Life moves fast in the digital realm and marketing techniques that worked well for you 18 months ago could be a liability today. Google has the final say where your business appears in the search ranking so you have to play by their (frequently changing) rules.
Millennials are the highest spending demographic. They’re also the most mobile connected generation. If you are not marketing to them, you are losing money.
Here are some stats you need to know:
• 97% of local purchasing decisions start online
• 82% of consumers visit a review site because they are ready to buy, and
• Of these 89% purchase within a week, 29% the same day!
If you want your business to survive and thrive in the digital marketplace, you must take your marketing online.
Most business owners are not internet gurus. You may have an effective offline marketing system, but you don’t have the time to learn all there is to know about marketing online. Just because some young internet whiz kid tells you he can optimize your website for search engines, or run long tail pay per click campaigns or manage your Facebook social media business page for you, doesn’t mean that this is what’s right for your business!
All too often I hear about business owners who’ve paid far too much to have a website built only to see no improvement in their leads, sales or revenue.
Just because you can market online, doesn’t mean that you should do online marketing – unless you know exactly what you’re doing!
Never forget that you customer is a human being, they have the same fears and needs whether you’re communicating face to face or digitally. People hate to be sold, but love to buy, and they buy from people they know like and trust. The buying decision is always emotional. Your message must appeal to their emotions. What’s in it for me? What transformation will this give me in my life?
Always remember all marketing is H2H – Human-2-Human, even online you must create a human relationship.
You already have an offline marketing process that works! Don’t waste all that you’ve done developing and refining it. Instead look at how you can integrate what’s working offline with the amplification you can achieve online. Offline marketing is being eclipsed by the reach of the internet. Digital marketing frequently misses the point that your end customer is still a human being.
Transforming your existing proven marketing approach into an integrated marketing system is key.
Most businesses get sold digital tactics – SEO, PPC, Social Media. But few plan an overall strategy which covers all the steps needed to win new customers. Consider this:
• Poor Strategy + Poor Tactics = Slow Failure
• Poor Strategy + Good Tactics = Fast Failure
• Good Strategy + Poor Tactics = Slow Growth
• Good Strategy + Good Tactics = Fast Growth
Developing the right strategy to transform your process to integrated marketing is far more important than executing individual, disjointed online marketing tactics.
Your Google profile is a great way for gathering and presenting social proof. This is an essential online activity for building the critical Human-to-Human relationship you need for online marketing success. Presenting high quality reviews from your past customers demonstrates trust and makes it feel much safer for your potential customers to become new customers.
Actively harvesting 5-star reviews are like pure gold for your business.
That’s understandable! The internet and digital marketing is a huge multi-disciplinary industry. That’s why a concise digital marketing strategy and transformation action plan is essential for your online marketing success.
Follow this 7-step process to transform your marketing to an integrated marketing system and you’ll have an effective plan for amplifying your marketing message online. You’ll have a clear understanding of the associated cost and you’ll be able to identify measurable ROI metrics.
To help you understand and execute the integration marketing action plan, join our free weekly 30 minute webinars covering each of these topics in more detail. Click here to reserve you spot on the next webinar.
If you’re struggling taking your marketing online, or just prefer to speak to another human being, click here to schedule a free 30-minute consultation with one of our Certified Digital Marketing Specialists.