There are a lot of different ways to reach out to customers and to spend your advertising or marketing dollars, but that does not mean that all of that money is being spent well. With the prevalence of the internet it is more important than ever to use targeted marketing to reach out to your target demographics in the places where they are the most likely to be, and if you do so, your marketing dollars will generate more revenue and higher profits. With the help of a marketing consultant you can understand your target demographics a lot better, as well as the most effective marketing strategy.

Print Or Newspaper

One of the cheapest ways to advertise or market your business is to use print advertising, especially since newspapers have been dropping their advertising prices to compete with online options. The problem with print advertising is that it will not reach a younger audience in most cases, outside of the extremely expensive magazine campaigns. If you are aiming at a middle aged or older customer base, a set of newspaper ads will be one of the most successful ways for you reach those particular customers.

Television

Billions of dollars every year are spent on television advertising and it is still the primary advertising outlet for most large companies. Over time though television advertising has become much less effective in reaching a younger audience, and soon prices will reflect this change. A television ad campaign is going to be the most effective when you are aiming for a relatively older audience or you want to attract family customers.

Social Media Marketing

As you will learn at seminars like eFreedom, social media marketing is quickly becoming the easiest way to attract young customers. Tweens, teens and young adults are on sites like Facebook and Twitter more often than they watch television or read newspapers, and so the only way to get the word out about your company to those potential customers is to broadcast through social media. It is very simple to get started; all you need to do is create profiles for your business and start talking about the products and services that you offer. Your customers will do a lot of the work for you by rebroadcasting those messages to their friends and followers, so that your message gets spread virally. In the 21st century social media marketing is a sector that most businesses cannot afford to ignore.

Internet Ads

Finally, there is a growing sector of customers who have cut television out of their lives completely, but still watch videos over the internet. Most commonly these consumers use sites like Hulu or Youtube for entertainment, and many of the video ads on these sites are not skippable. The cost of an internet ad is going to be lower than a television ad, but if you are shooting for a young consumer base, this is going to be a much more effective way to do so.

With the changes that the internet has brought to society, businesses have to adapt and know that the traditional ways of marketing and advertising are no longer working as well as they used to, and the internet has filled that void. To compete in a digital era, and to reach a younger customer base, you need to integrate online and social media advertising in to your marketing strategy.

Featured images:

•  License: Royalty Free or iStock source: http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6033/6277209256_198cdbea86_o.jpg

I am Helen Thomas and I have been a business consultant for six years. In that time I have seen the rise of social media marketing and online advertising, and I encourage all of my clients to pursue a strong internet presence.

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