Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve had a variety of comments and questions related to my article Find Success Through An Online Strategy.
I know a lot of you can relate to Joe’s email, and maybe have first hand experience with doing just a little bit of everything, and none of it really working.
If you’ve been in business for any length of time, I’m also willing to bet that what worked well three, two, or even one year ago isn’t working the same way anymore.
If you always mailed out postcards and had a 1 percent sales rate, that’s probably fallen to ½ percent.
Or maybe you’re referral partners just aren’t sending over the same amount of clients they did in the past.
Why is that?
Because marketing as a whole is changing.
And I attribute this to two things.
1. There are a ton of channels opening up all the time.
2. People don’t pay attention the same way.
There are a ton of channels opening up all the time.
What are your options for getting your name out to potential clients? Of course there’s the traditional channels: postcards, phone book, newspaper, magazine, trade publication, radio, television, etc.
And now there are also online channels: email, website, blog, social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, SEO, etc.
Online tools are added every day because they’re easy to create and easy to send out. If one person likes something, they can tell thousands of “friends” quickly and effectively.
While everyone mentions the largest players, niching yourself can be successful. Finding a community that speaks directly to your target audience will benefit you much more than a Facebook account.
And because so many of these new tools are fun and exciting, people are spending a lot more time there than they do in other arenas.
People don’t pay attention the same way.
When we had just a handful of television channels to choose from, the networks had a captive audience. They knew pretty much where we were going to tune in. Then came cable television. And the channels kept growing. Our attention went from a few to hundreds in a very short period of time.
Along with the Internet, we have access to thousands [millions?] of different opportunities every day. If you don’t like reading a newspaper, you can find your favorite news source online. If you hate commercials, record you favorite shows; or better yet, head online and stream them anytime you choose.
As fast as marketers find a way for getting their information in front of you, people have found ways for turning the noise off, and concentrating on something entirely different.
So if you’re marketing in the same manner you did even just a year ago, your entire strategy may need to be evaluated to move you into the new phase of marketing.
- Who are your clients and where do they go?
- How do they get their information?
- What do they prefer and what do they dislike?
- How are your clients changing?
Reevaluate your strategy before its too late, and they turn to your competitors.
