Is your business reeking the benefits of online marketing?

September 2nd, 2010 by TCC Leave a reply »

Print advertising, while not completely dead (it still has its appropriate uses), is becoming more and more obsolete as time passes. The transition from print advertising to online marketing has been a quick one, and many are stuck in a rut, trying to figure out how they will reinvent their company’s marketing strategy. Some believe that online marketing is highly complicated, and are hesitant to begin a company-wide marketing overhaul.

If you were asked the question “what is online marketing?” what would be your answer? Many people think they know what online marketing is, however the concept can be hard to grasp. For many years, the marketing world consisted of artists, designers, and marketing gurus who developed print advertising materials including direct mail pieces, magazine and newspaper advertisements, and tradeshow handouts. The internet was left solely to the web designers, who developed websites and only websites.

Is all this ringing a bell? If you are overwhelmed as print marketing slowly passes on or confused how to transition your organization, here is a comparison of online marketing to print advertising.

  • Used to pulling out your phone book to search the yellow pages for a local business? Phone books used to be the only way to obtain a phone number or address you were looking for. No need anymore. The “Yellow Pages” and “White Pages” are still available at the tips of your fingers, but now online and not in a book. You can find all the same information you need, and can search by person or company name, town, industry, or even reverse lookup a phone number.
  • Full page magazine, newspaper, or any other “book” advertisements were a great way of catching a reader’s attention. However virtually all information is available online now, negating the want or need to publish full-page spreads. So how do you capture readers’ attention today? Through Search Engine Marketing (Google Ads) and ‘Landing Pages’. An effective Google Ad, placed in the right places, will direct interested users to a page devoted solely to the product, service, topic, etc. you want them to see. This method allows users to choose the ads they want to see, and you can provide highly specific information you want them to see.
  • Companies used to spend thousands and thousands of hard-earned dollars on direct mail pieces, only for them to be tossed in the trash by the majority of recipients. Avoid paying for people’s garbage and take advantage of the features email marketing has to offer. Email marketing is low in cost, easy to manage, and certain programs offer features that even allow you to track open rates, specific viewers, and comparison reports. Email is the most common form of communication currently; it’s time to reach out to your customers.

There are many other forms of online marketing that resemble an ‘old-fashioned’ marketing trend. For example, online videos, which are excellent forms of viral marketing, replace what would have originally been television or radio commercials, for a fraction of the price.  If you are still actively using traditional forms of advertising and marketing, upgrade to the world of online marketing. The time is now. The future for print advertising doesn’t look promising, so prevent the onset of a marketing disaster and take on some online marketing strategies. You won’t regret it.

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