People can be intimidated when they hear the phrase digital marketing. Whether they feel the technology is over their head or whether they just aren’t really sure how to define it, the truth is that it doesn’t have to be that way! I’m going to show you a simple way of thinking about digital marketing as it compares to something you’re probably really used to – traditional marketing.
In years past, you’d look at all of your potential customer sources and make sure you’re hitting every one of them right? It’s the same with digital marketing and you’d be surprised how closely the two align. For instance, if your customer was actively searching for a restaurant to deliver food to them or a plumber during a home emergency, they would have grabbed the phone book and looked one up. So, it made sense to advertise in the phone book prior to the last decade. Nowadays, the same customers would probably grab their phone and do an online search. So, it makes sense to make sure you’re showing up in online searches for your goods or services. FYI, 51% of website traffic comes from organic search results (Medium.com), so it not only makes sense, it’s vital to show up in search results.
When it comes to general branding (aka:getting your name out there) there are the same parallels. What we used to accomplish by advertising on radio, TV, and print ads, we can now accomplish in an online format. And it makes sense, too, study after study has shown that we spend more time interacting on digital media than we do watching traditional media. The other benefit to pursuing online impressions versus traditional media is that you can better target your audience (like, down to the block they live on), so you’re not wasting money to reach people who you don’t want to reach.
The same goes for reaching current customers; we used to reach out via a phone call or the mail, but now we use email and texting in their place. Again, same audience, and maybe even the same message, but just a new way of delivery! Plus, email and texting solutions are many times cheaper than direct mail and telemarketing efforts.
Finally, at the end of the day, all of your advertising should drive traffic to a destination. This is where your website comes in. All of that traffic used to be channeled to deliver foot traffic to a store. It’s the same concept now, except we send them to your website to learn more about you, conduct research on your goods and services, and even make a purchase! What’s more is that you’ll be a relevant resource for those customers because they found you met them exactly where they already were – online!
If you need help making sense of your digital marketing options, just give Sarah a call at 715-396-1661 or reach out to her with an email at [email protected]. She’ll be happy to chat!