Are you finding limited results with your online marketing campaign?
Have you wasted money on old school advertising with limited results? Is your social media campaign failing to result in any real business?
Believe it or not, the best marketing campaigns rely on the right mix of old school marketing strategies and new school digital media to reach audiences effectively and promote trust.
The key to success is to bridge the gap between both methodologies and give your target market exactly what they’re looking for, in all the places they’re looking for it in.
Statistically speaking, online marketing is much less expensive than traditional advertising methods, such as newspaper features, magazines, paid radio segments and direct mail. But, there’s something to be learned from these old school techniques.
Consider these three tips for integrating your marketing campaign to maximize your results.
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1. Social Media Should Be Used as a Segue to Real Life Connections
Online and social media marketing allows you to reach out, make multiple connections and engage with people you might not have known otherwise. It’s a great tool to connect with people quickly and efficiently.
The key is that the relationship shouldn’t end there. Social media and online marketing is the medium to get your business in front of new audiences, but it’s up to you to nurture those relationships and turn them into business opportunities.
Daryl Shaun Price, founder of Divine Wisdom Media, a podcast production and distribution company, added this to the conversation, “Social media should only be used as a vehicle to connect you with potential customers and partners. Adding value to the marketplace through real relationships is how you win the marketing game.”
Bottom line, don’t use social media as a place to mass pitch people or send sales pitches. Use it as a medium for connection and then find a way to nurture those business connections in an engaging way.
2. Plan Your Marketing Strategies Based on the Stage of Your Business
There’s a reason new startups and bootstrappers tend to go the digital route when it comes to marketing. For starters, online marketing is easy to track, thanks to software email marketing programs and web-based analytics.
It’s easy to view highly specific data suggesting how people are reacting to your message. In addition, digital marketing and social media are extremely cost effective in comparison to print maketing, direct mail and traditional advertising.
Traditional marketing venues are not as easy to track. In fact, unless you run a special survey or focus group there are very few ways to track the effectiveness of traditional marketing dollars.
Traditional marketing can, however, be an effective brand trust move. A move you can make once you have a recognized brand, when you can afford to lose the money, and when you already have an established audience.
The key here is to plan different marketing techniques for different stages in your business. Don’t discount something just because it’s "online" or just because it’s "old school". Plan your marketing strategy in segments, and when you grow, focus on integrating new marketing methods to better engage with your target audience.
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3. Allow Print Media to Serve Your Online Marketing Team
While some think that print media is dead, the fact is that people still read newspapers and magazines, even if the readership has decreased. A Harris Interactive survey said 69 percent of adults trust their local newspaper. That's symbolic of Brand Trust, a major goal of any marketing campaign. Not surprisingly, 69 percent of consumers who learned about a product from a newspaper or magazine opted to buy it.
For certain niches and business types, print media still makes sense. Local businesses, for instance, still use newspapers for promotion. Remember though, it’s important to integrate the offline with the online. For example, if you were quoted in your local print newspaper, it’s important to post about your publicity on your website and across social channels to make the most of your exposure.
One surprising statistic came from Accenture, where it was suggested that 69 percent of European Zone consumers researched products online but actually purchased products offline, in a physical store. They in essence split the sale in half between two mediums. If that’s not a case for integration, I’m not sure what is.
Lauren Wilkison, CEO for CSC Digital Marketing, states that using multiple resources even across the web is also a good idea. She says, “A lot of people think that because they're on Facebook or Twitter, blogs are unnecessary. But it’s more important than ever to blog. You can use snippets of your blog posts on Twitter and Facebook and they can help drive traffic to your site. Your blog can become the hub of your social media activity.”
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Conclusion: Market With Your Target Audience in Mind
Regardless of whether you choose to lead your marketing campaign with digital marketing, or traditional advertising, the one thing that should always be in the back of your mind is your target audience.
At the end of the day, online marketing is instantaneous and offline marketing goes for the emotional impact and incentive. Traditional marketing tends to be broad and online marketing has more capacity to target individuals and niche segments.
A spokesman for Pin Pros Plus, a promotional products company, says that sometimes offline marketing is just about doing something outside the box that gets attention.
“It's just logical...if everyone's online waving their hands saying, 'Look at me!', sometimes it's a wise course of action to go offline and think of something equally innovative to get their attention there. As entrepreneurs, we're all just thinking up new ways to keep customers interested in the message.
”The key with any marketing campaign is to identify your target audience, capture their attention, and instill brand loyalty so your business can be in it for the long haul.