If consumers can get all the information about a given product just by searching the Internet, what is the effect of a traditional ad then? Instead of the traditional advertising campaigns made for the masses, the consumers want to have personal contact on the Internet, to have a conversation with companies concerning information. This is where micro media come in.

Micro media
Today, millions of people are having conversations through micro media such as weblogs, podcasts and time-shifted television also known as videocasts. Through the micro media, people are able to get the exact information they are looking for - instantly. According to Paul Beelen, author of the Advertising 2.0 whitepaper,“the advertising agencies and marketing departments need to start communicating through the micro media and start communicating with the smaller groups instead of the larger masses. Micro media is the perfect way for companies to target their advertising directly at a small target group, and send only the information this group is interested in.”

RSS
Micro media is delivered by RSS, a universal technology that allows users to subscribe to the information rather than having to retrieve it manually. It takes the personal media experience to a level that traditional media can not compete with. For an example of RSS please look at our news website www.business.speednames.com/en/news.

Weblogs are conversations
With more than 30 million weblogs today, the electronic journals on just about anything continue to grow at a phenomenal rate and will continue to garner more and more corporate attention as the readers and writers become increasingly influential. A weblog is a cost effective and easy way to post information to everyone on the Internet. One can say that a weblog is a different way of starting a conversation. From there everyone who wants to give his or her input can do it instantly. This means that consumers are no longer forced to read the static information written on the company’s websites.

How to participate
But with more than 30 million weblogs, how do companies listen on conversations that actually are about themselves? In the U.S., some PR companies now offer to monitor the blogosphere. According to Paul Beelen, several companies are already planning on incorporating micro media into their marketing plans.

With the new ways of communication, companies are able to advertise and, most importantly, communicate with the consumers who find their messages relevant. Among the many ways companies can use micro media is contextual advertising such as Google’s AdSense, or even opening up their own corporate weblog, a trend many companies already have been exercising for years.