AS TECHNOLOGY ADVANCES in various fields and certain facets of business get left behind, you can always count on marketing to ride the tip of the spear and be on the cutting edge of evolution and change. Marketers are now turning their attention from the traditional methods of advertising to more contemporary methods that are more beneficial to the advertisers. The direct marketing methods of old were mostly comprised of radio, TV and print media advertising, as before the digital age, this was as “close” as businesses could get to their customers without going door-to-door and handing out flyers. These historic methods, while still used in certain capacities, have lost their intimate effectiveness as the living styles of the general populace has changed. In the world of today, it may be not surprising if one doesn’t take notice of a highway billboard or TV ad.
Marketers have evolved to remain relevant and effective in the changing times. The Internet has become the primary platform being used to ‘directly’ connect with the purchasing public. Digital marketing has various advantages to the advertisers of goods and services. The traditional forms of advertising have lost their effectiveness as they now, often, miss their target market. A TV or newspaper ad may fail to reach the intended audience for one reason or another. With the digital ads, they are easily aimed at the intended market segment, meaning that it’s easy to gauge the effectiveness of the advertising campaign and ensure that the people who you want to see your ad, will see your ad. Implement the law of large numbers into the equation and you can all but predict exactly how much business you will see from a targeted digital ad campaign.
The traditional ways of advertising are very expensive and hardly offer the return-on-investment (ROI) as other less-expensive, more contemporary methods do. The advent of satellite radio saw to it that people no longer had to hear commercials between their favorite tunes, DVR having the same effect on cable television. Essentially funding a sinking ship, a few seconds of TV or radio time, or a few inches of space in a print newspaper costs quite a lot. With fewer people buying ads and the cost of operation remaining the same, the TV/radio stations and publishers have to raise the ad prices and pray for advertisers who are scared or resistant to the digital age to pay more and keep them afloat.
Digital advertising, on the other hand, is not as expensive as the traditional methods and have proven to be insurmountably more effective. Digital marketing messages are delivered almost instantly to the target market, unlike in the old style marketing where it is very likely that you miss your intended market as they aren’t focused on a particular group. The savings that marketers realize from the use of digital marketing are immense and can be channeled to other uses like improving their products for competitiveness in the market or even repetitive ads to the same targeted market.
The Internet opens the whole world to those who intend to make use of its wide potential. You can take your selling potential to the global scale without leaving your office and instantly be able to sell your products or services to customers who are in the farthest corners of the world. You can purchase qualified lead lists and send out email blast campaigns, guaranteeing delivery into the inbox (not bulk mail) of people who have been prequalified to have an actual interest in your industry or product.
