Gone are the days of desperately probing through the yellow pages in the middle of the night, searching for a plumber in close proximity, to resolve an unexpected blockage of inconvenient proportions, only to find that their printed number is no longer in service. Times have changed.
The digital Goliath now reigns supreme and brings with it up-to-date, instant information in the form of Internet marketing. Information is now accessible from anywhere and at any time. It dwarfs traditional marketing, making it an ink spot on dated piece of paper.
Advertising is the backbone of any successful business, regardless of size. Effective advertising is measured by the amount of business generated from a specific marketing campaign. Companies across the board are finding that nontraditional forms of marketing, such as search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click advertising (PPC) and online videos are showing fast, effective results. These companies are using innovative methods to develop outstanding market repertoires.
Finebloom and Haenel is a Florida-based DUI law firm. In March 2010, the firm hired my company Everspark Interactive, an Atlanta-based SEO agency, to create a digital marketing campaign for their business. Within nine months, the firm has seen a 35% increase in business.
“This SEO marketing campaign has done amazing things for us,” said David Haenel, co-founder of Finebloom and Haenel. “The phone rings more and we have been on the first page of Google repeatedly from keyword searches.”
SEO marketing campaigns ensure that businesses make a unique impression to connect with consumers. Unlike traditional marketing, Internet marketing focuses on each business’ unique characteristics and promotes those characteristics to a target audience.
With the prominent shift from print to the internet, more consumers rely on digital sources for information. This information is global, and readily accessible through the use of computers and smartphones. Haenel predicts that businesses who continue to rely on traditional marketing, will soon struggle for survival.
“If you don’t use nontraditional marketing methods, you are going to get crushed,” Haenel warned.
He added that his firm will continue their SEO campaign into 2011, by adding mobile sites to their website, so that clients can access the firm’s information from their smartphones.
Benefits of nontraditional marketing:
1. Internet Marketing is More Measurable
Companies can effectively track marketing spending, as well as track the results of any Internet marketing campaign. Traditional marketing is based on a principle of trust, nontraditional marketing focuses on measurable results.
2. Internet Marketing Makes Strategic Decisions Based on Facts
Based on measurable results, Internet marketing can modify a campaign instantly to adjust to the public’s response. It can base those decisions on detailed analytics. Consumer response can be studied in detail and in real time.
3. Internet Marketing Effectively Reaches a Target Audience
Internet marketing can target an audience of any size and location through SEO tools. In contrast, traditional marketing focuses on a mass audience through magazines or television advertisements
4. Internet Marketing is a Constant Source
Internet marketing is ever-present. A Web address remains in the same spot, all the time. Consumers can find business services by doing keyword searches. In contrast, traditional marketing depends on allotted time-slots or print space to convey a message. If the consumer misses a television commercial, the business lost a potential client. Internet marketing is constant.
5. Internet Marketing Provides Better Word-of-Mouth
Social media sparks conversations that can reach an audience of massive proportions, within minutes. Word-of-mouth remains the most effective form of marketing and client growth.
6. Internet Marketing Increases Conversions
Internet marketing gives businesses the opportunity to track the effectiveness of the marketing campaign. They show which strategies work, and which don’t. This ensures a constant increase in conversions. By contrast, traditional marketing simply creates a campaign and relies on hope as its strategy for success. Internet marketing offers an up-to-date, accurate representation of results, which a business can choose to drop or develop to ensure the best possible outcome of their campaign.
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As the director of SEO at Everspark Interactive, Jason Hennessey oversees search marketing campaigns for high profile celebrities, lawyers, politicians and Fortune 500 companies. Within the industry he is known as “The Secret Weapon” people call on when they want to rank for extremely competitive terms in short periods of time. Hennessey has played an instrumental role in turning Everspark Interactive into a $1.2 million agency in only three months.
