Changes in Marketing
There was a time when a person would stand on the street corner and call out in a very loud voice the qualities of what he was selling. “Fresh fish!” or “Any knives to grind?” or “Ripe strawberries!” From those very colorful and intensely personal interactions we have descended into the world of digital marketing.
19th century street vendors had a very simplified approach to marketing with just two tools: a good corner, a loud voice. The better the corner, the louder the voice, the better the result.
Of course, your strawberries had to be luscious, your knife grinding skills sharp and your fish fresh. But aside from that foundational concern for excellent product and service, the change in marketing tools can still be categorized into your marketing presence and whether you are being heard. Top ten marketing tools in the 21st century are surprisingly not 100% digital. Any guesses as to how many are old school?
Level Field
Today the marketing field is more level. No more vying for the best corner or the loudest voice. Anyone can set up a website and advertise their products and services. Have you? Do you? Then you may be interested to know the best tools to sell your wares when you go to market.
Through digital marketing, we count on people to review our business, search on line for our products, read our content or even click on our ad. But there is still room for many of the more prosaic forms of person to person marketing.
Local Search Industry Survey 2019
Bright Local has provided an annual survey for the past seven years that reflects the practice and result of the Local Search Industry. While the 650 responses come from a range of agencies, local businesses, franchises and freelancers, the conclusions are valid from either side of the equation. Whether a business benefiting from the expertise of the agency, or the agency itself. Further, is the understanding that because the majority of the responses are from agencies, the representation of businesses should be increased by a factor of 4 at least.
There is good insight to be found in considering the various tools that are available to market your business services in the digital age. For that reason, it is fascinating that of the top ten channels for marketing, over half (6) of them are not directly digital. So consider how best to market your business and take heart if you have not fully adopted the digital day. Just don’t forget to take into account the leverage each of these channels gains when interfaced digitally. Online does benefit marketing.
Best Marketing Channels for SMB’s
- Word of mouth
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
- Content marketing
- Local business groups
- PPC (Pay per click)
- Industry conferences
- Outbound calls
- Local meetups
Word of mouth is at the top for a reason. Your web presence gives substance to what can be said, so that when we say that word of mouth is the most important marketing channel to attract new customers, we certainly do not exclude the digital foundation. Whether you tout your reputation online by reproducing customer recommendations, or simply reap the benefit of truly satisfied customers who voluntarily spread the good word, the best advice is to be a business worth recommending.
In our digital web-focused business world, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) cannot be ignored as an important tool for attracting new business customers and properly stands in the number 2 slot. That may entail having a strong presence on Google or, far better, a broadly recognized reputation. There simply must be substance to who you are, individually as the leader of the company, and collectively through all employees.
Content marketing has become a recognized online access point to the minds of potential customers who are “researching” potential businesses to meet real needs. The quality of your online content differentiates from the competition what your business offers. If your next customer is looking for a company that is aware of the latest news and strategies, then the insights you provide puts you a step ahead.
It is a pleasant surprise that face-to-face networking is now given a higher standing than social media outlets like Facebook. But not surprising, with the growth of SPAM mobile phone calls, is to see “outbound calls” rated as number 8 on the list.The surprise is that last year this category – outbound calls – was ranked much lower at #16. So that low rating (8th) is actually an improvement. Although we would have expected LinkedIN to be higher, the overall provides a healthy assortment of marketing tools.
Find your corner and your voice. There are plenty of tools through which you can be heard and seen.
