In the modern economy, consumer attention is more dispersed than it has ever been. Over the last 20 years marketing strategies have changed wildly. Techniques that provided major benefits now actually hurt your SEO, while the shifting demographics of your potential audience means you may not even know who your primary customers are. This article will highlight the importance of keeping detailed marketing records and data, and why it should matter to your business
The fact is, marketing efforts are no longer a single channel. Gone are the days where you just needed a simple ad to create web traffic. These days a multichannel approach is key. You need to have engagement across all platforms using a variety of media. Not only SEO rich blog posts, but video, social media content, direct messaging, and more. Keeping and collecting data will show you how much effort you're distributing, as well as identify any weak points in your multimedia approach.
Newer media allows for more granular targeting of ads. This means that you can target your advertising creative based on someone’s location, age, gender, education, job, or even marital status. You can use the data from your marketing records to segment your audience. When looking at audience data you can segment them in many different ways. As a business owner you want your ads to appeal to everyone and target everyone possible. However if you make ads with that in mind your ads will end up generic, bland, and not really connecting on any serious level with any of your audience.
Imagine you’re a small healthcare business located in Boulder, CO that provides care for male-specific diseases and conditions, such as those associated with prostate and testicular health. Before digital targeting was available, you might’ve decided to run an ad on TV during a sporting event, figuring that the audience of the sporting event was mostly male.
When the ad ran on TV part of the audience you would’ve reached are young men who aren’t concerned about their health. That’s a waste of your ad-spend. You’d also reach some women who watch the sporting event. That’s a waste of your ad-spend. You’d also reach some older men who don’t live close enough to your office to utilize your services. That’s a waste of your ad-spend. Not only were you wasting money, but you also might have annoyed potential future customers who didn’t find your advertising relevant. In the digital world, you can eliminate this problem by targeting your advertising at elderly men who are located near you. By reaching the right audience at the right time, you maintain a consistent brand without annoying people.
With the explosion of the internet, marketing has changed in a big way. It’s now possible to reach consumers at a level of granularity that has never been seen before. Audience segmentation is no longer a “nice to have”, it’s now a “must-have”.
Are you ready to have a site and marketing material that converts? See how we can help!