The rules for marketing have changed over the last several years. In addition to traditional advertising such as on billboards, in magazines, newspapers, direct mail, “yellow pages” and face to face, there is the ever-evolving realm of social media which must be included. If you are not engaged in digital marketing, you may unfortunately find yourself on the outside looking in.
Have you been the recent victim of a corporate downsizing? Layoffs are still happening in many communities nationwide such as in Phoenix, Arizona. They lost almost 15,000 jobs over the past summer. Suppose you had been employed in your company’s Sales department for many years. Methods of promotion that worked well fifteen years ago now absolutely need to be supplemented with participation from online communities. The social media game may seem like a trendy fad especially for those who have been schooled and trained in traditional marketing methods, but those of you holding back should get on board, as it is firmly the new reality.
So how do you reinvent yourself to compete in the local job market? The good news is that people with traditional skills can easily transform and create new talents to be used with the internet’s digital format. Marketing principles basically stay the same (related to product, price, promotion, place); they are just presented in a new way. Your skills, experience and knowledge are still very relevant, and beneficial to digital selling. If anything internet plunks you into a mental dither, a life coach Phoenix can be sought out to provide help and direction to sort out your next actions, and set new goals.
Digital Vs. Traditional
As a business professional, you already know that determining your target market is one of the first things that must be established. Drill down into demographics until you know in fine detail who wants and needs your products. You must target that specific audience to get results for your effort. This rule is not any different when you are marketing on the Internet. The only difference is how you find and select your audience.
In traditional marketing, for example, you may want to place your advertisements in specific trade publications or newspapers to reach a specific audience. Now, instead, you will target your merchandising towards blogs and social groups on the Internet. Many sites have a strong theme which attracts the intended audience, so you will need to zone into the appropriate theme, or reach out to blogs with a broad base of interests.
It’s in your best interest to create an informational website to publicize your product or service. Your website page must also be promoted through a variety of social media vehicles such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.
In addition educating yourself about methods of social media, you will need to learn SEO (search engine optimization) tools to help drive traffic to that website. This is a science that is continually changing. There are tons of SEO gurus on the ‘net who provide free advice and training, or if you don’t have a lot of time to scrounge, you can take a class. It may all seem like a foreign language at first but as you immerse yourself, after a while you’ll be spitting out technical terms with ease.
Guest Blog Posts
Included in your marketing plan is the need to write guest blog posts which will help motivate people to try your product or service. The more your product is presented before live users, the more it will become recognized as a brand. As people become more familiar and more comfortable with your brand, the more apt they are to develop some trust and will try it out. If they like it, they will spread their enthusiasm by the greatest marketing method ever–word of mouth.
Offering your website visitors an opportunity to guest post will allow them to feel like they are part of your community, as well as giving you a break from blogging. It also serves as way to get topics that your visitors are interested in and want to read about. It leads to a great guest experience, return visits, and potential clicks to buy!
Social media is a must for digital marketers, so you will need to elevate your communicating skills to the next level. You can still attend gatherings which will allow you “schmoozing” time with potential clients, but you will also be interacting and schmoozing with others via social media. Your promotional efforts will have the same impact, but on a larger scale. Say you make touch with one person online…if they have multitudes of friends and followers, as they view the site, you have exponential possibilities of being exposed to them as well.
Consultants With Expertise
You may need to work with someone to help you develop banner ads, and effective “calls to action” for your site; this is similar to working with the art department or printer for graphics and illustrations, and a professional copywriter. Email and PPC (pay per click) campaigns should also be investigated to drive more traffic to your site. As with many companies, if there is a function which is needed to advance the company and the talent isn’t available in-house, you can hire an outside consultant to perform the job.
Change can be scary for anyone at any age, and in any industry. If you are having a hard time transitioning into a new online career, there are things that you can do to turn challenges into opportunities:
• Take a class or two on digital marketing to refresh your skills or show you how to apply your skills to this industry.
• Transition slowly to ease the fear, or make a dramatic change to force the transition; choose whichever works better for your personality.
Whether or not you use a life coach Phoenix located, when you make the decision to move to digital marketing, you will find as shown that it is more of a transformation of your skills than a change in function. Once you move into a digital frame of mind, you may never look back. Your new path may lead to many other opportunities as digital media provides you with access to a world-wide market.
Photo Credit: Flickr/Andrea_44
