PrintThere is no overemphasizing the power of marketing your business by way of digital media.
Blogs, microblogs (such as Twitter), Internet search, social networks (such as Facebook and LinkedIn), and e-mail marketing rank as the top five digital marketing techniques in a poll of marketers by TopRank’s Online Marketing Blog. Corporate Web sites ranked way down at No. 13 on the list.
Blogging and microblogging rank at the top for good reason: They’re relatively easy and cheap to produce, and the word-of-mouth among customers and potential customers can be transformative for your business. By using popular blog builders such as WordPress or Google’s Blogger, a business owner can put together a blog in no time at all, and securing a URL is free of charge, resulting in virtually zero expense, though it does require time. Even though there is much buzz about the amount of time maintaining a blog requires compared to its real usefulness, once your blog starts showing up in consumers’ searches and your customers and prospects begin interacting with it, you may find it is definitely worthwhile. Like any investment in your business, it is up to you to decide whether blogging might yield a real payoff for your business.
Mobile applications are also one of the more popular digital marketing techniques to burst on the scene in the past couple of years. With the explosion in popularity of the iPhone and BlackBerry smartphones there is a veritable cottage industry around the development of mobile applications. Businesses large and small have introduced a flurry of apps that provide services and entertainment to users as well as fantastic promotion for the sponsor. An example is the health and fitness magazine Men’s Health that introduced its Mobile Workout Series iPhone app. Users can download 160 exercises from the best-known trainers and athletes, all for only $1.99 from the Apple iTunes Store, while the magazine gets its name out there.
Some other popular digital media ideas include but are certainly not limited to viral marketing, branded microsites, widgets, webinars, podcasts, online advertorials, online contests, and gaming.
As TopRank puts it: “Traditional marketing budgets are increasingly shifting to digital marketing, and why not? Internet marketing is often more cost effective, builds awareness quickly, fosters relationships, and is measurable in ways traditional advertising just can’t match.”
As the owner of one outdoor-adventure business on the West Coast (who reports getting 75 percent of his business by way of the Internet) puts it: “If you’re visiting San Francisco and you want to take a surfing lesson, you’re not going to wait till you get here to set it up. For the services we offer, most people look online.”