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Earn more by spending less with digital marketing
This is the first in a three-part series on how companies can spend less but get more using digital marketing.
By Chris Botterill
Historically, companies marketed their products or services through mail campaigns, flyers, and newspaper, radio or television advertisements. But the world of marketing is changing—and quickly. Now, companies can pinpoint potential customers to whom they should direct marketing campaigns using digital methods. Due to the competitive nature of business, companies must get on board with online marketing techniques or be left in the dust.
But making the move from traditional to digital can be tough. Many companies that delayed learning digital marketing methods feel as though they have “missed the bus.” But digital marketing is vastly different from traditional methods, allowing businesses to jump on board at any time.
We’re often asked by clients if they are too late getting online and competing. But a business can start in the online world at any time with really well executed and meticulous marketing campaigns and strategies. They can spend really small amounts of money on advertising compared to the return on investment.
Making a smooth switch to digital marketing is partly due to changes in how companies build trust with potential clients. With traditional methods, trust takes a long time to build. Businesses must rely on relationship building, personal interactions and word-of-mouth recommendations. On the other hand, digital marketing relies more on statistics than trust. Companies must look at the results of online marketing campaigns to figure out what works and what doesn’t.
For example, if a company targets 100 people at $2 per person, it can determine whether that $200 investment resulted in a net profit with a potential customer visiting its site and buying a product. Using that information, the company can then alter the targeted group to try to gain a higher net profit. Even if people don’t buy the product, the company still is guaranteed qualified leads viewing its product or service that provides the company goodwill and branding recognition.
In addition, digital marketing allows companies to target clients outside their location to pinpoint those looking for higher-priced items. For example, if a business has 1,000 products but only needs to sell five with higher price tags to hit profit goals, it can to target customers around the country (or even the world) who are more likely to buy the higher-priced items.
A company can have a subset of products that aren’t big sellers in their local market that can really increase revenue.
With traditional marketing methods, companies are not guaranteed their advertisements will end up being viewed by the targeted market and are more limited to the local area. They have much less control over who sees the advertisement and are not aware of which customers were directed to the product via the advertisement.
Digital marketing allows companies to gain insight into what is and what is not working through various types of testing. Ultimately, the strategy becomes how to increase margins once a company has succeeded in being profitable.
By using digital marketing to target the right customer base in the right ways, companies can sell more specific products to targeted customers while spending less on marketing than they have in the past. By learning a few useful tools and tips for online advertising, companies can increase Return on investment (ROI) and net profits. It’s not too late to stop wasting money on unreliable traditional marketing methods and jump on board with digital marketing tactics.
– Chris Botterill is the owner/operator of Genex Marketing, based in Cranbrook. Chris is a tech-savvy, marketing expert who loves to talk websites, ad campaigns and anything else that helps you and your business grow. Since starting Genex Marketing in 2008, Chris has grown his business year by year, to become a successful entrepreneur. He started in virtual web design and is now offering full Agency Services to businesses local and abroad. Agency Service includes all types of marketing from web, social media, print, radio and creating business collateral. Chris and Genex Marketing know how to help you adjust to the radical change in the marketplace from print and word of mouth to digital, social and virtual.
