As Internet marketing has matured, it has driven two trends: a narrower focus on pitching specific consumer groups and a more robust effort to measure the outcomes of marketing campaigns. In the pre-Internet world,advertisers were content to pay for television commercials whose audience was relatively broad and whose effect was not easily quantifiable. While a company might use viewership ratings to get general data about the size and demographics of the audience for its commercials, there was no way to measure the extent to which these commercials translated into actual sales.
In contrast, many companies are now moving their marketing dollars away from traditional advertising outlets towards Internet-based campaigns that can target specific consumer groups and quantify the return on marketing investments. For example, pay-per-click search engines allow companies to pay for small text advertisements that are displayed only when users search for specific words relevant to the products and services sold by that company. A company is charged only when a consumer clicks on the ad and is directed to the company’s website, thereby ensuring that the company’s advertising dollars are spent capturing consumers that demonstrate some interest in its offerings. Further, using sophisticated web-analytic technology, companies can track a consumer’s online behavior and determine the exact amount of any online purchases made.
Though hailed as more cost-effective, Internet advertising has its limits. Proponents of print media argue that newspaper ads more effectively promote brand awareness and thereby provide better value. Further, fraud, intense competition, and the rise of ancillary services—such as firms that companies must hire to navigate complex webtracking tools—render Internet marketing more costly than some companies realize.
1. Each of the following can be inferred from the passage as a possible consequence of the rise of Internet marketing EXCEPT(A) a decrease in the percentage of marketing dollars spent on television advertising
(B) an increased emphasis on measuring the specific outcomes of ad campaigns
(C) the appearance of new marketing-related service firms
(D) a decreased emphasis on “brand awareness” as a major marketing goal
(E) the emergence of “pay-per-click” search engines
The author of the passage presents the information in a fairly objective manner. In the first paragraph, the author describes recent advertising trends. Then the author uses the second paragraph to detail some benefits of these trends before using the final paragraph to specify some disadvantages. Since the author’s tone in the passage is descriptive rather than prescriptive (that is, the author never offers her opinion about the trends), the correct answer should shy away from strong opinions.
(A) The word “only” renders this choice incorrect. The author, while clearly aware of the benefits of advertising to targeted consumer groups, never states that companies should invest “only” in this type of advertising. In fact, the author references “brand awareness” as one of the potential benefits of less directly targeted advertising.
(B) The author never discusses whether traditional advertising outlets, in and of themselves, are worth the cost for large companies. The passage focuses on comparing traditional outlets to Internet advertising but it never stakes a claim about the intrinsic cost-benefit of traditional advertising.
(C) The total actual marketing dollars spent by companies is not mentioned in the passage. The author never discusses how pay-per-click advertising will effect a companies total expenditures; instead, the author focuses on the benefits and disadvantages of different types of advertising.
(D) CORRECT. The passage states that “many companies are now moving their marketing dollars away from traditional advertising outlets towards Internet-based campaigns that can target specific consumer groups and quantify the return on marketing investments.” Thus, the author clearly views effective measurement as one of the key advantages that Internet-based campaigns have over traditional advertising outlets.
(E) The passage never compares the actual costs of Internet vs. traditional ads. While the author discusses relative value and cost-effectiveness, a strict comparison of actual cost is never made.
(A) Companies should invest their marketing dollars only in campaigns that can target very specific consumer groups.
(B) Traditional advertising outlets are usually not worth the cost for large companies.
(C) Companies can significantly decrease their overall marketing expenditures by shifting to the use of pay-per-click search engines.
(D) For companies that place a premium on precisely measuring the return on their advertising investment, Internet ads will likely be more effective than traditional outlets.
(E) Contrary to popular belief, advertising in traditional outlets is actually less expensive than advertising on the Internet.
3. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage about the use of pay-per-click search engines ads?(A) Most consumers that respond to these ads translate directly into paying customers.
(B) Companies will incur relatively little cost for ads that attract minimal interest from consumers.
(C) Companies with the most impressive websites will draw the most attention to their ads.
(D) Companies with the best brands benefit the most from the ads.
(E) Companies that use these ads always have webanalytic technology on their websites.
4. The third paragraph of the passage serves to(A) point out possible disadvantages of Internet advertising
(B) demonstrate the cost-effectiveness of Internet advertising
(C) argue against proponents of print media
(D) provide further detail on the specific example mentioned in the second paragraph
(E) contrast newspaper ads with television commercials
The passage mentions various ways that advertisers can measure the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns. The correct answer choice will identify a piece of data that, based on the information in the passage, is not something that companies can clearly ascertain.
(A) The passage states that “a company might use viewership ratings to get general data about the size and demographics of the audience for its commercials.” Thus, a company can clearly get an estimate of the number of people watching one of its commercials.
(B) The passage states that “a company might use viewership ratings to get general data about the size and demographics of the audience for its commercials.” Gender is a basic demographic measure. Thus, a company should be able to get an estimate of the female vs. male viewership for a particular commercial.
(C) Web analytic technology allows companies to track “a consumer’s online behavior and determine the exact amount of any online purchases made.” The passage mentions this in the context of its discussion of pay-per-click advertisements. Thus, a company can determine if a consumer arrives at its website from a pay-per-click ad and then track that consumer’s purchases.
(D) A company is “charged only when a consumer clicks on the” pay-per-click ad. Thus, the company can see the exact dollar amount it is charged for a specific pay-per-click advertisement.
(E) CORRECT. The passage states that fraud is one factor that renders “Internet marketing more costly than some companies realize.” The passage never states that companies can measure the cost of this fraud. Moreover, the fact that companies fail to recognize fraud as a major cost suggests that they likely do not have accessible data that would provide them with a way to measure this.
(A) the number of people watching a company’s television commercial
(B) the ratio of women to men watching a company’s television commercial
(C) the dollar amount of online purchases made by a consumer arriving at a company’s website through a pay-per-click advertisement
(D) the rate charged for a specific pay-per-click advertisement
(E) the cost of fraud associated with Internet marketing
The correct answer choice should be either directly or indirectly referenced in the passage.
(A) This choice is incorrect since pay-per click search engines are defined “in contrast” to traditional advertising outlets.
(B) While print media such as newspapers are described in contrast to Internet marketing, online newspapers are never referred to in the passage.
(C) CORRECT. Television commercials are described in the context of “the pre-Internet world” of advertising, where ads catered to relatively broad audiences whose behavior was hard to measure. Thus, the passage clearly considers television a traditional advertising outlet.
(D) The passage does not discuss simple websites in the context of traditional advertising outlets. On the contrary, the passage clearly uses the Internet as a marker separating traditional from non-traditional outlets.
(E) Online auctions are never referred to in the passage.
(A) pay-per-click search engines
(B) online newspapers
(C) television
(D) simple websites
(E) online auctions
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Updated on: 14 Sep 2021, 12:00
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