Digital Marketing Foundation Traditional vs. Online Marketing Presented by Karen Porter Department of Marketing School of Business Administration The University of Montana

Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing Traditional marketing is “outbound” marketing Marketers identify the consumers they want to reach and then broadcast out to them Interruptive marketing One-way communication Online marketing is primarily “inbound” marketing and lets customers find YOU They’re searching for what you have and locate YOU Two-ways (or multi-way) communication Interactive in nature Focused on relationship building and loyalty

Before the Internet Businesses relied upon traditional media: Yellow Pages Newspapers Television Radio Magazines Telemarketing Direct Marketing Fax Marketing

Times are Changing Traditional advertising media are losing effectiveness – and here’s why…

Traditional advertising media are losing effectiveness Times are Changing Traditional advertising media are losing effectiveness Directories – (focusing primarily on Yellow Pages) Get out-of-date quickly (may be inaccurate) Expensive Multiple options (does Missoula need 3 Yellow Pages?) Does your business need to BE in all three? Huge fall-out in usership – consumers moved online

Traditional advertising media are losing effectiveness Times are Changing Traditional advertising media are losing effectiveness Print Publications Printing costs have increased Readership is skewing to older demographics Fewer readers = lower distribution = lower ad revenues Major newspapers have closed their doors

Traditional advertising media are losing effectiveness Times are Changing Traditional advertising media are losing effectiveness Television – harder to grab and hold attention Fragmentation of viewers Zipping (skipping through commercials) Channel surfing during commercials Alternative viewing – Hulu

Traditional advertising media are losing effectiveness Times are Changing Traditional advertising media are losing effectiveness Radio Background medium (hard to get undivided attention) Alternative options in vehicles Satellite radio Plug in your iPod Listen to CDs Alternatives in homes/offices Internet radio (Pandora, etc.) Cable Television music options iPods

Traditional advertising media are losing effectiveness Times are Changing Traditional advertising media are losing effectiveness Direct Mail – costly / low conversion / slow Costly on a per piece basis MUST be tightly targeted to be cost effective Only works for higher prices items (based on ROI) Low conversion Slow

Traditional advertising media are losing effectiveness Times are Changing Traditional advertising media are losing effectiveness Telemarketing – 1990’s was huge for this Do No Call Lists Significant reduction of registered land lines Viewed as privacy invasion (i.e. “spammy”

New Media is Online & Online Statistics are Astonishing 1 Trillion + — number of web pages in the world 200+ Billion online searches each year in U.S. alone 30 % — searches that are targeted locally (city or zip )* 20 % — total online searches done by mobile phones* 37 % — small businesses without a website* 80 % — local searches done on mobile devices = buyers* 0 % — chance to connect with consumers who are searching online if an organization doesn’t have an online presence * 2012 statistics based on U.S. data only

Business Owners Face Marketing Challenges Recession has led to slower sales & lower profits Traditional media declining in effectiveness Consumers are searching for businesses online Business owners are confused and frustrated about how to use online marketing effectively Many businesses lack either the knowledge, the interest, or the time to learn online marketing and develop an online strategy…..

How Many Business Owners Feel

A Website is Essential But Having One isn’t Enough Websites lend credibility The business card of yesterday Is your website getting found? Know how people are searching & where your site is ranked How do you drive traffic to a website? Know what your prospective customer is doing online Is your site helping or hurting your business? Does it promote your business to best advantage? Your site should be an online HUB!

Your Website as an Online Hub

Why Being “On” Google is Vital 70% of all U.S. online searches are done on Google 80% + of intl. online searches are done on Google (with a few notable exceptions – ex: China) 60% of searchers do not typically search beyond page one of search engine results Do you know what your potential customers are searching for? – Keyword Research Need to be FOUND by those searching for the goods and services you offer – SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Website Not Getting Found? Was the site developed strategically? Were goals clearly defined on the front end? Was keyword research done first to drive how and where those words are optimized on the site? Did development include these 3 key elements? Solid coding (the site functions as it should) Strong design (attractive, credible & user-friendly) Strategic marketing (solid SEO, marketing strategy done on front-end, integrated and ongoing online marketing strategies) Are you using best practices of SEO? On-page optimization Links coming into the website (quality counts more than quantity) Social validation

Keywords – Vitally Important Keywords – the combination of words that people use to search for something in the search engines The best keywords Significant search volume (i.e. enough search to drive traffic) Not too much competition (i.e. feasible to get on page 1 of Google) Determine search volume Google Keyword Planner – free tool Paid tools available Determine level of competition Various tools available to help determine this

Basics of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) More than 200 factors included in Google algorithms On-site SEO Use keywords in strategic places In “behind the scenes” code that search engines see On the pages of the website in certain places Linking into the website Quality links are more important than quantity Google has come down hard on linking “schemes” Social signals Confirmation that the website is liked/used by visitors Google placing more weight on social signals in its algorithm Social validation increasingly important

Mobile Marketing – The Next Wave 67 % of U.S. citizens now own smart phones Japan and Europe mobile are far ahead of U.S. in smart phone usage; the U.S. is sure to follow 97% of smart phone users search online by phone <20% of all sites are mobile-friendly By end of 2014, more people will access websites by smartphones and tablets than by desktops and laptops combined!

Social Media – “So many options…” Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Google + Instagram Four Square Others…

Social Media – F.O.C.U.S. Business use of social media is not the same as personal use… Focus – on 1-2 targeted social media platforms that best align with the business target market’s use of social media One in four “rule” Calendar – plan monthly / quarterly in advance Utility – use tools to make posting easier Social – create content that is “share-worthy”

“Share-worthy” is KEY Share-worthy is NOT:

Share-worthy Content Is NOT: IS: Pitch, pitch, pitch…sell, sell, sell… Obviously self-serving all the time One-sided communication IS: Interactive – two way communication Involves your customers, fans, etc. Engaging!

Four Types of Content Informing Storytelling (most important) Product / service reminders (i.e. “selling”) General (but related) content

Informing Content What’s new in your business Updates special events New products New services New staff Updates special events Sales and promotions Special events – grand opening, holiday celebration, etc. Other “announcement” type information Awards Media coverage Etc.

Storytelling Content Stories about your customers Stories about you – personalize the business owner / managers of the business Stories about staff and why they work for you Schedule: as often as possible – will need to encourage participation!

Product & Service Reminders Product / service highlights Subtle “selling” of a product your carry or service you offer Present as problems to solutions when you can Do NOT make it a strong sales pitch Soft-selling in social media works much better

General Related Content Fun, FYI-type information that is relevant to your products / services / industry Cartoons Memes Photos sent in my customers, Etc. Fun or informative FYI-type info that is universally appealing

What Does All This Mean for Biz? Marketing strategy needs to marry online and offline marketing initiatives Know specifically the words your customers are using to search – them use those words online Use online findings to market offline Use media that is right for your type of business Know what’s already working for you - continue using what works and eliminate what’s not

What Does All This Mean for Biz? continued Know your “conversion funnel” statistics – having the ability to measure gives you power Develop a STRATEGY (don’t just try a hodge-podge of ideas hoping something will work) Measure and tweak what’s working and then “rinse and repeat” to improve your results Do NOT try to do everything – start by doing several things really well and you’ll have better success Add more things as you succeed with initial efforts