Where did businesses used to spend their online marketing budgets?
I am constantly hearing stories from business owners about under performing advertising. Print, traditional, and ESPECIALLY Yellow Pages are big culprits!
Today we hear from two business owners who are now big spenders on online marketing, on what they used to spend their marketing dollars on.
In 2005 I took out a $15k ad with the Yellow Pages. My ad ran for three years, after which it wasn't paying for itself anymore, so I was offered a bottom dollar ad ($4k). Finally, after this ad failed to recoup its costs, I decided to stop completely. With the same $15k annual budget, I have diversified our marketing strategy, with 2-3 networking events, a paid directory ad in the Desktop Design Directory Annual, two printed documents (including postage), and a focus on online with eDMs and social media.
The difference in value is astounding. There are so many advantages to online marketing: it is liquid and flexible, instant and personal. It's easy for others to spread through social media, results are measurable, and it is sustainable.
Stella Gianotto - Stella Designs
"In the days before online marketing was a must, we spent our marketing budgets on flyers, mail shots, magazines and national newspaper advertisements. We also relied on word of mouth and cold calling to increase our client base. Most of the time we were working blind. Now we spend our money on marketing with results.
Everything we use to advertise our business we can track to see what effect is has on our ROI. We use Google AdWords, SEO, SMM, SEM, Email Newsletters, affiliates and a whole lot more which can be tracked at any time of the day. Online clearly works better for us, as we can reach our target market instantly AND be able to see the response to it. Whether they click on an advert or visit us through social media we can see what's working most effectively allowing us to optimise our time and money."
Amy McGinty - Online Media Marketing
James Richardson
Co-Founder
James is Co-Founder of Optimising who’s worked with everyone from national retailers and franchise groups to fast-growing eCommerce brands. He’s as interested in how AI engines send traffic as he is in old-fashioned rankings, and spends a lot of time testing how brands show up across search.
He started out running sports fan sites and early eCommerce stores, picked up a few senior sales and marketing roles at ASX-listed companies, then decided to build the kind of SEO agency he actually wanted to work at. Outside work, James is usually being out-negotiated by his three daughters, hosting very serious pretend tea parties, or supervising yet another cubby house build in the lounge room.
