Are Marketing Plans Essential or a Misuse of Resources?
The Uniqueness of Digital Marketing Campaigns
Analyze ROI
Almost all marketers (including myself) are very enthusiastic about the huge advantages of digital marketing and its ability to target a specific niche and quickly measure ROI.
What impresses an advertiser the most is the virtually instant analytics available with most digital campaigns. This allows an advertiser to quickly make decisions and alter campaigns based on feedback among many other things.
These days a well-tuned digital effort is usually the foundation of solid marketing programs.
The Death of Traditional Marketing – or – Can it Complement
After successfully running simultaneous campaigns, marketers agree that choosing just ‘digital marketing’ may not be the ideal approach. Based on numerous studies from past successful campaigns, there are specific areas where traditional marketing channels are still quite effective and necessary part of the mix to get the maximum marketing impact per dollar spent.
For example – think about businesses that still operate out of ‘brick and mortar’ locations: auto repair, health clubs, hair salons, restaurants and many others that depend on customers and prospects to visit their physical locations.
Yes, I can access these services online and even have employees come to my home to get these services, but that’s not the dominant business model. At least not today.
Looking Towards the Future
Traditional tactics integrated with digital advances are the foundation of future successful campaigns. The customers who visit our locations are arguably stronger ‘hand raisers’ than those who sit home and Google their shopping and to-do list. These are the big spending customers and I want to target them. So the question is how can I effectively integrate both traditional and digital. Here are a couple of them:
- Can I use signage, collateral, PA system announcements and video to sell/upsell and build loyalty programs in physical locations? Yes, and very cost effectively.
- When I have locations that distribute products and services I have trade areas – where and how far they come to see me – and can measure trade area potential. We can analyze the best customer look alike and find additional lookalikes in our trade area. These prospects are still solicited with direct mail in many environments and in spite of mail costs can still be very viable. If we can tie an email and URL address to customer prospects, we can target them digitally as well.
Sophisticated marketers today should have comprehensive digital and social media programs running as well. The combined marketing should direct the searching ‘hand raisers’ to the best/nearest facility, re-target prospective customers using digital ads, test incentives and build brand loyalty online. Digital marking IS a key part of the marketing mix, but in many of these cases the traditional route is still cost effective and a foundation of the marketing plan.
Moving Forward the TRADigital Way
We’re starting to hear the term TRADigital more and more, reflecting the integration of marketing techniques from both traditional and digital marketing. This is not only appropriate for franchises and multi-location retail, but in fact it is everywhere! Look at major bank credit card businesses. The ‘what’s in your wallet’ credit card people are in my TV, in my mailbox (surprise?), in all my smart devices and probably leveraging some media I do not see. Want to bet the marketing budget allocation is driven by some serious analytics?
What do you think? Can you think of anyone else who is doing a good job of TRADigital marketing? Appreciate your thoughts and comments!
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