Written By Samuel Cook, Online Content Specialist for Kearley & Company for CUES. Reprinted with permission.
The internet has been around for almost 30 years. With the internet came a plethora of marketing opportunities and avenues within the digital landscape. From email marketing to search engine optimization, every single avenue of the digital frontier has the potential to become a platform for digital marketing.
There are, however, two different methods of delivering digital marketing: mobile devices and desktop devices. Sometimes there is confusion as to what is defined by mobile marketing and what could be counted as “other” digital marketing. So let’s simplify this.
First off, let me clarify. For our purposes today, we will be calling “desktop advertising” every ad that can be viewed on your laptop, desktop computer, PC, Mac…etc.
Many mistakenly think that mobile and desktop advertising are separate funnels. While, there are some avenues within mobile that are specific to that formatting, most digital advertising can be viewed similarly on both desktop and mobile. Marketers should not think in terms of the desktop experience being separate in the digital marketing landscape.
There are also fewer options for advertising that are solely optimized for mobile devices than many think. Sure, mobile devices are typically app driven and this means there are advertising opportunities within such apps that are not accessible on desktop devices. But a majority of digital advertising is not only easy to view on all devices – desktop and mobile – it is also optimizable and versatile. When an ad is optimizable, this means it can automatically fit any screen on any device. This makes digital advertising options quite multifaceted.
The beauty of the digital frontier is that the more devices that are created, the more options we have to market to the masses. Digital technology continues to evolve and grow, and with that we see growth in new advertising opportunities. But no matter the innovation, media versatility tends to be at the forefront of all new technological advances.
Finally, as marketers, it’s actually convenient that digital marketing is versatile. In general terms, this means that theoretically, you can reach everyone with one advertisement. (This, of course, does not factor in multiple targets or testing.) Let’s say a segment of your audience solely uses desktops because their flip phones are the only phones they have. If you make a Pandora ad, this audience will be able to see your spot on their desktop just as easily as their nephew can on his iPhone X. You don’t have to provide files in a number of different formats for multi-device viewing – it’s just one spot that’s responsive across all platforms.
Digital marketing has and continues to be unique in its ability to grow but also adapt to every new device. Direct mail can’t reach the same people a billboard can. But a banner ad, for example, can reach every single person on the planet who views that website – regardless of the device they view it on. With these possibilities at our fingertips, we don’t need to ask whether our ads are mobile or desktop specific. The only question we need to ask is “What is the best type of digital advertising for me and my credit union?”
And that, my friend, is a good question. Let’s get started.
Samuel Cook is the Online Content Specialist at Kearley & Company, a full-service marketing and branding firm specializing in financial institutions and small to medium sized businesses. He joined the team in early 2018 coming from Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)® where he served as their national Communications Coordinator and participated in social media promotion, national public relations initiatives, and advertising campaigns.
