Online Marketing For A Recession
Participation on social networking sites will be executed by 94% of businesses in the coming year. “Despite risks associated with participating in online communities, the internal costs of community formation and management and the fact that we are in the midst of a profound recession, organizations’ continued and enhanced investment in online communities underscores the perceived potential for the value that they may provide to the enterprise,” says Ed Moran, director of product innovation at Deloitte Services LP. “Social media and communities are expected to continue to play a significant role in the way in which companies are interacting with employees, customers, partners and the larger business ecosystem, thereby redefining the very edge of the corporation.” Social media is just one area of online marketing to consider, but it’s certainly one of the fastest growing sections.
Sometimes looking at the strategies of others is a good place to begin thinking about online marketing. According to a recent survey, “Tough Times Call for Tough Measures,” conducted by the eMetrics Marketing Optimization Summit (eMOS), 84% of respondents planned to increase or maintain their spending on email; 77% will increase or maintain online advertisements; 76% will increase or maintain keyword search campaigns; 62% will increase or maintain their social networks campaigns; and 38% will increase or maintain video advertising budgets. The basic point is that, despite the recession, most managers know better than to make cuts to their marketing campaigns. Experts across the board agree that keeping brand awareness thriving is essential to coming out of the downturn strong.
The “2009 Tribalization of Business Survey” found that some of the top online marketing strategies during a recession include: increasing word-of-mouth (38%), improving customer loyalty (34%) and creating brand awareness (30%). Many executives feel this can be best done through the matrix of social networks. However, certain obstacles exist — like getting people to join, return and stay engaged. To gain the best results, market plans should include partnering up with other vendors, running exciting promotions and contests, offering special perks for participating and giving community members something of value for their time. In addition to these objectives, executives are also placing some emphasis on idea generation (29%) and customer support (23%).
Before divvying up the online marketing dollars, executives must first decide which areas are most important to them. For instance, does the company require more brand identification and “buzz” (social networking/viral videos), more established credibility and return customers (affiliate marketing/content publishing), more web traffic (banner ads/pay-per-click), better traffic retention (internet design), or more targeted web traffic (SEO)? Whatever the company leaders decide, they should ensure enough staff is devoted to these sectors to make them work optimally. They must also be realistic about what each area of online advertising can effectively achieve.
Rene Lacape is a seasoned insurance agent. He has been dealing with both corporate and individual accounts for several years up to the present. If you need him, you can check his website and give him a call. Act now.
Experts have talked about this before. How many times have you read about the importance of ‘adding value’ for your audience? How many times have you read about ‘building trust’ with your readers/prospects?
Many, many times. You know it well. Every marketing guru has spoken about this topic. I’m sick of hearing it. But it STILL bears repeating.
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