Lion Publishing Services - Online Marketing Vs Traditional Marketing
Statistics Prove beyond a Doubt as to Who the Winner is!
The internet revolution has truly changed how business is
conducted all over the world. The business world is captivated by the powers
and the prospects the World Wide Web offers. Online marketing through the
internet has become the preferred mode of increasing consumer awareness of
their products and services of a significant number of companies the world
over. Traditional media marketing done through television, cinema and print
medium has taken a back seat to online marketing. Statistics on recent trends
indicate a paradigm shift in the choices of business owners, marketing managers
and executive assistants to use online marketing as their prime marketing
stratagem. However, there are a few skeptics who doubt the clout the internet
holds vis-à-vis online marketing and a debate rages on the question of which is
better and which mode offers faster and better results. My knowledge, wisdom
and experience as a man involved in online marketing strategies for quite a
number of years makes me vouch for the superiority of online marketing over
traditional media marketing. I will present some statistics to justify my
preference for online marketing, not as a proof of my knowledge and business
acumen but to put forward an unbiased opinion for the sake of the readers.
- According to one recent survey done by a popular and respected research organization, about 72% of the American population own computers and have access to the internet. About 28% of the world population has access to the internet. The figures are likely to increase in numbers rapidly. This validates the thrust and reach of online marketing.
- The internet is the preferred medium at work and the
second preferred at home to the majority of the American population. Americans
spend 14 hours per week watching television and 14 hours per week online. (
Google Statistics) Nothing can illustrate better the potential reach of online marketing.
- The average consumer is more aware than ever before. He or
she is well informed about products and services that they intend to purchase.
The average consumer does not wait for the marketing companies to reach them
and instead go after their choices based on information sourced from the
internet. ( Wikipedia )
- 11 research firms predicted that online ad spending will
grow at the rate of 12 to 19.4 percent in the year 2009 (eMarketer).
- A study done in May 2008 revealed that 72% of marketers said
their online marketing budgets will increase or remain the same even during
recession (Forrester Research).
- Online marketing is one of the "recession proof
corners" (New York Times).
Now that the potential and reach of online marketing has
been established, let me proceed to illustrate how online marketing ranks over
traditional media marketing in many ways. There are three vital factors that
make online marketing a more sensible choice when it comes to cutting costs and
increasing profits. They are cost, proof of reach and conversion rate.
Given that all businesses are in the game to make more
money, the costs involved in creating/implementing traditional television and
print media marketing campaigns does not make any sense at all in terms if returns
when compared to the benefits of employing online marketing strategies. To
start an online marketing program, all one has to do is develop a website with
content that is enriched with keywords that attract prospective customer
traffic to your website at a far less price than running expensive traditional
media campaigns. More traffic results in more business and it is the job of the
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) /online marketing /Web development companies
to provide your website with all the things needed to bring more visitors to
it. Good online marketing strategists know the importance of competition
analysis, keyword research, and providing content that will be instantly
visible to the algorithmic combinations of a typical search process. The knowledge
of how to entice potential customers to reach your website comes with years of
experience and market research. If you already have a website and still do not
find the expected amount of potential customers visiting your site, a good
SEO/Online marketing company will do a free evaluation of your website to
recommend any changes needed.
The second factor is the actual reach of a marketing
campaign. In traditional media marketing, a business owner will not have any
idea of how many potential customers he or she is actually reaching. For
example, if there are about 30,000 readers of a particular magazine or
newspaper, how will anybody know as to how many percent of the actual readers
have noticed your marketing promo? Truth is there is no way of knowing it. In
online marketing, powerful web analytics keep track of the traffic to your
website based on which you can calculate conversion figures and make suitable
changes in the content or strategy to boost sales.
The third factor is conversion. One of the main differences
between traditional media marketing and online marketing is the way in which
customers make a choice. In the former, a campaign is addressed to a general
audience, looking for potential customers while in the latter it is the
customer who is coming to you. He or she already knows what he or she is
looking for and it thus makes it easier to convert the visitor to a customer.
Good web development companies like Lion Publishing
Services, SEO and online marketing companies are experts in the way a
potential customer searches and makes choices on the internet. This knowledge
helps them in making needed changes to a website to help the website generate
more traffic and thereby more business.
All the facts stated above and especially the fact that
online marketing is still growing even during these hard recession times should
convince even the die hard skeptic. The smart marketing manager or business
owner is taking action now, because it is their survival that may be on the
line and a professional online marketing company will be worth their weight in
gold.
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