Steve Rubel posted a couple theories on his blog yesterday in response to a report by the Online Publisher's Association reporting that:


Rubel hypothesized that advertisers are lagging behind the migration of their customer's media habits because, "offline media still kicks butt," and, "Everyone likes to see their brands on TV or in print." It's hard to disagree with either of those theories, but do they get to the heart of why advertisers are so slow to follow their customers and prospective customers into this no longer new medium?

I have my own theories on why online advertising lags behind the media consumption habits of consumers, but first I think we need a reality check:

Reality Check for the Online Publisher's Association: It doesn't take the same amount of money to achieve the same results online. So studies that look at online vs. offline ad budgets are making false comparisons. What costs more? Printing and mailing a postcard, or paying for one click from a search engine after someone ran a search for a product or service your company sells? What's more efficient? Advertising in a newspaper where only a small fraction of readers will see your ad, and even less will be interested in your product, or advertising only to people who've pre-qualified themselves for what you sell based on much narrower demographics?

In fact, a common pitch used to sell online advertising is that it's a more cost-effective ad spend. You can't make that argument and make apples to apples comparisons of ad budgets.

Nevertheless, there certainly is a lag in online ad spending, so what's causing it? Is it because offline media is so effective that there is simply no good reason to even look at the web? Or are advertisers make ego-centric ad buys so they can see their logo on TV or in the paper whether it helps business or not? While both have some truth to them, I think there are larger motivators.

Why Advertisers Spend So Little Money on Online Advertising

1. They don't understand it. People with big ad budgets don't understand the web. They may use the web every day, but they don't understand pay per click advertising, search engine optimization, web usability, how to capture leads online, and especially how to measure all of this stuff. Offline advertising is what they're accustomed to. They understand the metrics and think they know what they're paying for.

2. They're not wined and dined. Web geeks know a lot about metrics. They're generally analytical people who like to test and measure things. However, they're not the kind of people who buy tickets to football games for their clients, pick up tabs at nice restaurants, and throw lavish parties. Instead, they expect clients - both current and prospective - to just 'get' this stuff. Ad buyers are generally not geeks but like to be wined and dined. Who's going to get a larger budget in this scenario? Offline or online?

3. Online advertising is clandestine. Rubel hit on this when he said, "It validates the products we make and market when Mom sees it in the paper." While true, if you're mom doesn't buy what you're trying to sell, why are you paying to advertise to her? Give her an office tour and a mug full of pens as a parting gift. A perfect ad campaign would advertise ONLY to people who would buy, currently use, or would recommend others to buy what you sell.

4. Online advertising isn't sexy. This is a sad but true statement about most online advertising today. If someone currently attends photo shoots for magazine ads, goes on set for TV commercials, and gets to go to Las Vegas on the company's dime to present at trade shows, do they really want to hear that little text ads on the web are a better use of their company's money? It's incredibly hard to believe that online advertising works when not believing it is so much fun.

So, what should be done about this? Geeks should stop being so geeky or realize they need to partner with non-geeks to pitch their services. Advertisers interested in getting the biggest bang for their buck should start with ad channels that allow them to quantify the value of their ad dollars and keep spending and spending there until it's no longer justifiable, then turn to other channels that work but can't be so easily measured.