Marketing Has Evolved. Has Your Business?
Having your business listed in the Yellow Pages, placing your ad in weekly circulars, getting your ad played on local radio stations and commissioning an agency to put together a low budget television commercial to air on local television will produce minor results AT BEST. Sure back in the 90’s these tactics would have made your company flourish. However, we are now well into the new millennium and these old school techniques just aren’t as effective anymore.
Today’s consumer is highly independent and knowledgeable about technology and seems to have a mental blockage in their brain which shuts out unwanted marketing messages. They have DVR to fast forward through commercials, ad-blockers to remove unwanted advertisements from web pages, they receive most of their coupons from the internet and let’s not forget the fact that iPods have replaced the radio for most people.
Your Business Needs To Be Where Your Customers Are
Gone are the days where a marketer asks, how can I interrupt my consumers to reach them with my message. The days of interrupting your customers to awkwardly hurl your products and/or services at them are OVER! Ok, maybe there is still some relevance in traditional marketing. You will gain a few clients or consumers and if you run a pizza place many people still keep your coupons on retainer for those desperate nights they don’t feel like cooking However, since new technology has rendered traditional marketing virtually ineffective your ROI (Return On Investment) for using such mediums will ultimately come at a severe disadvantage. Essentially you will be paying a high premium to reach the few people who still listen to the radio, read news from newspapers or pay attention to commercials.
The truth about the new age of marketing is that people already want to buy your products or use your services. In fact there are most likely hundreds if not thousands of people searching on Google every day for products and/or services similar to yours. The best part is that these are just the numbers from people in your immediate area! It is your job to make sure these people see your web page listed at or near the top of the listings.
So What Is Our Solution?
If you want your business to be at the forefront of the minds of your target market, you need to be where they are. Don’t get me wrong, you still have to do it effectively. Advertising that your Facebook fans should visit your website with every status update will ensure that your fan base of 150 people will shrivel up to a mere 40 people in no time!
In all honesty, marketing in society today is quite simple. Buyers are already searching for information on products and services in which they are interested. They may even be ready and willing to purchase said products and services immediately. They may also find businesses attempting to market “at them” to be annoying and desire to shut them out. This is where new age marketing techniques come into play. By catering to specific key words and phrases in your website and by attempting to make visiting your website a pleasurable experience, you will ensure more conversions. A conversion is taking an interested prospect and turning them into a customer, fan page “liker”, or otherwise a loyal consumer for your brand.
Your business needs to provide solutions to the problems that your target market has. It is said that “nobody cares about your products but you.” This particularly rings true with today’s market place. Attempting to sell products AT people will ultimately lead to failure. Your website and marketing materials need to explain the problems that your products solve not just simply “sell products”. This will ensure a great customer experience for anybody who happens to click on your website. Many business owners simply have a website which are simply a monument to their business. Basically just a digital “plaque” commemorating the fact that their business exists but offers little to no actual value on what the business actually does. However, this is a topic for a different discussion