The Internet now is very different than it was just 5 years ago. 5 years ago things looked bleak. The Internet was like walking into a crowd of used car salesman each trying to get a hand in your pocket. Ads with jumping frogs and dancing babies were everywhere. What happened? The people spoke…and other people listened. The Internet has become what it was designed for; a vehicle to exchange information. Now we talk to our friends on Facebook and our followers on Twitter. We write business reviews on Yelp. We write blogs and subscribe only to the ones we find useful to us. I’m not saying that ads and commercialism to the web is gone. It is however more how we like it as opposed to how the commerce companies wanted it. Thank goodness.
What’s next?
I say the next 5 years will see a role reversal of how commerce is done. If you’re interested in a car you now need to go to different websites and compare, price, and build vehicles. I think in the future businesses will be bidding for your business. What if I post that I’m interested in a 2007-2009 four wheel drive Chevy Silverado with a crew cab and under 25,000 miles. What if instead of having to search for this particular truck, that particular truck finds me? It finds me without me having to visit 10 websites to find it. Kind of like a reverse eBay. I post on Twitter that I’m thinking about buying a 42″ LG television and the next thing I know, I have an email or Tweet or Direct Message from LG with a local dealer or dealers they recommend and a $100 off coupon. I like the sound of that. What if you’re interested in a new website and I send you information and a discount or other incentive, and you had to do nothing but mention it.
Instead of consumers seeking out products and specials, products and specials will be seeking us out. I know there may be some out there that say that’s what advertising does. T.V., radio, magazine ads, they are all seeking us out. That is true. They are seeking US out but they’re not seeking ME out.
