It wasn’t that long ago when the only methods of advertising were placing ads in newspapers, magazines, and the Yellow Pages. In the pre-computer era there were no computers where you could search for businesses, nor Facebook, Twitter, or web or mobile-based websites. A potential customer would pull out the Yellow Pages phone book, and search by hand through the pages, to find the desired business. Businesses would place ads in newspapers and magazines.
With the advent of the computer age, suddenly everyone has a website and all companies are listed on Google, Yelp, and other review-based sites. New technology calls for new techniques. Mobile marketing is the wave of the future, with more people snapping up smartphones each month. Retargeting is an effective advertising technique where your ad follows a buyer around the internet.
Here are five reasons why traditional advertising methods don’t work anymore and you need to move to the internet.
1. Does anyone actually use a phone book today? They don’t even drop them off at homes anymore, you have to go and pick one up if you want one. Most people have no room to store them, and hate wasting a tree, only to toss them in the recycling bin at the end of the year. Why waste money advertising in a directory that no one looks at anymore? Even the Yellow Pages has moved online.
2. Newspaper advertising is so cost-prohibitive now that only the most successful companies do it. Do you really want to compete with big corporations? Will your local customer even notice your store ad, when the Big 3 are also advertising in the paper? Most newspapers are discarded after two hours, and your ad with them.
3. People hold onto a magazine a bit longer, and may even pass it along, before tossing in the trash. Most magazine readerships are so specialized now, that likely your business won’t align with its readership. Not only that, but magazines usually have national readership. If you’re trying to attract local customers to your business, it’s just not cost-effective to place an ad in a magazine that your customers will never read. Does your business have anything to do with cats, cars, or fashion? Because that seems to be what is on most store shelves nowadays. There’s no point in advertising in a cat magazine if you’re a parts manufacturer or a dentist.
4. Newspapers and magazines have been laying off workers in the tens of thousands. Every day in the news, there’s an article about yet another publisher shutting down their print operations. Tons of employees are being laid off, because the business failed to move online. That should tell you right there that it’s time to try the newest online advertising methods.
5. Everyone looks to the internet for information, and your company should be on there too. The internet is the one-stop-shop for finding information about businesses. Even the 411 telephone directory services have been suffering, so even they have been offering internet-based directory services. The internet is the first place your company needs to be.
It’s time to brush off your advertising campaign and start afresh. There are many modern-day advertising avenues open to you, that produce results. Contact Direct West Media Group Inc. for all your advertising solutions.
