Traditional marketing methods could be costing you business
There are many businesses we come across that are very good at what they do, whether it is manufacturing, legal work, engineering or hospitality services. I was dismayed to find out that manufacturing output is down, yet I’m not surprised as I don’t believe, as a nation, we have educated manufacturers enough in the online market to promote themselves and their products to a bigger, better audience. Relying on traditional marketing methods is absolutely costing them business, unnecessarily. Over the years, we’ve noticed a distinct pattern in determining whether a business embraces the latest technology for research and marketing or they prefer to stick to traditional marketing methods that rely more on face-to-face communications. This unfolds during our initial meeting, where the dialogue sets the tone for their digital marketing journey.A common misconception we get from potential clients about internet marketing is that you must be ‘technically minded’ to use and benefit from it. ‘Old school’ businesspeople claim they ‘don’t know one end of a computer from the other’, or answers of that mindset. The skills they generally do have, however, are understanding how to run a business, creating products, buying and selling, knowing their staff well and how to make money. Yet the web and its technologies bamboozle them. This, in many ways, is why internet marketing methods should be a crucial consideration for these businesses.
It's hard to convince someone to buy into an area when you know they feel uncomfortable doing so.
While acknowledging they know how to run their business, it can be difficult to encourage people away from sticking to what has always worked for them, especially over a long period of time.
However, they must be made aware that their competitors are adopting current marketing methods and technologies. With such new skills they can reach further, and faster, into the marketplace and win business before the ‘old school’ company even knew there was business to be won.
It generally starts as a flat year with no growth and then they are down 4% from last year. Suddenly it’s 10% down and there’s a very steep hill to climb as money is tighter and there’s even less of a chance of getting it spent on raising their visibility.
The old school says, ‘we have a website, we’re online, we’re No. 1 in Google if you type our name in’ – and they maybe update their website once every two years.
The new school, however, has a website they update weekly, they continually add case studies, news and investments, send out email newsletters and use the internet to gather information about competitors and potential clients. Plus, they have a budget and a strategy of how much business they will bring in this year using the technology.
They have a plan and in doing so they can measure it to market themselves far cheaper than ever before. They only need to send salespeople out when they have a positive reason and can develop more sales with fewer reps on the road.
It’s a fact that more businesses from far and wide are targeting your local market, whatever sector you’re in. And as they keep chipping away at your slice of the cake it gets harder and harder each year for you to get some of that cake for yourself.
You can, however, fight back.
If you think that having a website is what your company needs, you are wrong. You need a plan, a strategy, an arsenal of current marketing methods. And Toltech to guide you.
