Have you evaluated how you are spending your marketing dollars in the last few months? The effectiveness of traditional marketing has been waning over the last few years, and many businesses haven’t changed how they market. Media hasn’t changed—people have. Your customers have more options than ever when they choose where to spend their time and money.
They can choose from your local competitor, or they can easily have their purchase shipped from a regional, national, or international company. This is getting easier and more comfortable to do every day. Customers often have several devices they can use to make purchases, usually in their pocket and always within arm’s reach.
Consumers don’t watch as much TV as they did in the past, and when they do, they DVR it so they can skip the commercials.
Radio presents a similar challenge. Satellite radio is now available, and it is possible to stream a station on a smart phone. It is not uncommon to have an MP3 player smaller than a deck of cards that holds an entire music collection. All of these options have reduced the number of people listening to traditional radio.
Newspapers and magazines are struggling as people are reading more online. People want to be able to read when and where they want without having to worry about bringing the books, magazines or paper with them. Many people also like their offices and homes to be free of piles of paper. The other challenge newspapers and magazines face is that their news is old. By the time articles are written and published, the story is eight to twelve hours old for papers and weeks old for magazines. Consumers are used to seeing and experiencing news as it happens; Twitter and Facebook feeds allow people to report on an event as it is actually happening.
So what’s a business owner to do with these challenges? We recommend increasing the amount of money you invest online. You have many options, including email, organic posts on social media, paid social media advertising, GoogleAdWords, and other display options to reach the whole world or just people in your neighborhood. It doesn’t cost more to expand your geographic reach, and you can target customers with precision. At Go Social Experts we focus on using email and social media options. We have had success helping companies grow their businesses using these strategies. Contact us if you would like to learn more.