DOES TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING WORK IN TODAY’S ECONOMY?

DOES TRADITIONAL ADVERTISING WORK IN TODAY’S ECONOMY?

In general terms People’s consumption of information has shifted from print to digital media, Outdoor does have an effect in terms of brand awareness but it is unproven in terms of direct drive to purchase.

In most cases, traditional advertising doesn’t work like it used to. There’s just too much of it now and people block it out, or literally fast-forward through it, billboards lack effect due to the visual clutter on our high streets and the pace at which society moves, the seconds, many brands that continue to use the medium are having work so much harder to attract the attention of the Public, some even going as far as actually placing physical cars on billboards in an effort to stand out.So in effect traditional billboard and outdoor advertising in its current state is grossly inefficient. With that said, new innovation in this space reveals how effective this ad medium can be once injected with some digital interaction or moving image, the main issue with this is cost, budgets for this medium are tighter than ever so the spend of £100,000 might get you a split second of brand awareness but it will have no long lasting effect. NO!

SO WHAT CAN YOU DO TO GET PEOPLE TO LOOK AT YOUR BUSINESS OVER OTHERS?

We believe that to really reach today’s consumers, companies and brands will need to build relationships with them rather than simply grabbing their attention or utilising disruptions as an advertising tool. In other words, marketers should be progressive rather than aggressive, marketers and advertisers should be looking to a more digital approach and an approach that integrates into multi platforms…

“If you do not have a multi platform sales strategy, then you have NO sales strategy”

IS THERE A BETTER WAY IN, IN THIS MULTI-PLATFORM SOCIAL SOCIETY?

Current research predicts that UK retail sales directly via social media are forecast to grow to £290m by 2014 from £210m (a rise of 44%) as more and more brands target consumers with personalised offers and deals through social networks.

However, we believe that the real value from social media will come from the way it is used to influence and inspire purchases, with £3bn of retail sales predicted to be influenced by social media by 2014.

Nearly half of social media users are already using social platforms while thinking about making a purchase, and a similar number of users are actively deciding what to buy based on what they have seen on social media platforms, including reviews and recommendations.

DOES SOCIAL MEDIA REALLY INCREASE SALES?Lets look at some of the most recent stats

27% of total UK Internet

time is spent on social networking sites.

15% of total UK. mobile

Internet time is spent on social networking

sites.

21% of marketers say that

social media has become more important to their

company over the past six months

85% of fans of brands on

Facebook recommend brands to others,

compared to 60% of average users. 74%

of marketers say Facebook is important to their lead generation

strategies. Social media

produces almost double the marketing leads of trade shows, telemarketing, direct

mail, or PPC (Pay Per Click).

Companies that generate more than

1,000 Facebook Likes also receive nearly 1,400 website visits

a day. On Facebook,

brand posts get half of their reach within 30 minutes of being posted.

Social media lead conversion rates are

13% higher than the average lead

conversion rate.

52% of all marketers have found a customer via

Facebook in 2013.

36% of all marketers have found a customer via

Twitter in 2013.

43% of all marketers have found a customer via

LinkedIn in 2013.

43% of consumers who

complain about products on Facebook

or Twitter expect a response within

1 hour. Some of your customers with over

1,000 Twitter followers generate more than 800

new website visitors a month.

25% of 23% of marketers are

investing in blogging and social media this year, a 9% increase

from 2012.

DOES SOCIAL MEDIA REALLY INCREASE SALES?Lets look at some of the most recent stats

Women are more likely than men to regularly

check out a brand’s social page (48% vs. 43%).

THIS THE BIG ONE… APPROXIMATELY 46% OF ONLINE USERS COUNT ON

SOCIAL MEDIA WHEN MAKING A PURCHASE DECISION.

RESTORE COMMUNITY MARKETING.

Used properly, social media is accelerating a trend in which buyers can increasingly approximate the experience of buying in their local, physical communities. For instance, when you contemplate a major purchase, such as a new car, a flat screen TV, or a good surgeon, you’re not likely to go looking for a salesperson to talk to, or to read through a bunch of corporate website content. Instead, you’ll probably ask neighbors or friends — your peer network — what or whom they’re using.

Companies should position their social media efforts to replicate as much as possible this community-oriented buying experience. In turn, social media firms, such as Facebook, should become expert at enabling this. They can do this by expanding the buyer’s network of peers who can provide trustworthy information and advice based on their own experience with the product or service.

FIND YOUR CUSTOMER INFLUENCERS.

Many firms spend lots of resources pursuing outside influencers who’ve gained following on the Web and through social media.A much better approach is to find and cultivate customer influencers and give them something great to talk about. This requires a new concept of customer value that goes way beyond customer lifetime value (CLV), which is based only on purchases. There are many other measures of a customer’s potential value, beyond the money they pay you.

HELP THEM BUILD SOCIAL CAPITAL.

Practitioners of this new, community-oriented marketing are also rethinking their customer value proposition for such MVP (or “Customer Champion” or “Rockstar”) customer advocates and influencers. Traditional marketing often tries to encourage customer advocacy with cash rewards, discounts or other untoward inducements. The new marketing helps its advocates and influencers create social capital: it helps them build their affiliation networks, increase their reputation and gives them access to new knowledge — all of which your customer influencers crave.

HOW SHOULD BRANDS REPLACE THE TRADITIONAL MARKETING MODEL?