One of the more bizarre things I noticed in 2015 was how ineffective email had become in the campaigns I was doing for several clients, and the campaigns we were doing for Market My Market.  As far as staying in front of new clients in the form of an e-newsletter, it was still a nice medium that kept them engaged.  But as far as reaching out to completely new people, arguably in the form of “cold emailing”, it was falling short.

Different approaches that were perceivably unique on our part just didn’t do it:

  • Being super aggressive and calling out the marketing the company was doing
  • Pointing out specific things wrong with the website that needed immediate attention
  • Offering a freemium with very industry-specific information that was extremely pertinent
  • Offering an exclusive interview with a marketing expert specific to their industry

Has email become “an older marketing tool” and is it going to be the cyclical nature of things that brings some older tools back, such as print, because it is now refreshing to people?  Though I am not questioning the integrity of SEO and the percentage of people that will continue to find businesses this way, is it possible that people don’t mind seeing print as a viable means of communicating services and products to them?

I received a blue book of house service coupons and ads in the mail several days ago.  Handymen, AC repair and tuneups, pool cleaning, landscaping, plumbing…you get it.  I ended up doing the AC repair tuneup because of the coupon, the proximity of the business, and the layout of the ad.  I couldn’t even find the company online.  In fact, finding companies like these online is kind of tough, to be frank.  It feels like the half of page in the booklet only has so much room to get the point across (and normally does a good job) but meanwhile with the website and additional space, what the company can do actually gets lost and muddled with additional content and imagery that really isn’t necessary.  Afterall, I was drawn in by the company’s offerings easily in one place.  On a website, I didn’t even know where to go next.

There is forever going to be the battle between push and pull marketing, even though pull marketing was really making headway about five years ago.  It is because people will always need to be reminded of products and services they could benefit from, even though they aren’t necessarily actively looking for it.  Email marketing has become too intrusive.  Other older branding tools, such as the high cost billboards and television, also still work to extent coupled with SEO.

We have a client that has a gorgeous building on a busy intersection, business name going across the top in a nearly regal manner.  Many people that find them online say “I was looking for your kind of service online and then remembered ‘hey they have that building on that corner!'”.  This works very much in the same manner as an actual billboard, and confirms to me that may of these older, or traditional forms of marketing, still work when coupled with effective digital marketing.

Need help bridging your traditional marketing with newer digital forms of marketing?  Call us now for a free consultation!