggressive with their marketing strategies. It also means that having an experienced partner such as a Jacksonville advertising agency is more important than ever before.

Even small businesses are employing sophisticated marketing strategies to target specific customers. In addition to coupons there are such tactics as customized discounts for particular individuals. A restaurant could send a special soup coupon to somebody who always orders the soup for example.

In such an environment creating special content to keep established customers is vital. Reaching out to loyal customers and rewarding them must be part of any campaign. In addition to coupons and discounts, special content that tells customers about new offers or capabilities is vital.

Today’s advertising marketplace is confusing even for experienced professionals.  Marketing and promotion is no longer simple because of new technologies. So many entrepreneurs that used to handle all of their own promotion are going to need to turn a Jacksonville advertising agency.

The situation is getting worse because technologies such as mobile phones are putting powerful promotional tools into the hands of the smallest businesses. Such businesses can produce commercial quality videos and digital campaigns. They can also target your customers directly through mobile advertising

In such an environment you need to use every tool available including video production Jacksonville and Jacksonville web design. The good news is that many of those tools are not only more effective they are cheaper than ever. Even small businesses are in a position to take advantage of them. That means there is no reason for a business not have an organized marketing campaign and strategy.

How do you reach potential customers that have the means to block most forms of digital advertising? That is the question facing almost everybody in the advertising industry from Jacksonville advertising agencies to the big firms on Madison Avenue.

The big discussion there is about what is native advertising or ads that are embedded or hidden in the content. This can be called by advertorials or articles that are really advertising. These efforts are similar to search engine optimization but far more sophisticated. Examples of this include editorial content that promotes a product and links to advertising in the content.

The use of this native advertising will make web design Jacksonville more important because it will only work with very well designed content. Such methods of promotion are far more sophisticated and complicated than traditional online advertising. Among other things, it will require a higher degree of quality than many businesses are capable of creating on their own.

That will make professional efforts such as those that can be provided by a Jacksonville advertising agency more important than ever. Among other things businesses will have to create a content strategy that utilizes digital publishing, social media and video content. Not surprisingly high quality video production Jacksonville must be part of such a strategy.

People are getting more sophisticated and their ability to tune out advertising content is increasing. As these trends increase traditional methods such as banner advertising become less effective.

Another problem is that people can focus only on what they want to. For example a person can go straight to the Facebook pages of their friends and ignore all the other content. That’s a problem for businesses because a lot of the content that they will be ignoring is advertisements.

That means firms will need to create advertisements that people actually want to watch or read. That of course takes quality and it takes a lot of time and effort. That means a company will need video production Jacksonville in addition to Jacksonville web design. One reason for this is obvious, you’ll need some sort of content that attracts people’s attention and makes them want to watch.

Incorporating this content into new strategies such as native advertising is an even bigger challenge. How do you make an advertisement about a restaurant or a garage relevant to social media users? Is there a way to incorporate it into content such as news articles?

At the end of the day this argument boils down to a traditional one in advertising. How do you get potential customers to devote their time and attention to advertising? Traditionally advertisers forced their message on audiences through means such as banner ads in websites and television commercials. Today’s viewers know how to tune these methods out and increasingly do so

The bottom line is that advertising isn’t as simple as it used to be. Simply putting ads out there is not enough you need a strategy to make them effective. The best way create that strategy is with the help of the professionals at a Jacksonville advertising agency.

Here’s why North Florida’s Spark Inc. is the leader for Jacksonville Web Design

Finding the right website design firm in Jacksonville is a lot more than picking someone who can program.  In fact, far more than coding or anything else technology related, what truly makes for an effective website is the marketing message.

What does the site communicate?

What impression does it leave?

Does it persuade and inspire action?

That’s the benefit of working with Jacksonville Web Design company Spark Inc.  While we have amazing developers who continually stay on the cutting-edge of technology, we look at websites as marketing projects not I.T. Projects.  That means a website that elevates your brand, inspires your prospects and delivers results.

Spark’s website development team is different than most local options because it really is a genuine team.  We have strategy experts to help you determine the approach you should take to stand out from your competition.  We offer writers to help craft the perfect message.  Our designers can create an original compelling look.  All this before it goes to a programmer.

But the best news of all is that, even with all these experts, the cost is still incredibly reasonable.

Spark’s team also has experience working with some of the world’s most successful brands.  We call ourselves the smallest BIG agency on Earth because so many people on our team come from a large agency background.  So it’s big agency work at a small agency price.  No wonder we’re the best source you’ll find for Jacksonville web design.

It’s also why we’re working with clients across the nation.   We’ve produced web videos for Duke University, sites for major pharmaceutical companies and countless small and medium-sized businesses.  With Spark,  we also can help with all those projects related to making you a world class site.  We offer professional photography, Jacksonville video production (available outside of Jax as well), SEO (search engine optimization) and more.  We ‘ll also make sure your site is mobile phone and tablet friendly and can integrate social media marketing as well.

As far as pricing goes, with Spark, you’ll always get a “not to exceed” estimate in advance.  That means you’ll never simply pay by the hour where the incentive is for the website design company to string out a project as long as possible.  Instead if you work with Spark, you’ll get an estimated price that we guarantee not to exceed.    If it takes us longer to complete your project than we estimated, we simply eat the costs.

When it comes to turnaround times, Spark is also pretty speedy.  For most clients you’ll see designs within 10-15 working days.  Once a concept is approved, we often need just 10-15 days for programming for websites with standard functionality.  If your website has extremely complex functionality, we can accommodate those needs as well.  We’ve designed many a web-based business.  In fact some of the websites we’ve created have been featured by CNBC and Entrepreneur Magazine.

Websites now serve as the single most important marketing tool for most organizations.  Make sure yours is the best it can be.  Create a dynamic, relevant and persuasive site with Spark Inc.  We’re proud to be our area’s leader for Jacksonville Web Design.