Digital Advertising- Click here http://bit.ly/j8ToZR for full article

Digital Advertising- Click here http://bit.ly/j8ToZR for full article

Advertising is the science of determining what people want and then placing reminders in locations they frequent. 50 years ago that meant putting posters in office lunch rooms and newspapers on street-side stands. Today, it means creating digital ads that can be dropped into the internet for people to see from their computers and phones.

Ads sell products

Years of energy and creativity are put into creating a product. Teams of artists, scientists and businesspeople unite to build something that will appeal to the public and serve their basic needs. But without advertisement, those products sit on the store shelves and the factory tables.

Digital is coming

The world is experiencing one of the worst recessions (or depressions, depending on who you talk to) in history. Markets and businesses have been either limped or amputated by the financial crisis.

Surprisingly, one sector has managed to stay afloat through the economic tsunami: digital advertising.

The Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers have been tracking this phenomenon. They report a 13.9% growth in online advertising and predict spending for digital advertising will balloon to nearly $50 billion dollars by 2015.

If the Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers are correct in their calculations, traditional print advertising may be extinct in less than a decade.

Advertising is social

Facebook, as always, is leading the way in communication. With over half a billion users, they have quickly become the first stop for advertisers.

Facebook works well for advertising because targeted buyers are already identified. Facebook tells the world who you are, where you’re from and what you like. Facebook and other social networking sites have become the new water cooler. People gather at them to share advice and traffic in gossip.

The new bosses

Digital advertising appeals to a younger generation. Historically, the ad business has been controlled by pinstripe-wearing, chain-smoking executives in their 40s and 50s, most of them male. Today, advertising is run by young, energetic men and women in t-shirts and jeans. The Interactive Advertising Bureau and PricewaterhouseCoopers foresee a business where fresh faces and ideas enter the market – and conquer it.

Creativity is the next step for individuals and businesses looking to capitalize on digital advertising. Everyone will be using online ads in the next 5 years. The challenge will be how to use them differently.