While the convenience of being able to connect with customers and prospects online has grown leaps and bounds, the reality is that many businesses still depend heavily on traditional marketing methods such as radio ads, TV commercials, and newspaper ads. To that end, getting marketing right on social media can be a useful tool in expanding your reach beyond just potential customers online.
However, depending on your niche, the platforms for marketing can vary. You might want to consider traditional methods of advertising or looking at the more alternative routes that exist for specific industries.
Traditional Advertising Methods
If you’re in the newspaper industry, you might want to consider using print media to attract potential customers. The important thing to keep in mind is that you need to target the right audience and reach out to them to attract their attention.
Whether you’re using classifieds, display ads, or display banners, the important thing to remember is that you’re paying for every bit of advertising you run. Naturally, the more you pay the better your chances of getting in front of the right audience.
Social Media For Marketers
Many businesses, especially those in the B2C (Business to Consumer) industries have adopted a more online approach to marketing. One of the first industries to do so was retail. Years ago, the only way for a retailer to get the word out there about a new product or a new deal was to put up with ads on their social media channels.
Over time, marketers have figured out ways to use the different platforms for their advantage. If you’ve been on social media at all in the past, you know that marketers use platforms like Twitter and Facebook to engage with customers and prospects. More and more businesses are leaning into this method and taking the bait.
If you’re looking to advertise your business on social media, you have a few options. You could focus on a general audience and hope that your content is interesting enough for people to want to come back for more.
For example, if you’re selling shoes, you could create content like interviews with famous designers or provocative thoughts about fashion. You might also want to take a look at what your competitors are doing and try to outdo them on social media. You could also try using influencers to help spread the word about your business. Finally, you could try using virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) to immerse your customers in your world instead of just having them look at pictures of your products.
Online Marketing
For many businesses, the difference between online marketing and regular marketing isn’t that profound. After all, you’re always marketing online, albeit in a different format than you might use for a TV commercial or a print ad. Still, the lines can be blurry and distinguishing between the two can be difficult.
At its core, online marketing is simply marketing bought and paid for on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook.
These days, online marketing is often used in conjunction with offline marketing. For instance, if you’re doing some research on a potential new product or service and you find that most people are searching for it online, it might be a good idea to do some adwords or social media marketing to drive traffic to your website.
However, just because something is online doesn’t mean that it’s accessible to all audiences. For example, if you’re trying to market to people in China, you’ll need to consider both traditional and digital methods of marketing to be effective.
If you decide that digital marketing is the way to go, you have several options. You could create social media accounts and start engaging with your followers. You could also try using platforms like WeChat or TikTok. If you’re looking for a free option, you could always use YouTube to host videos about your product and use the platform’s analytics to find out where your audience is located and what they’re interested in.
Choosing the Right Platform
When deciding where to advertise your business, you need to consider several factors. First and foremost, you want to find a platform that aligns with your target audience. If you can’t find a suitable platform when you first start looking, that’s okay. Just keep searching until you find one.
As mentioned above, there are various platforms for marketers to choose from. Some are better suited for certain types of businesses. For example, if you’re looking for a TV commercial platform, you might want to consider going that route rather than a social media platform. Still, it’s important to remember that not all TV commercials will be created equal. Some will be more effective than others. If you want to be seen by the right audience, you might want to consider spending a little extra for premium ads.
Choosing the Right Time
From an advertising perspective, the best time to market is when your target audience is most receptive to your message. If you’re looking for customers in the United States, you might want to consider doing your marketing during the months of June through October. That’s when people are most likely to be searching for products like yours.
There are a variety of reasons why this time frame might be attractive to advertisers. For one thing, it’s the school holiday season in the U.S., which means there are fewer people searching for products. Also, from a retail perspective, people are shopping for holiday gifts during the last few weeks of the year. To that end, if you’re planning to market during this time frame, you’d better be damn good at what you do.
Creative Thinking
Speaking of being damn good, you need to have some innovative ideas in your back pocket if you’re going to market during this time frame. If you don’t, you’ll quickly become obsolete. In other words, whatever you do, don’t just copy what your competitors are doing. Instead, use your creativity to find an angle that nobody else is taking. For example, if you’re selling office equipment, you could try offering a coworking space for people to come together and collaborate. Or if you’re a handbag company, you could try marketing to teenage girls and see if you can get them interested in your products. Or if you’re an app developer, you could try marketing to people in Australia to see if you can get them to download your app.
Ultimately, the choice of where to advertise and when to advertise is based on several factors. However, if you want to be successful, you can’t simply follow the herd. Instead, look for ways to stand out and go above and beyond what others are doing.