We’re tired of it all. The average consumer is exposed to anywhere from 250 to 3000 ads a day; yet they only consciously respond to about 10. The methods for advertising abound, and so it seems the more we’re marketed to, the less we care and the greater effort we’ll put into avoiding those ads. New technologies have sprung up to protect us from the onslaught: pop-ad blockers for the Internet, the Do Not Call registry for telephones, TiVo for TV to name a few.

What about your company’s advertising philosophy: do you push your snazzy ad campaigns out to the masses and hope they notice? Isn’t that an expensive and unproductive method? With recent reports that TV commercials are becoming less effective and traditional media is seeing major drop in ad dollars, is advertising doomed to poor response rates from a burned out, cynical audience? Interestingly, no – not if you know how to engage your audience on their terms.

Consumers are more knowledgeable than ever before about what marketing is and what it does for them. They understand the psychological backgrounds, the sleek packaging and far-flung promises. And even though they know they’re being advertised to, if the method is tasteful, they really don’t mind.

"Ironically, just as technology has given people the power to avoid advertising," Hirshberg said, "those same people are engaging with marketing and brands and advertising in a more emotional and collective way than ever before," announced Eric Hirshberg, president and chief creative officer at Deutsch LA, at the OMMA Hollywood Conference & Expo.

There are many ways that you can pleasingly connect with your audience these days. Community tools, digital video, interactive sites, expanded content, partnerships that benefit your customers – all can be effective in building relationships. But there’s one method that outweighs them all. You guessed it, search.

Search is and always will be decidedly different because the consumer controls it. We’re the ones requesting the answers. We become that audience that marketers are desperately seeking when we type words into a search box.

Search advertisements don’t bother us; in fact, we’re expecting text sales-oriented pitches within the search results. As long as the message is relevant and quickly takes us from question to answer, your message is accepted and even appreciated. And to top it all off, we just might buy from you. After all, search is the number one connector between purchase intent and actual sale.

Interesting, isn’t it? This symbiotic relationship isn’t just an idealistic story dreamed up by search engines; it’s what the studies, the surveys, and the behavior research illuminates. Plus, this is the behavior that so many of us exhibit every day: we discover that we have a need that needs an immediate answer and that can only be solved by search. Sometimes we search at a general search engine, other times it’s a destination site. Then, when we’re confronted with a list of results, we click on whatever reads the best – our own brains decide what’s most relevant and deserving of our time and money.

The new advertising paradigm puts the consumer in control. Your business will benefit most when you steer away from push advertising methods that leave consumers cynical and disinterested. Instead, remember how effective it can be when you answer your customer’s questions through search. The invitation stands, so let’s not take it lightly. Respect their intent and deliver timely, realistic marketing messages that engage. If we all aspire to this marketing creed, we’ll hopefully keep hearing and saying ourselves, “Go ahead, sell me. I don’t mind.”

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