Strategic use of Different Marketing Services
No matter what industry you’re in, you can’t expect to make a sale if you’re the only one who knows about what you’re selling. Sure, word-of-mouth reaches potential customers to a certain extent, but there is a myriad of marketing solutions that will expand your business’s reach beyond the friends and family market. From television and radio to social media ads, pay-per-click and search engine optimization, the marketing reach is nearly limitless as technology continues to embed itself in everyday life. It is imperative you use all effective forms of media to maximize your reach. So, just how and why are these marketing services so effective for increasing brand awareness?
TELEVISION
Ever since the small tube TV set hit the living rooms of every American household, television has and continues to be the most cost-effective way to send a message to any target market. Though this fact has remained constant since network broadcasts began over half a century ago, the flux of market demand requires perpetual market analysis in order for the message to be effective. As trends change year after year, what worked before may not have the same effect on an audience now. By shifting perspective, changing a commercial’s length, and working around the needs of the target market, a network or cable television advertisement can be extremely successful.
Cable television can be custom tailored even more so than network television, as certain channels are already in line to reach a certain demographic. Age is an important factor in determining a business’s ad campaign. Cable channels are already geared toward specific age groups. To reach the right people, a business must understand its market and use every channel available to reach that market.
RADIO
Radio continues to be an efficient means of reaching the masses. According to research, adults over the age of 19 spend an average of 2 hours per day listening to the radio. While some people listen to the radio actively, others have it on as they drive around town–a passive background noise that replaces the cacophony of traffic. An effective radio commercial can grab anybody’s attention. Using proper sound effects, music, humor, and believable voice actors, radio commercials can latch onto a person and establish familiarity with those who peruse radio stations often. The power of radio advertising should not be overlooked; it is a low-cost medium that has continued to be more effective than Pandora or other Internet radios.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Traditional advertising has retained its role as a successful marketing medium. But in an age where people have become dependent on their technology, social media has great advertising power. An effective social media marketing campaign requires businesses to create unique and engaging content that is both informative and shareable. Social media advertising is based on a system of trust, where consumers are more likely to buy into a testimony or review by a third party than in words written by the company itself.
If one person recommends a product or brand, word-of-mouth marketing begins, and soon you have developed a community of trusting consumers who will pass on the message of your brand’s reliability and quality. With consistent content, you are also increasing brand awareness. Not every person in your network of followers/friends is going to read each blog post or article. But having your brand pop up in someone’s news feed is still an effective way of increasing awareness. So, whenever a consumer needs something you provide or sell, your brand image or name will ring a familiar bell.
SEO: SEARCH ENGINE OPTIMIZATION
Through keyword optimization, quality content, and search engine and user-friendly web design, businesses can climb the search engine ranks. There is no doubt that the higher you are on the search results page, the higher your traffic and conversions. Like most other advertising platforms, SEO practices are constantly changing. By staying ahead of current trends, continuing to optimize and improve the content on a regular basis, and staying active on social media, you can be sure to reap the rewards of a high search engine rank.
PPC: PAY-PER-CLICK
SEO, PPC, or pay-per-click advertising, is a viable way to increase traffic to websites and increase sales. Using Google AdWords or a similar search engine advertising platform, businesses will bid on a keyword phrase relevant to their industry and target market and, as the name suggests, will pay the current bid amount each time the advertisement is clicked. Though not every ad click is going to lead to a sale, it shows increased awareness and interest in and in the advertised brand. Certain keywords, depending on the industry you’re in, will be at a higher cost than others. That’s why it’s extremely important to be careful when choosing your keywords in a PPC campaign. The wrong keywords will put your message in front of the wrong audience.
No matter what industry you’re in, you cannot expect to grow without proper advertising. Though certain platforms may work better than others for your brand, television (network and cable), radio, social media, SEO, and PPC advertising are most effective when working together. The more platforms you use, and how effectively you use them, the more apt you are to reach a larger part of your target market.
Allan Todd is CEO of Pagecafe Digital Marketing. In 2022, Allan teamed up with Infront Webworks to provide digital marketing, website design, content marketing, SEO and strategy and solutions to local businesses. Allan lives in Colorado Springs.