Advertising Research In The New World

I have to admit, I'm not really crazy about advertising. But using the words from the advertising lexicon sure is a handy way to talk about marketing.

This article is about advertising research. But it's not really about advertising. Actually, it's more about asking your clients and customers the most important question you can ask them. It's, "Hey – what's on your mind?"

Seth Godin, one of the top conversationalists in marketing today, refers to this question as "Joining the Conversation".

Especially now – in 2008, when it is so easy to access so many people so inexpensively and quickly – it's really important to join the conversation that's going on in the mind of your client.

After all, these days we're nichifying business and marketing all over the place. Ones and twos and fives of people add up to big market sales, and geographic region isn't a big part of the equation for the little gal or guy any more.

So if you want to introduce yourself into your clients' conversations, there are various ways to conduct your advertising research, so you know exactly what to talk about.

The internet is like a park. (Stay with me for a moment, ok?) There are benches and tables all around, and the folks who are interested in your wares are sitting in the park, talking to each other. As you stroll through the park you hear certain twos and threes of them using the same words over and over.

If you walked through the park with a big sandwich board on, wearing enormous clown shoes, honking a bulbous horn or playing a kazoo, you'd most likely get the attention of the people in the park.

But would they be annoyed? Is that the reaction you want?

What if, instead, you walked through the park, dressed as your clients are dressed (because it's natural for you), and met them in a casual and comfortable manner (just because you're all there for the same reason). Just the way new friends are made every day – the puppies run off to play and the dog owners are left to chat.

Now you've joined the conversation. There isn't any amount of advertising research on earth that can teach you what you can learn by making a new friend. You'll know so much more than you'll learn in branding-style advertising research.

There are powerful tools that online small business marketing accesses to help accomplish exactly this goal and the internet makes online business the perfect environment for being naturally accessible to your perfect client.

Think of the clown with the sandwich board as advertising. The clown makes noise, attracts attention and is generally disturbing. She also isn't concerned about interrupting or fitting in. (Besides – clowns scare kids).

But the dog owner? She's all about fitting in. She builds rapport. She meets her new friends in a completely natural way. And if she's selling dog food or leashes or pooper-scoopers – well, she's gonna sell a whole lot more than the clown.

To further push my park analogy, doing online business advertising research allows you to know what to wear when you go to the park, what kind of dog to be walking, and what to sell to the folks who are in the park when you get there. And you'll do it in a completely natural way that isn't pushy or intrusive.

Rapport is key for small small businesses and home based businesses. Giants can use billboards. Megapowers can use SuperBowl ads. The rest of us walk the dog and meet our new friends.

If you're interested in applying new world advertising research to your business, read around this site or contact us to find out if we can work together to grow your business.