If you are of a certain age, you may remember when a marketing campaign was accomplished via talking with neighbours at the local market, or advertising consisted of slapping a big sign up on a billboard next to the highway.
The times sure have changed, but interestingly enough, the techniques are really not quite so different. The venues are new, but some of the same principles still apply. Take a look at this list of old vs New Marketing Techniques.
Old Marketing Technique #1: Newspaper Advertising
Before the internet became available in most households, the average consumer spent a lot of time reading the newspaper front page to back. It was the best way to find out what was going in the community, and to find vendors for specific products or services.
Now that news stories are available online and updated in real time, newspapers are shutting down around the world. They simply can’t compete with the ability of the World Wide Web to disseminate news from anywhere in an instant.
Today, newspaper advertisements are a bad investment of your marketing dollars. You will get far greater reach and far better results if you institute a pay per click campaign. Forget print copy, an internet business needs to appear at the top of the search engine ranking pages to gain customers.
Old Marketing Technique #2: In-Person Social Networking
It used to be that any new business owner benefited from attending various social functions sponsored by local civic organisations. Everyone in town would gather together for hors d’oeuvres and drinks and make business deals based on the old tenet of “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours.”
Social networking is still an important part of marketing a business, but the venue has changed. Instead of making a physical appearance at a ribbon-cutting ceremony, the modern business owner is better served by spending time posting profiles at various social media websites such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, and LinkedIn.
The rules for polite interaction haven’t changed; you just have to develop relationships in a format that does not allow for face-to-face interaction. It is imperative you adopt a respectful tone and take an interest in other members through the written word. Today’s savvy internet users know spam when they see it so curtail overt sales pitches.
Old Marketing Technique #3: Cold Sales Calls
You may have a held a job in the past where your main task was to go through a list of telephone numbers and make phone calls, desperately hoping that the person receiving the call would be interested in what you were selling and not hang up.
Nowadays, there is little need for a telephone. Most consumers do their buying online, and they come straight to your website. The New Marketing Technique is to use modern methods of reaching potential clients. Email messages, a sales letter posted on your web page, an online contact form, and a list of your services online all function as your virtual sales staff. By performing some basic website optimisation for search engines, you could simply get sales from those efforts.
The key to successful sales of anything relies on forming relationships and reaching interested parties. No longer are print ads, business parties, or telephone calls the way to accomplish this. Instead, the internet makes it easy to accomplish marketing tasks in the comfort and privacy of your own home or office.
By embracing New Marketing Techniques, you can reach more customers, easier and regardless of the time of day or where you live you have an increased opportunity to be successful and have job satisfaction, too.
About Sean Rasmussen
Many thanks for this, Sean.
I just can’t help and let this pass by without saying anything. Embracing New Marketing Techniques will not only save any business time and costly efforts, but will eventually promise satisfying results at a much earlier expected time. This is based on experience, and experience as we all know is the best teacher. Holding back from embracing these New Marketing Techniques is definitely a big mistake.
Hi Ferdinand,
Great to see you enjoyed this post. Keeping up with new marketing techniques is so important if you want to stay at the top of your game.
Regards – Sean
Great post Sean. I must say though that I think we’ll see somewhat of a pendulum effect with new marketing. I think the focus on completely online methods of marketing will actually lead some businesses to pursue traditional methods of marketing even more, because they will try to stand out from the crowd (the internet marketing saturated crowd).
I think the best option in general is a careful balance of the two. I love the fact that businesses are getting more and more involved in online social networking, but I also love the fact that businesses now are trying more than ever to reach out to people through “grass roots” type movements. It’s very exciting to see both new and old techniques in the mix.
Hi Jason
Depending on the type of business you have, a mixture of both on and offline marketing can definitely be the way to go
Regards – Sean
Hey Jason,
I was going to make a comment along similar lines, saying that while the new marketing methods may be more effective, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the old ones should be dismissed. Communities will still be having new buildings opened where groups congregate, but as Sean pointed out, it also depends on the business you are promoting and market you are targeting.
Just a thought.
Cheers,
Pete
And social media has changed things as well. We are starting to see it push even more and will probably see it be dominant factor. Regardless of Digg
Hi Sean,
When I am looking for something, I first go to the internet where I get information. if it is available in my area I will then go purchase it, if not I will order online. its that easy.
Hi Sean,
I’m still struggling with the new marketing techniques. I’m used to building relationships face to face. Whether I’m dealing with business partners or customers, it’s a lot easier in person. Online, I have trouble reading between the lines.
I understand that the principles of relating to other people haven’t changed just the method. So, I just have to get more comfortable using the new techniques.
Hi Sean
I like to hear from people like yourself and Ferdinand who are right into the social media and online marketing techniques. Your experience and knowledge of how our ‘electronic’ based market can be utilised to everyone’s advantage is tantamount to our training as IM’ers
I have similar feelings to Jazz, that I like the face to face interaction and building client relationships, or businesses with the actual person. Nothing can replace the intuitive feelings and rapport we feel or don’t feel when with a person. Also, body language and gestures are something we pick up on our radar while we are assembling information about that person. We can like a person’s ideas, presentation, energy, but there could just be that something that says “wow, this person is great” or “something is not quite right”
It’s impossible to meet everyone we are going to deal with on line. I even sus out people who want to connect on Facebook to see if they share the same interests or have similar values and unless I know them well, I always write to them first.
I would like to have the best of both worlds, especially when it comes to building relationships with business partners, colleagues, etc, I would like to meet them in person where possible because it makes that person “real” not a 2 dimensional figure on the screen.
And it’s good for coffee shops too!
Blessings,
Elly
There’s nothing better than face to face interaction Elly, if you can make that happen great. The problem is that the internet is so diverse, you are going to be meeting people from all over the globe, making online interaction a very good alternative
How times have changed. Back in my day we had to stand on the street with huge sandwich boards over the head to advertise my business “Sensible laughter with Witty Sam.” And on the back “Show shine for one penny.”
Now we can use the internet and reach such a huge audience. So many more tools too. You CAN be everywhere at once!
Hi Sean,
The billboards posters were hard old days in advertising. Really, when I think about it. That’s compared to today’s internet advertising capabilities. Communication by the internet is fast and reaches far more people in a shorter space of time then waiting for people to drive past a billboard and respond to any advertising on it.
On the internet sellers have an opportunity to meet people from all walks of life and from all over the world. Available by just a few taps on the keyboard. Entrepreneurs would have to agree that the new form of advertising via the internet far outweighs the old billboard or newspaper ads.
Hi Sean,
Your new marketing strategies lead me here
I am so impressed by reading your article, it is no less important to know about new marketing techniques. However, as I am one of the two amongs a hundred people who use internet in my country, Cambodia, I could not wholeheartedly support internet marketing–but almost 75% I bet.
I am writing this comment to ask everyone for any suggestion of creating new marketing idea in a country where tranditional marketing is still popular.
I work as a volunteer sale person in an Bulk SMS service providing company in Cambodia. And I find it quit difficult to execute my marketing campiagn since Bulk SMS service the newest technology here. I am assigned to create new and effective idea for the campaign.
I would be very happy if anyone could give me some suggestion in making this new marketing campiagn.
Regards,
Vathana