Advertise Online? Make Sure Your Content Leaves No Scope for Trolls!

Internet Advertising has a new threat. No, this threat is not from the black hats, neither is it from a new updates of the search engines. This threat comes directly from the very users which Internet Advertising target (or at least the cheeky ones). These are the very funny, very witty (but from the brand’s point of view, very unwanted) Trolls. Trolling has the capability to hit your ad so hard that it becomes a major task to proofread it against any such possibility.

A troll is any internet user who comments or modifies any posting on the internet (including ad campaigns) with an intention to cause disruption or sabotage the post. A troll usually finds loopholes in the graphics or the ad copy and wrecks havoc with slight modifications or by pointing out the discrepancy with their comments and re-tweets. The way to prevent them from doing so is to ensure that the copies and design do not resemble anything which is offensive or defeats the purpose of the campaign. Campaigns which are highly localized should also take the local anecdotes and customs into consideration. For example, an Internet Advertising Campaign, using a series of images and targeting the Middle East, should be careful as Arabic, the prevalent language there, is read from the right to left.

The trolls have increased the importance and scope of proofreading. The leading Internet Advertising Agencies take special care on this front. A trolled ad campaign often tends to be a complete disaster as it usually gains more popularity than the original ad itself.

What Were the Most Successful Methods of Internet Advertising in 2014?

As the period of Internet Advertising 2014 comes to an end, let us look at the trends which have emerged the most successful. With this write-up, we continue our practice of providing periodical forays into the medium of Internet Advertising. Our aim, in discussing the most successful methods, is to present a map of performance which brands and Internet Advertising Agencies can use to evaluate the most relevant techniques for the purposes of their promotion.

2014 saw the rise of the Viral Videos. Internet Advertising took life from the static Web Banners to animations and then to full-fledged videos. In fact, the online platform was soon used as a faster and cheaper method of propagating these videos than the traditional medium of TV. The fact, that short videos could be sent to each other free of cost with the use of the internet, was amply used by the advertisers to ensure that the videos reached as far as possible. The amount of visibility gained by such viral videos has attained unprecedented levels in 2014.

PPCs formed the other area where much activity was seen this year. This platform received a major boost with Google pushing its Google AdWords SME Program where special focus was put on the convenience of the small and medium businesses. PPC's are an effective way of increasing the efficiency of your Internet Advertising budget as you pay only when the user makes a click. 

Apart from the above 2, which remained at the top of popularity, internet contests, email marketing, etc. also continued enjoying the patronage of the brands and special attention of the Internet Advertising Agencies.