Is it possible to only use online advertising (PPC, banner, e-mail) to support a traditional brick and mortar company? Or would you need a mix of traditional media to be successful?
Answers (9)
Doug L
Web & Interactive Director at Inovat // a web & interactive design firm
Best Answers in: Web Development (7), Direct Marketing (1), Internet Marketing (1), E-Commerce (1), Information Storage (1)
First, anything is possible. Whether or not you can ignore traditional marketing tactics really depends on your industry. Ask yourself some questions,
- What does your target client look like? What's their age, sex, income, etc.
- Is your clientèle local, nationwide or both?
- How do your competitors advertise?
- Is your website setup properly to track your online initiatives?
- Does your website reflect your brick and mortar company? Does it improve its image or hurt it?
Feel free to reply with your answers and I will give you my two cents.
Roger W
Experienced Marketing and Technology Executive, Start Up Specialist.
Best Answers in: Internet Marketing (1), Business Development (1), Career Management (1)
I agree with Doug and would stress his point about knowing your clientele. I think for some products you could get away with avoiding traditional media and still be successful. Many online channels offer localized targeting these days.
In July 2004, Nielsen//NetRatings MegaView Search service found that 24.4% of searchers utilizing major search engines conducted searches that were local in scope, averaging 4.6 searches per searcher. In September 2004, a Kelsey Group-BizRate.com study found that more than 74% of respondents said they had conducted local searches and confirmed that 20% of all searches among respondents was local. Utilizing the internet to find local businesses is now common practice.
In the past I've used not just geotargeting on advertising and search networks but also utilized internet yellow pages, newspaper and radio websites and city portals to target specific regions.
In my experience with promoting national brands I've found that utilizing radio spots in limited capacity can greatly increase the effectiveness of your online marketing initiatives. The trick is to make sure that they are running in the same markets that you are geotargeting online - you can also look into remnant inventory if cost is an issue.
Andrew M
Search Marketing Consultant
Best Answers in: Internet Marketing (4), Intellectual Property (1)
Hi Jon,
It is certainly possible to use online media exclusively to promote your physical locations, but is it the most effective media mix? Probably not. It all depends on your objectives and budget. I will assume that by "support" you mean "raise awareness for and traffic to" the physical location.
With proper planning and execution, traditional media is still the best way to generate awareness (some combination of reach and frequency against your target audience) for a product, service or business. Online marketing is a great complement to offline media in that it can capture the newly "aware" audience when they go online to seek what they need. Here are my thoughts on the online channels you listed, and a final suggestion on how to tie it all together.
PPC is not designed to build brands or raise awareness on a large scale. The advertiser is limited by the content (short text ads) and the context (the ads only appear next for keywords that the consumer explicitly searched for). Given that searchers have an implied intent when they enter keywords into a search bar, PPC is a "must have" for reaching the consumer when they are actively searching for your products or services. In addition to being in the right place at the right time, PPC's impact is quantifiable.
Banner ads are slightly better at creating awareness by building reach and frequency, but consumers are increasingly suffering from "banner blindness". Eye tracking studies have shown that over time, internet users learn to avoid banner ads that appear overly commercial and not relevant to the content they are viewing. To combat this, banner ads can be used as a point for interaction by using rich media and/or relevant, useful content rather than simply as a static billboard. Although they are the online equivalent of broadcast media, fragmentation within the online world makes it hard to effectively target your audience on a large scale. Behavioral and contextual targeting technologies are improving, but in my experience banner ads are still relatively inefficient and ineffective when used solely for building awareness and traffic to an offline location.
Email marketing presents different challenges. Namely, you have to have a list of email addresses that have explicitly granted you permission to market to them. Otherwise, you run the risk of violating the CAN-SPAM act of 2003. You can use lists of current or past customers that have opted in to your program, but this would imply that they are already aware of your business. Or, you can rent lists of prospective customers but again, you are limited by the accuracy of the data and the scalability of your campaign.
Of course, there are other online marketing tactics you can utilize (search engine optimization, online classifieds, local search marketing, social media marketing, etc) but the best campaigns are integrated across channels. This makes it easy for your prospective customers to "follow the scent" from the TV, radio or print ad to the internet. Once there, you should position your online media in the places they are most likely to go to find what you have to offer. The fun doesn't stop there, because you still have to persuade them to visit your website, and because you are an offline business you have the added challenge of convincing them to get up from behind their computer and actually come visit you in the real world.
I hope this introductory overview was helpful. It takes some time to perfect your media mix, but most likely it will be some combination of offline and online strategies and tactics. Remember, if you can't measure it, you can't manage it. So be sure to establish ways to analyze the results of your efforts against your pre-determined success metrics.
Best of luck!
I've seen clients that rely exclusively online, as it's the only real media in which you can calculate ROI. Traditional media advertising is waning in favor of online and I completely agree with that. I get my news online vs from a newspaper. I turn down the commercials on the radio and I Tivo most of my television watching. Online is targeted - searchers are much more likely to become customers than the masses who receive a mailer.
Feel free to contact me directly if you want to chat.
hmiddlebrooks@networksolutions.com
Jon,
There are studies that show that combining traditional media with internet marketing greatly increase ROI. A lot does depend on your target audience and especially how computer savvy they are. Your overall budget would also need to be seriously considered. One thing that traditional media will do is raise awareness and develop brand awareness among people who have yet to search for your product. As an example, if I'm not in the market for a home theater, but hear/see ads on traditional media, you name is branded for me. When I do search for home theater info and you on line ads hit me, it triggers my awareness and raises my desire to respond. My suggestion is to read the studies from the Radio Advertising Effectiveness Lab. One more good resource would be articles/books by Roy Williams the Wizard of Ads. He specializes in making advertising work for local brick and mortar owners. Check for his books at your favorite book seller.
Links:
Phil B
Advertising Expert at Clear Channel Radio & Online
Best Answers in: Sales Techniques (3), Advertising (2), Lead Generation (2), Direct Marketing (1), Business Development (1)
Jon,
One question that needs to be asked is... how many leads do you need? If you don't mind oversimplifying a bit, your prospects can be divided into three groups:
1. People who are actively seeking a mortgage or refininance right now.
2. People who are thinking about it, and beginning to research, and
3. People who don't need anything at the moment, but will at some point in the not-too-distant future.
Online advertising will get you the first group and some of the second, but won't do anything to get into the heads of those who aren't actively in the market right now. If you're a small shop and don't need that many leads, it may not be a problem, but for a larger company that's a pretty big group to sacrifice.
Chris Lytle likes to say that the human mind is a card file, with room for one or two cards in each category. The object of the game is for Paramount Equity to be the first card people reach for when they need a mortgage.
Broadcast media, used properly, will get you into the card file, and should also increase the effectiveness of your online efforts.
Kelsey K
Introducing.."The Best of Everything..& More"
Best Answers in: Internet Marketing (2), Job Search (1)
Hi Jon,
It is completely possible to support your company fully online. This would not be the case with every industry, but based on your demographic/target clientele, it shouldn't be a problem. To be honest, these days it is the online ad campaigns, SEO, PPC,well worked and programmed websites and landing pages along with clear and well placed calls to action/e-commerce that truly drive sales and ROI whereas much traditional media is more focused on driving brand awareness and branding (which is also important and can be achieved through online). Especially with your niche industry, online will work well for you. Please let me know if you have further questions or need assistance. I would love to help!
Michael L
Owner, FreedomFire Communications and Telecommunications Consultant
Best Answers in: Telecommunications (5), Web Development (4), Small Business (3), Starting Up (2), Computers and Software (2), Advertising (1), Direct Marketing (1), Internet Marketing (1), Search Marketing (1)
An email marketing campaign is a nice combination of online/offline. Aweber.com provides free training to accomplish this effectively (link provided). You can capture email contact info from website vistors as well as in store vistors to construct your mailing list.
Links:
There are a couple of things to think about here:
1. Can you do business with people outside a proximity to your brick and mortar business? If so, you can definitely use online to support your b & m, but you then really need to think of why you even have a b & m.
If you can't do business outside a proximity of your b & m, you then need to ask yourself how much potential online business is there in the area? Then you need to ask yourself how many of them would consider using the Internet for your services? If the answer to either of those questions is a low number, you need print (high density mailings are very affordable), radio, and/or local tv.
2. Will your online presence augment your print/radio/tv advertising? Anyone who responds to an advertisement must have seen/heard it somewhere. Old rule of thumb is that a customer needs to be exposed to your ad at least three times before it has an effect on him/her. Mixing the exposure between multiple channels is highly effective.
