Question: When and where do you see print and other non-digital marketing beating out or amplifying our digital-only diet?
I can tell you that about 70% of marketing budgets are spent on digital, but it is also true that the most trusted advertising is still traditional – print, TV, and direct mail. I think 70% is misleading because almost all businesses that didn’t do much marketing in the past, or only implemented traditional advertising, all use some type of digital marketing today.
I am not sure this answer will help executives like yourself decide what mix of digital and traditional spending works best for your company or clients, so, let me take your question to a different level.
What is more effective for a business, digital marketing or traditional advertising?
B2B businesses should be using most, if not all, types of digital marketing – Website, SEO, SEM, Social Media, Content Marketing, Email Marketing, and Influencer Marketing. Unfortunately, many businesses, even the big guys, don’t execute well. At Second Key, we improve the use of digital marketing for every client.
So many good-looking websites are poorly designed for engagement and conversion. As I learned from #GeorgeLee, the home page of every website should inform the visitor in a few seconds 1) who you are as an organization? 2) What problem you solve? 3) Who do you work with? and 4) Why you? Unfortunately, the content on well intended websites is missing much or all of this. Keywords are missing from the content. The backends are a mess with poor domain structure, tags are missing, descriptions are a mess, keywords are missing on the back end, too, and there are not nearly enough backlinks. Then businesses deploy Search Engine Marketing or Social Media advertising and think it doesn’t work for them. At Second Key, we spend a lot of time rebuilding good-looking websites.
Here are 5 more marketing tips for B2B and B2C companies:
- Every B2B company should be using direct mail to enhance relationships with gifting, and to reinforce the unique difference that their customers and potential customer value.
- Every B2B company should be using the marketing capabilities of a CRM system. CRM marketing and SEO provide the most ROI; however, you need to be patient with SEO. If you are just starting , it will take at least a year to show results.
- B2B businesses should use Influencer Marketing way more than they do by hosting webinars with experts, hiring them as spokespeople on their sites and in their ads. Credibility is as important as demonstrating competence.
- B2C businesses should also be deploying digital marketing to the max, but there are opportunities for companies with larger budgets to create awareness and instill their brand image with traditional advertising. Older audiences still listen to the radio, while younger audiences don’t and use CarPlay or Android Auto while driving. Many consumers record their favorite shows, so if you want to avoid that, think of news, sports, and special events.
- B2C companies should also test OTT advertising, which is a lot less risky and is targetable and trackable. These are the ads you see when you watch/stream your favorite shows and the ads you must watch for at least 5 to 30 seconds before you can watch a video.
No CMO can tell you exactly what mix of digital and traditional marketing you should deploy without analyzing a business’s situation, past spends against sales and leads, testing what makes the most sense, and tracking your KPIs. At Second Key, we include both digital and traditional advertising in all our marketing plans.
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