Advertising

1. Traditional advertising can only talk. SM can talk, ask questions, and most importantly, listen.

2. People are likely to be more loyal to a brand when they can interact with it. According to a study by Anderson Analytics, 52% of social network users
had become a fan or follower of a company or brand.

3. Companies learn a great deal from the direct feedback they get from their customers.

4. Audiences are increasingly more fragmented making it harder to cost effectively reach them.

5. People are tired of being interrupted by ads and are largely ignoring or avoiding mass advertising

6. New ideas can quickly and inexpensively be tested before committing to expensive mass advertising production.

7. Traditional advertising is a time limited event. When it’s done, it’s done. Social media is ongoing and often takes on a life of it’s own.

8. SMM can address negative word-of-mouth before it becomes a rebellion or destructive to your brand.

9. Traditional marketing ROI can be difficult to measure. Lessons learned from social marketing can be used to guide traditional efforts.

10. It’s hard to get a sense of belonging from a TV screen or magazine page.

Now tell me what you think.

A quick glance at any of the recent marketing forecasts will show that more and more advertising budgets are allocating a bigger slice of the pie for online.

The assumption has been that online marketing offers better metrics, the ability for marketers to respond faster and is a more cost effective marketing solution. But are we as marketers being self centered again? Are we looking at this from the wrong angle? Most professionals are talking about how online marketing benefits the marketer, but shouldn’t we be talking about is how it helps the consumer, and how marketers can join in.

The way I look at it, the change in marketing is not as much from offline to online, but rather from outbound marketing tactics to inbound. And in my opinion, the change is not being driven by marketers, but by consumers themselves.

We have seen consumers who were fed up with being interrupted during dinner by telemarketers legally strike back at an entire industry. People who wanted to relax in front of their TV but felt berated with annoying self-serving commercials, gladly fork over hundred of dollars for a Tivo just so they could fast forward through the ads. And folks that were once easily targeted with drive time radio now are listening to their downloaded MP3s so they have more control over what they hear.

When running a direct mail campaign, most advertisers would be pleased with anything over a 2% response rate. How many marketers have given any real thought to the 98% of recipients that are not interested and are now asked to make that daily trip to the trash to dispose of the handful of unwanted envelopes and catalogs that arrived with their name on it?

There has been a change not just in consumer behavior, but in consumer thinking. Consumers have discovered that their free time and attention are both limited and valuable. And just like money, they want to use it wisely, not just give it away. I think it’s consumers that have changed and now marketing is trying to catch up.

Traditional outbound marketing theory presumes that by spending money on media where people are focusing their attention, a marketers message will get through as well. If that message is repeated enough times and has some connection to the viewer, a small percentage might remember or consider the message.

Inbound marketing on the other hand is based on the idea that people’s time and attention has value. By offering something of value in return with no strings attached, such as information or entertainment in an honest and personal way, people will be willing to listen. More importantly, they sometimes engage and influence others. But it’s on their terms, not yours.

So the next time you get an un-requested credit card application, have to sift through unsolicited email or have to wait to hear the weather on the news because that Sham-wow guy is back, think about what your time and attention are worth.

Do you agree?

The first logical question marketers ask themselves is: “who uses our product and how can we target them?” But is that the right question or should it be “who is actually buying our product?”

Women are the gatekeepers of the American home. Statistics show that women make virtually all the decisions regarding both major and minor family purchases, including; personal care products, groceries, vacation destinations, computers, home improvements, new car purchases, even home purchases, themselves and much more. In fact, women make up 85 percent of all brand purchases, amounting to almost two trillion dollars.

Despite the proof, a great deal of marketers still don’t appeal to female sensibilities. Making matters worse, they often tries to be so tough to appeal to men, that they inadvertently turn women off. This is a huge missed opportunity. Successful marketers don’t ignore the power of women’s purchasing authority, and they address the issue head on. This doesn’t mean that every product should be in a pink package. It means marketers need to have a better understanding of whose making the final purchasing decision, and what motivates the buyer, not just the end user. Having a strategic and creative team that understand how to speak to these gatekeepers while not alienating the men that use the products is crucial. Working with an advertising agency owned and managed by women that have the personal experience as gatekeepers themselves is a reasonable first step and can be a huge asset.

Smart agencies know the Internet is an excellent place to reach women these days. Whether inside or outside of the home, women are multi-tasking on laptops, desktops and hand-held devices. If you aren’t reaching out and developing relationships with women through these media, you aren’t making nice to the gatekeepers.

The new hot place to shop is on a keyboard. According to Inc. magazine, “Women will continue to flock to the on-line platform that allows them to save time researching and buying.” Women are not just shopping for themselves they are shopping for their husbands, children, friends and other family members. It only makes sense to tailor more and more ads to appeal to these all-powerful decision-makers.

Make nice to the gatekeepers and you’ll reap the rewards.

Since electronic media is such a cost effective method to keep your brand message “pulling” customers in, do we still to need to “push” with traditional advertising?

These days, when consumers are looking for specific information, they often go online. That’s when pulling your audience in to your site through SEO, PPC, and Social Marketing shine. It’s a perfect opportunity to find a self-described interested audience that’s ready and willing to listen with an open mind to a message tailored just for them.

While customers are mentally prepared to absorb the details of your offerings, they may also be prepared to compare them mercilessly to your competition or be distracted by checking email, downloading other some other multi-tasking effort. Basically, many online consumers go on “information-gathering expeditions”. For that reason online information must always be easily accessible, quick and to the point.

So is there still a need for traditional advertising? Much of the public still has a love for magazines. First, there’s the portability and leisurely aspect traditionally associated with periodicals. Readers expect longer, more detailed articles then they usually find online so they can delve deeply into a subject. Folks read magazines because they’re interested in the subject and they have time to relax a bit. It gives them a chance to discover things they weren’t specifically looking for. Television, Radio and Out-of-Home marketing have a similar logic. Consumers exposed to traditional push advertising have a very different mindset than consumers online where research is usually the goal. Reading a magazine or watching TV is less about searching for specific information, brands or products and more about discovery.

Since the mental state of a viewer is different from online to print, it’s necessary to maintain a presence in both mediums. Whether you call it “Convergence Marketing” or “Integrated Marketing”, building a joint online and offline marketing campaign is not just a matter of adapting the message to the medium. It also requires adapting the message to the mindset. And while the specifics of the content change, the basic strategy, positioning and overall image should remain consistent to compliment and support one another. A well executed integrated push-pull marketing campaign is ultimately more effective than the sum of it’s parts.