Recent developments in the way we communicate through the Internet have been less about conventional broadcast media and more about interactive, two way communication. As this type of communication alters it will undoubtedly affect the way search engines work and by default the process of Online Marketing.
Conventional media “broadcasts” a message to the anticipated audience, whether it is in the form of a paper or an advertisement (physical or digital) which exposes the reader, listener or watcher to a concept. The communication is one way and the intended audience is informed of something, in essence “talked at”.
Customary methods of Online Marketing carried out by the marketing fraternity and in recent times the relatively new genre of Search Engine Optimisation companies (SEO Company) are aimed at the way that Google (largely) accesses web pages. This is a type of broadcast media not too unlike to a newspaper albeit with digital trickery to make the experience more fascinating.
Is this all about to alter? Are the accepted Search Engine Placement services about to become less valuable? Assuming the internet continues to expand along the same lines as it has for the last ten years, we can expect to see the use of the web becoming more embedded in our day to day real time lives. It will develop into more of a delivery platform as opposed to an information resource, a concierge as opposed to a librarian. If we are accessing the net in real time that relationship will become two way and transactional, broadcast techniques will offer a one-dimentional experience and become a thing of the past.
Once a buyer can connect with the seller of the product or service through two way communication just reading a website will be less than satisfying. At this point usual Search Engine Placement services become obsolete and Online Marketing becomes about making connections not appreciating content.
The smart SEO Company will be looking at how that communication can take place in an atmosphere that is so swarming with information. If at all possible, a buyer is exposed to a seller (or a number of sellers) in an situation where he can actively interrogate and compare their goods, ask for detail and maybe even tailor the product or service to his needs before he makes the decision to buy.
Instead of offering website optimisation for a stationary broadcast, online marketing may be about promoting links and may take place on Twitter, chatrooms, forums even within games where product placement is already starting to take place.
