Is new media advertising simply banners on websites? Video ads? Or maybe new media is sponsored text listing on search engines? Hmmm. Oh, I know, new media is Social marketing. No No No – it’s viral marketing through some catchy, funny or controversial content distributed through video. WOW, how silly of me, it’s got to be targeted by behavior, geographic, contextual, physiographic, retargeting, demographic, vertical and what you had for dinner last night. Yes, Big Brother marketing in action. Ah Hha! Maybe that’s the best description. Yes, as you read this we are using a new technology that reads your mind and tells us what you are thinking right now and everything you’re going to buy for the rest of your life. Of course I’m just kidding.

Rant over.

While all of the above are components of new media, perhaps the best way to describe new media marketing is simple. New Media advertising is any traceable, quantifiable form of advertising that offers the opportunity to quickly improve campaign results based upon specific campaign goals.

Internet marketing is the only form of media that has truly embraced this philosophy of transparency. Ask yourself, why do most new media companies offer quick opt outs on contracts and why is it you can open Google account for peanuts in comparison to the cost of some traditional media? The simple answer is trackable performance. What if Google started ad words with a minimum buy of $10,000 with no cancellation and did not offer daily reporting. Where would they be today?

I have heard some traditional media folks argue, “Well, the value is in the views or this is a branding campaign, not direct response so what the point of tracking?” While these statements are true to a certain extent, “performance branding” is a big part of new media. It starts with understanding exactly how many impressions you are getting for your investment. If you are achieving a high enough click through rate or positive post impression activity your ad creative, messaging and placements are having a positive effect on your branding. On the other hand if there is very little interactivity from users then you know you must make adjustments.

The competition for ad dollars among websites is fierce. Many traditional media companies with website inventory have not figured out what new media really is. They continue to sell their website inventory the same way they sell traditional advertising. The fact is that they are competing with new media companies that track, report and optimize their client campaigns. As an advertiser, who would you go with?

New media is about trackable performance. Whether it’s branding, messaging or direct response, the goal is always results. I have heard of many tracking technologies being developed in radio and television to do what we do on the net.

Will this not be a part of New Media?