In 2006 network television remains the dominant stage by which major companies can showcase their products or services to a national or, in some cases, an international audience. For example, the recent Super Bowl that aired Sunday night February 5, 2006 on ABC was reportedly viewed by close to 90 million viewers. Based on information released to the public, it is my understanding that a major financial services company invested a record 2.5 million dollars for each 30-second television commercial spot that aired during the game. If we divide the cost of each television spot by the number of viewers, this company paid 2.7 cents per impression, and that’s regardless of age, gender, income, hobbies, sobriety and many other important demographics of these viewers.

Based on the exposure and popularity of such events as the Super Bowl, commercial advertisements remain a high-dollar business. The internet, however, is rapidly drawing many major advertisers to consider exposure via the internet where their cost-per-impression could be fractions of a cent, compared to traditional mediums.

Today, search marketing, particularly 'pay per click,' is one of the most popular and most cost-effective methods being used to reach the masses. Pay per click can actually strengthen a major advertiser’s campaign by bringing down their cost-per-impression, while at the same time increasing their number of impressions. In addition to increasing impressions, the internet, in my opinion, is the single best way to target specific markets and demographics that appeal to major advertisers. Let me prove why this is my belief.

The number one reason any company would invest so much money during the Super Bowl is to get their message in front of the largest and most captive audience available. Some of the reasons people are drawn to major events such as the Super Bowl, beyond being fans of the sport, are the excitement, the families, the friends, the food and good time that surround this glorified event.

One of the largest financial companies in the world, who I will refer to as a Super Bowl advertiser, chose to pay for a Super Bowl commercial. Their ad seemed uninteresting, presented no specific or special offer, and did not even have a call to action. If companies choose to air boring and mundane commercials aimed at no specific audience at 2.5 million per shot, pick up your phone and call me. I will get you a much better value for your advertising dollar. My campaign for you will be market-specific, age/gender-friendly, income-specific, and custom-designed to exactly match your suite of products and services.

In my own pay per click search marketing experiment, utilizing Googe AdWords, conducted on Sunday, February 5, I discovered we could attract consumers who were interested in voting for the Super Bowl MVP and drive them en masse to visit our site. Had the large Super Bowl advertiser chosen instead to create a simple web page featuring a voting script, they could have created a much more effective, direct and focused connection with their consumers while at the same time making an even deeper impression on each potential client. Once a consumer had finalized their vote for game MVP on their website, the advertiser would have been perfectly positioned to present to a more targeted prospect a wide variety of compelling financial services and special offers, all for pennies on the dollar.

Now, let's pit the value of cost and effectiv

eness of each marketing method head to head:

In review, a Super Bowl TV commercial which is shown to around 90 million viewers, costs around 2.5 million dollars, and you receive one impression. In addition, your impression-ee may be distracted by eating, talking, or perhaps even be intoxicated and not able to remember your message at all. Let’s take the internet. We’ve all logged on, glanced at the clock on our computer, and three hours later wondered, “Where did those three hours just go?!” Fortunately, for me and the business I’ve chosen, it’s this kind of focused audience that I like to appeal to. While I watched the Super Bowl on Sunday night, I actively watched for any financial company's commercial. While I saw this financial company’s commercial, I cannot remember anything about the actual company that made an impact or was memorable. I know the company is one of the largest financial corporations in the world, they would have to be at 5 million dollars a minute, but can they help me with my mortgage refinancing, investments, or was it my retirement?

I didn't set up any fancy focus groups, but I am supremely confident that if we polled a random sample of the television audience, we would find a very small percentage who even remember that a financial services company of any kind had run a commercial during the Super Bowl if asked just 48 hours later.

Now let’s look at an effective pay per click search marketing campaign. This campaign also reaches millions of consumers for pennies on the dollar. For just a few cents, I can send more qualified visitors to any large financial company's website. Once a visitor has been satisfied and provided the service you promised, for example the MVP Vote, you can now engage the visitor from there. You can be as specific and targeted as you need to be because The Law of Reciprocation now applies.

A direct and compelling offer can be shown to the focused consumer. Keep in mind that just the fact that the consumer has a computer and an internet connection already qualifies them as someone more likely than a consumer without such resources to use a financial company's services. In the Vote for MVP example, imagine a consumer voting for one of the major players in the game, then a message is displayed to the consumer asking the simple question, "Are you paying over $750 per month for your mortgage? We at ‘XYZ Mortgage Company’ can help you lower your bills."

Over time, this type of campaign can be performed on the largest scale and honed to target specific audiences and demographics.

If ANY company were to spend 2.5 million on targeted and specialized pay per click search marketing campaigns, they would, in effect, be directly pitching their message to over 10 million more qualified consumers that own a computer and have an internet connection. That's over 10 million consumers who are more captive and focused on a company’s specific offers. No loud party in the background, no simultaneous conversations, just pure focus and attention.

In our search marketing experiment, in just a few short hours, we had thousands of visitors wanting to cast their vote, all for just pennies on the dollar. With the myriad of topics and interests from which to choose, I could just as easily have set up a targeted and specialized campaign designed to engage the consumer where we could have just as easily pitched high profit products and services. The 2.5 million dollars that was spent on one 30-second, untargeted, less than memorable TV spot, could have yielded some 10 million consumers directly focused on a company’s specific offerings. Now, if you were responsible for the marketing of a large company, where would you want to make best use of your advertising dollars?