I think it’s safe to say that technology has come a long way over the past, oh – hundred years or so. With all the good and bad associated with it, there’s no doubt that technology has certainly changed the playing field for marketing. The biggest thing being that technology has made it possible to reach a huge amount of the population in the blink of an eye. Along with the mass communication, there are 5 ways in which technology has changed the game of marketing.
Printing
A long, long, long time ago there was no such thing as printers. Newspapers and books use to be handwritten by calligraphers who were few and far between. Since there were so few people who could write, the cost of printing was extremely high. Only governments and religious associations could afford the funds for printing. With the development of the printing press, and now today laser printers, everything has changed. Books, posters, flyers, newspapers, magazines, etc. can all be printed on demand. Modern marketing relies on text more than ever, so as long as people keep reading, print will never die.
Mail used to be only for personal letters and communications between businesses. It was sealed with wax and hand delivered by a man on a horse, usually. Over time, and with the advances in printing, the art of mail changed. Somewhere down the line marketers found out that mail is a great marketing platform. Even with all the incoming junk mail, this can still be a very successful tactic.
Video and Audio Recording
AKA – the Radio.
The popularity of the radio gave marketers a brand new way to reach the masses. Since there was no way to charge for early radio, stations relied on advertisements for funds. Even today, this is still the source of most incoming revenue. Soon after the radio came TV, and with TV came all the glorious commercials we all know and love. TV commercials are the number one most popular avenue for marketing and will most likely remain so through time.
The hype behind email isn’t what it once was, but it’s still a widely used marketing tool. Companies use emails to push further engagement from existing customers. Email is a great way to engage and encourage customers to visit your site more frequently.
Website Advertisements
I’m sure that we are all very familiar with these. You’ve seem them on just about every single web page you visit. Typically, in the form of a banner along one of the borders, there’s no escaping them. When they first started popping up operators charged for each ad shown, but as the internet progressed, most ads are now charged only if clicked on. Platforms that are popular have competitions between advertisers for price and placement. Marketers are getting even smarter now, and using tracking to see what you click on and search for so that they can show you advertisements specifically catered to you and what they think you want. Talk about sneaky…or just plain creepy! Needless to say, it’s a very successful form of marketing.
Overall, the transformation of technology over the years has impacted marketing in a lot of ways, really emphasizing on the fact that they can now reach all of us in one way or another.
