Traditional marketing is fantastic, but it’s not enough these days. You need to have an online presence too. A lot of businesses, especially small ones think they don’t need to do anything online and will survive. Yet these same businesses are often the ones complaining that they’re struggling.
So stop whinging and suck it up that online marketing matters. Period. If you’re not doing online marketing then your competitors are and you’re losing. How does it feel to know that you’re losing when you could be winning instead? Here’s the main reasons why you need to stop what you’re doing for the next few minutes…
1. Your Customers Are Online
Whether you like it or not, your customers are already online. They’re searching for businesses online, they’re shopping online, and they’re researching business online. They’re even checking out information about your business online…or trying to.
If you don’t have an online presence and aren’t making any effort to market your business online, then you’re not only missing out on connecting with your existing customers, but you’re also missing out on getting many new customers.
2. Your Competition Is Online
You are better than your competition. You provide better products or services. You provide a more memorable customer experience and maybe you simply care more about your customers. Yet, if your competition is marketing online and you’re not, then they’re probably poaching your business. It hurts doesn’t it to know that your
competition is eating you alive online.
So in order to compete and let your audience know that you exist and know why you’re better than your competition, then you need to be marketing online. Stop pretending you don’t have marketing dollars to do anything online. If you’re paying for your spot in the Yellow Pages or sending out flyers then start directing a portion of that budget to online activities. What is the value of 1 new customer to your business? 10? 100? 1000?
3. More Value
When you market to your audience online, you’re able to provide them with much greater value. For example, a simple article that you post with valuable content can help your customer solve a problem. It will boost your credibility and build trust at the same time. Value can come in the form of coupons, special offers, and handy
tips too.
You don’t have time to do all this? Then outsource it to a professional just like you do when you take your car to the mechanic. Now you have no excuses for not being able to get started online.
4. It’s Cheaper and Easier
Offline marketing can be expensive and time consuming. Imagine that you create a coupon. First you have to design it, then print it, then mail it to your customer list. They receive the coupon and hang it on their refrigerator to hopefully remember to come into your business to use it.
Alternatively, you could publish a coupon on your website or social media platforms. You email your customers and prospects and let them know about the coupon. You promote it on social media and before the coupon expires you send out another email blast.
You’re much more likely to have a better result with the online coupon and you didn’t have to pay any printing or mailing costs. In fact, you could do all this online before an offline coupon has even made it to the front of the print queue!
5. Online Tactics Are Easier to Measure and Track
Please don’t misunderstand. Offline marketing definitely has its place. It’s a good way to build relationships in your community and to create a loyal following. However, it’s also quite tricky to measure the success of your offline efforts. Online marketing can be tracked by using analytics and by creating unique pages to drive traffic to.
You can also test and change online marketing tactics without increasing your expenses. Now that’s powerful. Being able to change an online marketing campaign midway through it. You can’t do that with most offline marketing methods can you? Can you change your flyer and have it out to your customers’ letterboxes in 30 minutes?
So your business can benefit by integrating its online and offline marketing tactics. Create a clear and consistent message across both plans and track your efforts to see which tactics deliver a better return on investment.
Now some of this was definitely harsh. It was to wake you up since today you can no longer ignore online marketing if you want your business to grow and prosper.
Want to find out more about how your business can take advantage of online marketing techniques that are proven to work time and time again? Then contact us here https://ozolsgroup.com/contact.
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