The value of measurable digital marketing campaigns can really come to the fore in sluggish economies. In these recessionary times, those in charge of the marketing purse strings in their companies will also be looking for the most bang from their buck. In many cases, the bang would have all but disappeared because no bucks have been allocated to marketing spend.
However, increasingly companies are finding value in the opportunities that digital platforms such as Google Ads, search engine optimisation, email campaigns and social media offer.
Targeted, measurable digital marketing campaigns
The reason?
Traditional print media campaigns are too expensive and difficult to measure when hard questions are being asked about the ROI (return on investment).
I’ll give you two examples. A travel agent forked out over R11 000 earlier this year on an error-riddled advertorial in a local glossy free publication and confided in me that she did not receive a single enquiry.
Sure, you could mention it may have been good for brand awareness and that thousands of eyeballs saw the ad. But for a small travel business looking to sell package holidays, the expectation was that it could sell at least one to offset the advertising spend.
The communications officer from an industrial client whose company is opening a new plant told me it would set them back R45 000 for a one-page advertorial in a leading daily publication. Simply out of the question, she said. An equivalent advert placed on a popular B2B online publication will set them back R1 800.
Imagine how far that budget would have gone on a pay-per-click campaign on Google or a Facebook social media ad campaign? And the beauty is that the advertising is highly specific and targeted, measurable and easy to administer and report on.
It’s exactly the kind of information that would ease the nerves of the tightest finance director or business owner.
Punch above your weight
As a digital agency that offers these services, we are able to demonstrate to our clients the positive impact that digital marketing is having on their businesses. It’s all in the data. In many cases, we can see the baseline on the website traffic graphs inching up and the conversion rates improving.
And if the results start to plateau, we have the data at our fingertips to make the necessary informed changes to optimise and tweak campaigns to ensure they continue to deliver maximum value.
It gives us great pleasure to see a small business punch above its weight in the digital space.
Money’s too tight to mention, as the song goes, and the struggle for many businesses is real.
That said, with the right kind of support and advice from your digital partner and a solid plan in place, digital marketing remains an effective way to promote any kind of business.
In these times, marketing is now more important than ever. And using digital marketing in a strategic way is a great option when you’re looking to get the most value out of every cent.
It’s time to light that fuse.
- This post was updated on 21 June 2019