Intervention on the Traditional Marketer

Greg is in a doctor’s office and he can see newspapers, magazines, and catalogs scattered throughout the waiting room. Before pulling out his phone, he decides to give the latest edition of the St. Louis Post Dispatch (sorry, link not provided because I’m referring to the physical version) a try because he sees a compelling cover story. Ah, the full article is on page A4. Here’s what happens as he flips to page A4, in order: he doesn’t engage with any of the 6 print ads he sees, he gets to the article, he reads the title, and he pulls out his phone.

Let’s break down this situation and think about it from the perspective of a small business owner:

Greg is in a doctor’s office and he can see newspapers, magazines, and catalogs scattered throughout the waiting room.

Greg is in an environment where he has 2 options: read a print publication or pull out his cell phone. I really hope you’re doing some digital advertising because I don’t think the newspapers, magazines, or catalogs are going to get Greg’s attention. Plus, the return on investment of digital advertising is much much higher than running ads in yellow pages and the other mediums mentioned above.

Before pulling out his phone, he decides to give the latest edition of the St. Louis Post Dispatch a try because he sees a compelling cover story.

I’m wowed! Greg must be above the age of 65. But seriously though, he’s not. Even if he was, this rarely happens and we should think about this from a broader angle. There are way more people on this planet who are younger than the age of 65. It doesn’t matter how old you are, everyone needs a doctor. Chances are that the average person is going to pull out their phone to surf the web, check their email, watch YouTube videos, or play with an app. Turns out, you can advertise in all of these situations with digital advertising.

Ah, the full article is on page A4. Here’s what happens as he flips to page A4, in order: he doesn’t engage with any of the 6 print ads he sees, he gets to the article, he reads the title, and he pulls out his phone.

Let me remind you that we have now entered the furthest stretch from the truth. But hey, let’s go along with it. Greg’s noggin says, “article, article, article, article” while he’s flipping to the article. He might see your ad, but he isn’t going to engage with it. Fast forward to 2012 and digital marketing. Greg (you can target him with digital marketing because of his interests) sees everything that occurs on his phone screen. Greg’s phone is his everything. The chances of him engaging with an ad that interests him is much greater. Plus, you will be able to see live data of people who see, click, and buy because of your ad.

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I wrote this article because I hate to see small business owners waste their hard earned dollars on traditional marketing. It costs way to much money for such a small result. Take a look at this ad I just saw in a direct mail catalog:

The viewer of this ad must have a need for a humidifier, clean & check, or some other HVAC service in order to buy. This is what I refer to as “push marketing.” It’s pushing the service onto the customer regardless of their needs. Might I add that this company probably paid a pretty penny to get their ad on the back of this publication. The sad part is that a very small amount of people are going to see it, the company doesn’t acquire any impression, click, or conversion data, and the company receives a small ROI, if any.

It’s time to reconsolidate your marketing dollars into digital marketing. It’s been proven to work and you can see exactly where all of you ad spend is going, even down to the cent. Digital marketing is “pull marketing.” It pulls customers in based on their interests, making the targeting extremely relevant and useful to the potential customer.