Let’s go! – by Stefanos Vasdekis A blog about entrepreneurship, the web2.0 world, and life.

Your ads are not reaching me

You want me to be your customer. You're sure you'll catch me somewhere!

You advertise on TV. Sorry, I only watch TV for 2-3 hours a week and that's usually a football match - it goes without saying that I avoid advertisements in half time. If I want to watch a movie or a show, I can download it. I do go to the cinema as well, but I try to be 15 minutes late and lose the commercials.

You advertise on the radio. Sorry, I used to listen to the radio when I was driving, Now I listen to downloaded music and podcasts and use FF if there is an embedded promo.

You advertise on magazines and newspapers. The last time I remember myself going through a magazine was long ago at a doctor's waiting room. Now, even there I'm surfing the net through my mobile if no one around is interested to talk. Newspapers publish "old" news and scratch only the surface of stories.

You think you know where to reach me: online! So, you place banners at the sites you know I'm visiting. Well, I'm used to seeing a web page and completely ignore the banners and other ads! You don't even think to send me a spam email. You prefer to place paid ads on search engines. Nice move, but I never look at them let alone click them. If I can't find what I want in Google's free search results, I try del.icio.us. If it's not there, I know I use the wrong keywords, so I refine my search and try again. Of course, if I was searching for a hotel or a home, I'd use a travel search engine or real estate search engine accordingly. Now you know what you have to do, just be in these engines! Similarly, you have to be in as many places as possible, so that I can learn you exist without getting to me, for example have movie heroes use your products. Yes, this the first step, but it's not enough!

Let's say I'm looking for a hotel. I'll use kayak.com because it has the best filters and collects rates from many providers. When I apply the filters and 4-5 hotels are left, I'll look what people who have stayed there have to say, by looking at google, blogs and travel communities like tripadvisor and virtualtourist. If you think you can influence people's opinions with fake or paid posts, think again. I'll easily spot them and will not appreciate what you did. Also forget about advertising on these sites, I'm there to find information for a hotel I have preselected, not to look at another one that 99% is not a fit. The best way to sell to me is to have a great hotel and provide memorable service for the price you're asking, so that people love it, write and talk about it.

Don't try to get to me. Spend your advertising dollars on improving your product and service and be sure I'll find you. Not only me, but many others today and many more in the future.