Successful marketing has many correlations to a successful marriage, or any other commitment in your life, for that matter. Commitment is the key to the strategy, as each day you have to allow yourself to consistently evolve. You effectively navigate the highs and the lows, cultivating attributes like pivoting, growing, and learning. You cultivate your patience and dedication to doing a combination of the right things consistently to mold yourself, your relationship, or your business goals into a measured success.
All points of success can be attributed to commitment and lifelong learning. There is not one key success to marketing and branding; there are several!
The internet has become more widely accessible over time, and would you believe that even today, the number of people who go online on a daily basis is still increasing and has increased up to 5% over the last three years? Even in Canada, recently, the Government has announced long term investment in rural internet access which will continue the boom.
Marketing has always been about connecting with your audience in the right place and at the right time. Today, that means you need to meet them where they are already spending time: on the internet. The great advantage of digital marketing is that you can target only the prospects most likely to purchase your product or service. Now, you can accurately tailor your marketing message to reach just your target demographic, in a very defined way. This is a far more efficient and cost-effective approach to the crude shotgun scatter methods originally employed in early direct marketing campaigns. The difference is the internet.
Digital Marketing Benefits
1. Global Reach
Internet marketing provides businesses with a wider base of customers for their services or products than ever before, with access to communicate with millions of customers each day.
2. 24/7 Marketing
In today’s digital world, there’s no such thing as business hours because a business can never be truly “closed” anymore. Just as in a marriage, you can never stop paying attention to the needs of your customers (or your marriage partner). Whether that comes in the form of locating information on your website, interaction on your social media channels, searching for you on an industry website, or it could be simply locating you through Google.
Your accessibility and rapid response to your customers makes a huge difference when you are in a digital world.
The ability to communicate at all times should be an essential part of every marketing plan in an age of evolving technology and rapid response. Make it as easy as possible for your customer to contact you or have access to your company’s information. Your 24/7 presence lets them know that you care about their interests and their concerns and this fosters the growth of a rewarding relationship for all parties.
3. Lower Cost and More Methods of Marketing
The internet allows for lower cost and higher customizable options in your marketing strategy. The digital platform can offer opportunities for podcasts, videos, digital ads, and a suite of other high impact and effective strategies, including:
• Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Content Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• Pay Per Click (PPC)
• Affiliate Marketing
• Native Advertising
• Marketing Automation
• Email Marketing
• Online PR
• Inbound Marketing
• Sponsored Content
4. Social Media
Social media is now a must, in digital advertising. This is because customers look at comments and reviews posted by other consumers online. Businesses can easily incorporate social network tools in their advertising campaigns and increase profits by gaining new customers that rely heavily on communicating through social media.
However, do not rely just on social media channels, as they are becoming cluttered and it should not take away from your wholistic brand to consumer approach.
5. Build Lasting Relationships
If your business has an online presence, your customers will always find you. With internet marketing, suppliers can easily access the email addresses or contact details of both their prospects and their buyers. Businesses can use this data to cultivate a lasting relationship by sending updates to their customers regarding special discounts, new products or services, new coupons and products available. Furthermore, businesses can continue interacting with their clients after the initial sale.
6. Blogging and Storytelling
Blogging allows you to connect personally with your customer and tell your story as you define your brand and educate your customer.
The best example is, as in a marriage, we need to be kind, helpful, supportive, tolerant and flexible. Taking one aspect of this concept, you can manage and focus on being “kind”, and work on your strategies to succeed in being kind on a daily basis. Yet, having success in kindness, has borne results in just that one single locus.
It doesn’t also turn on the light switch for everything else to work as it is only one step in a process that is required every day. You must focus equally on all aspects of your endeavors to bring your marriage to a satisfactory level of contentment, or your marketing strategy to a satisfactory level of achievement.
In this example for digital marketing, you have brand building using elements like print, digital, customer service tradeshows and electronic advertising. If the digital marketplace is a key focus because you know where your customers are, then you can build a great digital campaign with digital ads, videos, and content. However, achieving instant results is rare. You need to cultivate a long-term focus of trusting the process and doing the right thing digitally to tell your story every day.
This structured, methodical approach will benefit your business in the long term, with patience, and putting your trust in the consistent employment of a variety of successful tactics.
Like a lasting, rewarding marriage relationship, you need to keep working at it. There is no quick and easy “light switch approach”, just hard work, repetition, consistency and belief in what you are doing.
Jim Eadie oversees Swineweb.com, Poultryproducer.com, Cropproducer.com, Dairyproducer.com, and Beefproducer.ca and has been involved in digital media in Agriculture for over 15 years. In his spare time, he enjoys hiking in all areas of Canada and the USA as well as spending time with family.
