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In the good old days, marketing was all about adverts in glossy magazines, newspapers and on billboards, commercials on television and radio, and mail outs delivered directly to homes. There were no other options. However today many people spend much of their free time on the internet so they are more likely to learn about new products from browsing websites, from online adverts or via friends’ recommendations on social media pages.
So when your business has a limited budget, should you focus on traditional marketing or put all your eggs into the online marketing basket? In 2012 over 60% of all adults worldwide were using social media, and many people automatically turn to the internet to give them ‘expert’ advice on the products and services that they are considering buying. They are influenced by reading customer reviews and take into consideration what their friends recommend on social media.
But is traditional marketing as dead as many would have you believe? Some seem to think there is absolutely no value in paying for a TV or newspaper advertising campaign. They are confident that online advertising and promotion via social media and blogging is the only way forward. In fact it has been reported that many CEOs are pulling the rug from under traditional marketing as they don’t believe they are seeing a good return on investment – and all the hype about online marketing seems so enticing and of course, has lower upfront costs -highly attractive to the financial directors.
Whatever you have read, the only reliable answer to the question about where you allocate your marketing budget is mind-blowingly simple. It depends utterly and wholly on your target market. If you know that your target audience read newspapers and listen to the radio, then these are the media tools to focus on. If your targets are more active on the internet and specific social media channels then these are the way to go.
You don’t need to employ pricey consultants to figure out who your target market is. You know your products and services inside out and back to front. You know who they were designed for, and who they will appeal to. So your marketing strategy must aim to reach those targets. And hey, here’s a pioneering idea – you can combine both traditional marketing and online marketing into one strategy!
Don’t be fooled by articles that fall firmly on one side or the other. Traditional marketing is a long way from extinct for the very reason that it still works – when appropriate for your target market. Use a combination of old and new to get the very best exposure for your company and your products. And when you are considering your strategy think about some of the pro’s and con’s of both traditional and online marketing.
The newly announced Facebook Graph deserves a special mention as this search feature will allow people to check out specific things about what their Facebook friends like. For example, if you want to go for dinner but aren’t sure where to go, you’ll be able to search for “restaurants in Toronto that my friends have been to” and get a list. All very Big Brother but this has the potential to be very important for businesses.
Tripadvisor is another forum with a lot of clout for people planning their next vacation or restaurant visit: a good rating from Joe Public is a great endorsement but if your hotel has poor ratings, this may well lead to a dip in bookings.
Without a doubt, the potential power of online marketing is huge. If you create a good strategy that will get your brand in front of your target market, you can get great exposure. It might be cheaper than traditional marketing but you could argue that it takes a lot more time and effort – it’s a never ending labor of love: your website needs to be updated regularly with new news and offers, social media posts should be frequent to keep the audience interested and followers of your blogs need to be confident that you will publish a steady stream of thought provoking articles.
However don’t overlook the large percentage of the population who shun the internet and acquire information about their potential purchases by reading the newspaper, watching TV and listening to the radio. Traditional advertising campaigns are costly but a professional advert in a glossy magazine will get noticed by thousands of readers and build brand awareness.
For many industries with a wide target market, the only sensible solution is to define a marketing strategy that combines traditional advertising with online marketing. Get your website professionally designed and search engine optimized, create company pages on social media and start populating them with great content, retaining a strong brand identity throughout.
When you create a strongly branded magazine advert, ensure it links right back to the website by including your website address and QR code which can be scanned by those with smartphones to take them directly to your URL. Traditional marketing channels such as magazines are all too aware of the power of the internet and many have online versions where you advert will also be seen.
Combining old with new is definitely the best way forward for marketing the majority of companies in the short term future …. And we wait to see what the longer term future will bring.
