In our work to build and grow the world’s greatest personal blog, we have been asked by multiple companies whether or not marketing online is cost-effective. In this blog post, we will answer the question by explaining what cost-effective means and how it relates to marketing online. We will also discuss some of the upsides and downsides of online marketing.
What Is Cost-Effective?
When speaking with marketing professionals, you will often hear them say that something is “cost-effective” if it yields a good return on investment (ROI). In general, this means that the investment made in order to achieve a certain goal is more than worth it. For example, if you are looking to increase web traffic to your site in order to make more sales, then hiring a few freelancers to perform PPC (Pay-Per-Click) ads is an affordable way to achieve that goal.
The concept of return on investment can be difficult to grasp when you’re first getting started. Let’s say you’re a new business owner and you’ve just launched your website. You’ve spent a decent chunk of change on hosting, domain names, and other indispensable online marketing tools. If you start seeing decent growth overnight, would you be able to justify the investment?
The answer is definitely yes. The investment you’ve made to grow your business will eventually pay for itself. The problem is that this might not happen overnight. It might take years before you can start to see the benefits of your online marketing efforts. During this time, you’re stuck paying for each month’s service regardless of whether or not your efforts yielded any results.
Marketing Online Is More Than Meets The Eye
One of the primary benefits of online marketing is that you can target the right audience. This means you can reach a group of people who are more likely to be interested in what you have to say than someone else. If you compare this to traditional marketing methods, which usually target a large group of people who are likely to be interested in your product or service, you can see the advantages of doing business online. The only downside to this form of marketing is that you have to choose your words wisely because the wrong phrase or sentence can turn a potential customer into an angry person who doesn’t want to do business with you.
Whether you are selling products online or offline, the main goal of any business is to make as much money as possible. In many cases, this will mean turning potential customers away. Choosing the right words and having the correct tone of voice can help you avoid giving off the wrong impression, which might result in lost profits. When communicating with customers, whether they’re existing or potential, you have to keep this in mind as you decide what to say and how to say it. This is especially important when marketing online because, as we just mentioned, everything is out there for the whole world to see.
The Downsides Of Marketing Online
Now, let’s discuss some of the downsides to marketing online. Just because your business is online, it doesn’t mean you’ll automatically find the best way to reach your audience. Just like with any other form of marketing, you will need to put in the work to figure out what works and what doesn’t.
One of the primary downsides to marketing online is that you have to measure the results of your efforts very carefully. There are so many variables that can influence the success of your campaign, from the quality of your campaign to the timing of its launch.
For example, if you’re running an e-commerce store and you notice that more people are visiting your site during the week than on the weekend, that could mean that there are more people online shopping on weekdays than on the weekend. In this case, you might want to consider adjusting your marketing strategy to target weekday shoppers rather than weekend ones.
Another important factor that can influence the success of your marketing campaign is the platform you use to launch it. If you’re using a free platform like WordPress or Blogger, the key to having a successful campaign might simply be posting regularly. People are likely to follow the advice of established blogs in their industry, so by posting frequently you increase your chances of increasing traffic to your site. However, this doesn’t mean that every blog will perform equally well. Some content is simply more valuable than others.
For example, let’s say you’re a fashion blogger and you want to promote a new piece of clothing on your site. If you search for that piece of clothing on Google, you’ll most likely find hundreds of websites where you can read about it. In all likelihood, not a single one of those websites is going to be the best choice for your potential customers. This is where having a strong analytics program comes in handy. With these programs you can track the performance of each individual post, based on the keywords you used in the blog article itself, to determine the value that specific content provides to your campaign. In this case, you could decide that an in-depth article about the history of clothing is more valuable than a quick tips post on how to style specific pieces of clothing.
Online Vs. Offline Marketing
One of the things that make marketing online so valuable is that it allows you to do both online and offline marketing simultaneously. You can use online marketing to drive traffic to your website, social media platforms, and other similar locations. Once there, you can have people engage with your content and, hopefully, make a purchase.
On the other hand, offline marketing, which you’ll often hear business owners refer to as “traditional marketing,” is when you promote your products or services directly to consumers who are in physical proximity to you. This could mean using posters and billboards to advertise your products or going to businesses in your industry and handing out flyers or business cards. You’ll also have to pay for each method of advertising individually, since you can’t track sales from one channel to the next.
Now, if you’re wondering which form of marketing is better, the answer is that it depends on your goals and the type of customer you’re trying to reach. If you’re looking to increase your online audience, then launching a marketing campaign online is a good idea because you can target the right audience and try out new ideas quickly.
However, if your goal is to get your products in the hands of as many people as possible, then you might want to consider investing in offline marketing. The key is finding the right balance between the two. If you want your business to thrive, you have to find ways to connect with your audience, whether they’re online or offline.