Regardless of what Prince says, the Internet is here to stay. In fact, the majority of Americans go online for shopping, entertainment, and observing the latest trends. It’s not new, sure. But you’d sort of think it is with the way that advertisers neglect it as a viable marketing tool. In fact, advertisers only allot about 5% of their marketing dollars to the Internet. This is an underwhelming figure given that 85% of Americans report regularly viewing videos online. This statistic is compounded by the fact that almost half of Americans report a plan to move from conventional television to online services in the near future. The tides are turning, which means that there is a massively underutilized market of prospective consumers just waiting to be told what to buy and believe in.

Studies show that advertising on the Internet yields an effective return on investment. Not only is it more cost effective, but studies also report that Internet advertising results in 33% more brand recall in addition to a whopping 45% message recall. Online ads also reportedly increase general brand likeability by 40%. Advertisers that take the time and initiative to meet consumers on their preferred platform are being rewarded with unprecedented reach and influence.

What this should signify to you are the massive sea changes taking place in the ways by which people get their information and make decisions. As a viewer of online content you choose which websites you visit and therefore what advertising content you see. Because this interaction is founded on the consumer’s terms, you can basically make it seem like buying your product was their idea. That means that by infiltrating this medium, you can increase your brand awareness and effectiveness at what is often a fraction of the cost of television advertising.

I can provide you with myriad examples of effective online marketing: Dollar Shave Club, Zappos, Old Spice… Too small time, you say? Well, how about a heavy hitter like Coca Cola? Coke (as they’re known to their friends) plans to use Internet marketing to double sales by 2020. Granted, not everyone has the visibility and brand-recognition of Coke, but it is a fine display of the potential present in online marketing. By taking advantage of this burgeoning resource, you can make sure that your brand stays on top and at the forefront of consumers’ minds.

All of this comes on the heels of the new Adobe/Nielsen Rating System team-up. Nielsen Ratings, of course, have been widely utilized by advertisers in the medium of television for decades as a means of tracking demographics and respective purchasing habits. It has inarguably become the most important tool advertisers use in making sure that their message reaches the appropriate audience. So, in effect, this means that not only will your message be reaching a new and relatively untapped market, but you’ll also have a means by which you can track the effectiveness. All of this adds up to one simple conclusion: diverting marketing dollars away from television and into the Internet is a simple and cost-effective means of proliferating brand awareness and loyalty on a large scale.

By the way, if you need some help breaking into the online video market, I know some guys…