In order to effectively show the benefits of marketing your business and products and/or services online, we will need to compare online marketing with conventional marketing such as TV, radio, print, and outdoor advertising (billboards, flyers etc.)

The Consumer

Targeted Marketing – Shotgun vs. Sniper

The Shotgun Approach

Conventional marketing relies on a shotgun approach where ads are placed randomly without knowing whether the viewer will be interested in your product or service at any one specific point in time. Let’s take billboard advertising as an example.

You might be on your way to work or town using whatever means of transport, and you become vaguely aware of a huge billboard, advertising short term- or business insurance. Chances are you already have an insurance provider with which you are happy (this is assuming that anyone is ever happy with paying insurance). In all probability this means that you are not in the market for a new insurance policy and the advertisement passes you by without converting you to action. We could say that this would be the case with an average of 50% of all viewers of the ad.

This means of advertising would have a very low strike rate, compared to Online marketing which follows the sniper approach.

The Sniper Approach

Target Marketing focuses on a specific audience you want to target to sell your product or service to. The fact of the matter is the majority of people don’t need your product right now, so why would you target those individuals? Instead you should be targeting those consumers who do need your product right now. Target marketing saves you time and money by targeting smaller groups of people. Don’t target everyone and hope they want your product, rather target those who you know want your products. This ensures a much higher rate of conversion from mere browser to buyer.

You just bought your dream car which puts you in the market for short term insurance. You decide to go online to find some quotes from some of the insurance companies that are advertising online i.e. those insurance companies that use a targeted approach to marketing. You find the best policy that suits your needs and budget, and contact the company to write it up. You have just been converted from a browser to a buyer.

Can you see how the strike rate will increase by a very large percentage?

Availability & Information

Conventional Marketing

In traditional marketing the consumer has to rely on the available adverts to make a decision whether to buy this brand or that. If the brand is not actively being advertised the options diminish. Unfortunately, very few businesses have the budget to advertise actively by means of traditional marketing.

Online Marketing

Consumers today are very knowledgeable and research their options when considering a product or service.

• 95% of purchasing consumers use the web to research products and services – B2B Magazine Survey.
• 85% of internet users are also internet shoppers – The Interactive Consumer.

The consumer is able to find a much wider variety of brands and products online.

Convenience

Customers can shop 24 hours a day from anywhere without going to a physical store. Buying online is also interactive & immediate. Consumers can interact with the seller’s site to find information on products or services that they desire and order straight away.

The Marketer

Online Marketing and Advertising hold huge advantages for the marketer such as:

Cost

Marketing your business online can be much more cost effective when compared to the traditional means of marketing and advertising. By merely targeting your market effectively online you will cut costs.

Measurable

There is a multitude of site analysis tools that will accurately measure your site performance by means of traffic statistics; conversion rates, geographical data to target locally and a whole bunch other metrics.

Analysis and Decision Making (Real Time Data)

Analysis tools allow you to track:

• How visitors found your site
• How visitors use your site
• What is the most popular sections or areas on your site
• What conversion funnels work best

Using this data and other stats you will be able to make on the spot decisions and also test what works and what doesn’t and then make the necessary changes.

Constant

Conventional Marketing mediums have a limited shelf life (30 seconds per TV ad, printed ads get thrown away, etc.) On the other hand, Online Ads and Marketing is always present when the user needs it or wants to research possible products. Potential Customer can find you and your products and services at any time, day or night. The Search Engines will funnel the right prospects to your site if Online marketing is done correctly.

Social Media

The web has gone social with users, business owners, and consumers alike are turning to online platforms like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube to get their message out and to build relationships which drive more traffic.