In a post at MarketingProfs' Daily Fix blog, Cam Beck says the days of the traditional publishing model—attracting an audience through compelling content and selling advertising to those who want to reach them—are effectively over.

The problem, he argues, is that readers were overwhelmed and stopped paying attention. To compensate, companies became increasingly intrusive with even more ads than before. The audience fled to innovative content providers—especially online—where they could ignore the advertising, and content seemed "free."

As a result, Beck says readers have developed five attributes:

• They dislike being interrupted by advertising.
• They don't want to pay for things that are usually free.
• They want advertising appropriately labeled as advertising.
• They sometimes appreciate finding out about unique products that will benefit them.
• They don't want to tell publishers more about themselves than is absolutely necessary.

"We can either stand and curse the situation or seek to do something about it," he says. And working within the paradoxical framework of this new reality means evolving the way you reach your audience.

Your Marketing Inspiration: "The marketplace can no longer be driven by simple, traditional advertising but will instead be driven by content and the slow art of the customer seduction," says Beck.

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