A regionwide survey by AMR Interactive has found that a majority of
executives directly involved in Internet advertising and strategy wanted
more reliable Web data.
The study revealed that 60 per cent of respondents agreed or strongly
agreed that they could not rely on available data, while about
three-quarters said that better strategic information was needed.
Only one-in-10 were completely satisfied with what is available now.
Dissatisfaction stemmed from the large number of Web operators, about 61
per cent of respondents, who could not determine the true demographics
of site visitors.
Their knowledge of usage was limited to generalities - that Web surfers
were predominantly male and well educated.
The biggest problem, according to AMR Interactive Asia CEO Steve Garton,
was that a majority of website operators were unaware of research tools
currently available to help them build visitor profiles.
"This poses a real dilemma because, 'how can I sell something if I
cannot tell you the benefits?' They don't know who is visiting their
sites as well as these people's needs and profiles. And then they wonder
why they cannot sell advertising space," Mr Garton told CReATION.
AMR chairman Brian Fine said it was up to Web operators to take the
initiative and be more accountable.
"You have to prove that the product is desirable ... that there are very
real opportunities that can be had," he said.
"You also have to think about the positioning of an ad campaign and then
there things like sales performance and relationship management," he
said.
