Online marketing and advertising for surface technology companies

Online marketing is becoming increasingly important for surface technology companies. Specialists and managers in the surface technology sector are increasingly looking for specialist information online and can be targeted with banners, advertorials and the like.

Online marketing and advertising are becoming increasingly important, including in the surface technology sector. According to a forecast by Statista, digital advertising will account for around 62% of total advertising expenditure in Germany in 2025, while the proportion of print advertising will continue to decline and be significantly lower. This correlates with the media usage of specialists and executives, i.e. decision-makers and users in the industry, who increasingly prefer to use digital media instead of print publications. According to the German Trade Press Statistics 2023, specialists and executives are increasingly using digital trade magazine offerings instead of print editions. Digital trade journal offerings already generate almost as much revenue for trade media providers as print media - digital is therefore almost on a par with print.

In addition, digital advertising is usually considerably cheaper than print advertising. While a print ad often costs several thousand euros, an advertiser can get an online banner for less than 400 euros per month. The cost of creating online ads is also lower and faster, as the time-consuming process including print approval for print media is no longer necessary. An online banner, for example, can be installed quickly without long lead times, the result can be checked on your own screen without any technical effort and even corrections can be made easily, unlike in print.

Online trade journals can now also compete with print media in terms of distribution. Until a few years ago, print runs of over 10,000 copies were still very common in the surface technology sector. If you look at more recent media data, you will often only find less than 8,000 copies, which means that print circulation has fallen by a good 20-25% in a short space of time. The monthly number of visitors to online portals is now almost as high as the print circulation. But much more important in print is the circulation actually sold and the number of subscribers, because the pure print circulation says little - the vast majority of copies are just displayed somewhere or sent by chance to recipients who have not ordered or want them. Years ago, the number of subscribers to surface technology magazines was usually in the high three-digit range. In recent years, this has fallen sharply in some cases, sometimes even to less than 300 subscribers. If you look at the reach of online media in the surface technology sector, you can often reach 300 visitors in just 1-2 days.

And what is even more important: online advertising is transparent. You can measure how many impressions and how many clicks an ad generates. With print advertising, you can only guess - is it noticed at all, does the copy end up unread in the bin? And even if it is seen, does the recipient actually go to their PC, type in the URL and look at the company's website? The hurdle for clicking on an online advertising banner is much lower and the probability that the advertising placement will trigger a recipient action is higher.

Surface Technology Online is the only comparable medium in the surface technology sector that has consistently gone the digital route and dispensed with print. It is therefore the ideal partner for all advertisers in the surface technology sector who rely on online advertising. This starts with the presentation of the content, which at Surface Technology Online takes place without the usual paywalls. Paywalls considerably reduce the reach of content, especially in a specialist sector that is naturally more limited than the daily press or consumer magazines. All content on Surface Technology Online is freely accessible and clearly structured: There are both topical news items that convey current topics such as product or industry news quickly and concisely. And there are also classic factual articles with pictures, graphics and detailed content.

Above all, Surface Technology Online specializes in online publishing. Many traditional publishers have failed in the past to transform their print titles into the online age. Anyone involved in online publishing knows that analog business models cannot be translated 1:1 into digital offerings. This is why the trade magazine market often lacks the necessary digital expertise; a print editor is not necessarily a good online journalist. Surface Technology Online is specifically designed to meet the challenges of the online market and has the corresponding expertise in online publishing. And therefore also the ideal advertising partner for the surface technology industry when it comes to online advertising.

The online market offers many opportunities for surface technology companies to present themselves. There are also trends in online advertising. A few years ago, for example, banners were already declared dead and the focus is now on advertorials. Or perhaps only advertising on social media and visually as videos? The fact is, everything has its advantages and disadvantages, and there is probably no one solution that fits all.

Banners, for example, are the classic form of online advertising. The advantage is their visibility - a well-designed banner simply catches the eye and creates a strong visual impression, similar to a print ad. It is also perceived unconsciously without the need for immediate interaction such as a click. Why do many people like to drink over-sweetened, expensive fizzy water and often prefer a particular brand? Because their logo can be seen everywhere and is remembered. Banners can work in a similar way - you keep your brand visible on the market. Banners also have disadvantages, for example they cannot be indexed in search engines and they are only visible for as long as they are booked on a monthly basis. However, they achieve relatively high impressions and click rates in a short period of time.

Advertorials, on the other hand, have a longer-term effect. The recipient must actively engage with them, i.e. actually read the article or news item. This initially results in fewer impressions and clicks in a short time, but they have a long-term effect because, unlike a banner, they run practically indefinitely and the advertising customer only pays once. A major advantage is also the indexing in search engines, as they can be found via Goggle & Co. using keywords. They therefore also reach potential customers who have not yet visited the website. Depending on the type of advertorial, multimedia elements such as several images, videos or even files - such as product descriptions - can also be included. The information content is therefore higher than with banners.

Social media advertorials can also be booked as a relatively new option. They also open up new customer groups outside the website, for example on LinkedIn, and especially beyond the company's own social media profile and its followers. The disadvantage is that visibility - like all social media posts - depends on the platform's algorithm. So, unlike website advertorials and banners, it is more push than pull and depends on whether the respective target group actually uses the social media platform.

Whichever form of advertising a company from the surface technology sector chooses - banners, advertorials, social media or a combination of all of these: Surface Technology Online is the ideal advertising partner for the sector and can help to anchor your own brand and your own company strongly online. Because the motto is: If it's online, then it's Surface Technology Online!