As a business owner, you want to make sure your advertising and marketing efforts pay off. If you spend too much money developing campaigns for experimental platforms, you might find your company strapped for cash down the line. Therefore, it's essential that you keep abreast of today's marketing trends.
According to the TVB's Media Comparisons 2012 study, approximately 37.2 percent of American consumers say television influences their purchasing decisions the most. TV was followed by newspapers (10.6 percent), the internet (5.6 percent) and magazines (4.4 percent). While you may have heard a lot about social media and search engine optimization as driving forces behind lead generation marketing, many consumers still consider television to be the best place to go to learn about new products and services.
When you begin to conceptualize future marketing campaigns, you should take the study's latest findings into consideration, but don't follow it too closely. The secret to successful advertising is a multi-platform approach. Allocating resources to a single method may prevent a company from engaging with a large population of people, so you might want to spread your message across various outlets.
With the economy forcing many small business owners to keep an even closer eye on their budgets, there may not be room to promote products and services through television broadcasts. If your business falls into this category, you may want to focus your attention on other platforms that have proven to be successful in lead generation and conversion.
Recently, the Direct Marketing Association's 2012 Response Rate Report reported on the channels that generate the highest return on investment. The latest report finds that direct mail continues to lead the pack with an existing customer average 3.4 percent compared with .12 percent for email. This means that, for every 1,000 existing customers receiving printed materials, approximately 34 will respond. With email, only 1 out of 1,000 would follow through and make a purchase.
You have a lot of decisions to make when it comes to promoting your brand. While it might be advantageous to advertise on major network stations, it also costs a lot of money that you could allocate toward future endeavors. In 2012, consider focusing more of your attention on direct mail, and use television sparingly. When you develop an advertising campaign that spreads across a variety of platforms, you might find a greater number of people talking about your brand and the products and services you offer.
Conceptualize a multi-platform marketing campaign today, and watch your lead generation marketing produce positive returns.
