In today’s business world that grows more competitive each year, you know how important marketing can be to your company’s success. No matter the products or services your company is offering, reaching customers in the most cost-effective and strategic way is extremely important. In almost all companies, direct marketing and online marketing are used in various ways. If you’re curious about how each may or may not be beneficial to your business, here are some pros and cons of each.
Targeting Specific Demographics
When you use online marketing, it is often easier to target very specific demographics for the products or services you are offering. Using such tools as Google Analytics and other software, you can not only target those you want but also measure and track the results of your campaign.
Tangible Marketing Materials
Even though some businesses consider it to be an old-fashioned way of advertising, direct marketing is the perfect way to get tangible marketing materials into the hands of potential customers. By using automated mailing services, it becomes easy for your business to get flyers, brochures, and other marketing materials to a large number of people at an affordable price. Best of all, even if a person does not jump at your offer right away, they will still have the marketing materials on hand, making it more likely they will at some point become a new customer.
Online Marketing is Cheap
If you have a tight advertising budget, using online marketing is a cheap way to reach thousands of potential customers. Whether you send emails, direct people to your social media sites such as Facebook or Twitter, or perhaps combine both marketing methods, chances are you will need to spend next to nothing to get the word out about your business.
Casting a Wide Net
When you do direct marketing, one thing you must expect is to cast a wide net, meaning you will need to get your marketing materials in the hands of thousands of people just to get perhaps 100 of them to respond. Because of this, a direct marketing campaign may not be as effective as you would hope. In addition, you’ll have a limited ability to measure the effectiveness of the campaign.
Though each of these marketing methods has certain pros and cons, most businesses choose to combine them when advertising products or services. If you do the same and have a solid plan from the beginning, chances are you will soon have many new customers inquiring about your offer.
Anica is a professional content and copywriter who graduated from the University of San Francisco. She loves dogs, the ocean, and anything outdoor-related. You can connect with Anica on Twitter @AnicaOaks.