Marketing Options That Are Worth the Money

Are you interested in creating a killer marketing strategy for your business? If so, there are lots of different marketing tactics available. However, it’s worth noting that some marketing tactics offer a better return than others. If you want to invest in marketing options that are worth the money, then we have some great options for you.

Marketing options that are worth the money

When I first started working in marketing in the 1980s, digital marketing didn’t exist. In fact, computers were rarely used in building marketing campaigns beyond some simple graphics and video editing. Metrics were nearly non-existent when it came to calculating the ROI (return on investment) of your advertising campaign. We assessed squishy metrics like awareness and attitudes toward the brand because that’s all we could get. And even getting those metrics took a lot of time and money, as the only way to assess them was through surveys. To what extent these metrics correlated with sales, or whether there was any correlation at all, was up to anyone’s guess.

Sure, you could assess sales before and after the campaign to come up with some numbers. Still, the reality was that other extraneous variables that you couldn’t come close to evaluating might also explain the change in sales revenue.

Today, we have a plethora of metrics available to help determine which marketing campaigns generated revenue and how much revenue was generated with each one. For example, I can attach a tag to each Facebook post link and follow that link from Facebook through my website to determine not only whether the click converted but also the value of that click in terms of revenue generated. It’s a wonderous new world.

Except when it isn’t.

You see, conversion is the endpoint. That’s when the cash register rings and money enters your bank account. But, a conversion doesn’t happen in isolation. It’s the end of a process that begins with consumer awareness of your products. While that process might look more like the cyclical image below than the linear process we learned in Marketing 101, the steps in the process are all necessary if your goal is to increase revenue.

Thus, when we need to assess which marketing options are worth the money, we need to determine how each contributes to moving a consumer through the customer journey shown above, including those tactics that build loyalty to encourage repeat purchases. So, let’s delve into marketing options that are worth the money.

Trade shows

First, you might want to consider attending a trade show to show off your products and start building a rapport with supply chain partners and prospective customers. The right trade show allows you to demonstrate your products in unique and engaging ways so you can potentially bring your brand onto the market and into the spotlight. For instance, when Adobe went to its first trade show, it showed how desktop publishing could work to reduce a company’s printing expenses and generate materials in a fraction of the time needed for existing options. Despite the fact that Adobe wasn’t nearly as full-featured and professional as it is today, attendees were impressed with a technology they never believed possible.

Regardless of your plans for your first trade show, there are many different moving pieces that you need to put in place. For instance, you might want to invest in some of the best tech for your booth, which you can find at sites like ptcled.com.

. You’ll need the product to demo, electricity, some swag, and a big fishbowl where attendees can drop a card to win hourly prizes. Of course, these cards represent leads you can turn over to your salesforce for follow-up or enter into an email marketing program that nurtures them until some will convert.

Thus, while most trade shows don’t generate revenue themselves, they generate leads that your company can use to generate income down the road. Trade shows generate an average ROI of between 25% and 34%. That means trade shows are marketing options that are worth the money.

Local listings

Next, you should consider exploring local listings for your business. This could be useful if you focus your marketing efforts primarily on a local target market. Doing so will create a solid, loyal base interested in your product. Few consumers consult a phone book to find local businesses (unless your target market is elderly), so a local listing online is much more valuable. Google My Business is a great option, as it allows your business to upload images and reviews, collect ratings, display hours of operation, and more information. Not only that, but these local listings show near the top when users search for businesses in their area. Best of all, it’s FREE.

Social media

Another of the marketing options that are worth the money is social media. Ultimately, social media is one of the best options that you can use to connect with your target market while also promoting your brand on a personal level. To do this, you need to ascertain what social networks your market uses and the image below might help.

You can then set about creating a solid content marketing plan that will appeal to your target market or even potentially solve a problem that they are facing. Social media is an ongoing task, so you will again need the support of a marketing professional and access to the latest software to ensure your social media strategy works.

Social media works at multiple stages along the customer journey, from creating awareness to conversion to building a loyal market. With tools like Marketplace, you can even convert customers right on the platform.

The average ROI of social media is a whopping 250% when done right.

Email marketing

Finally, you should make sure that you are using email marketing to your advantage. The right choices with email marketing mean that your business stands out from competitors in the market. At the same time, you can appeal to lists of subscribers who are interested in specific products or services that you offer using deep personalization to customize your efforts. To do this, you need to make sure that you are using the data that is likely already at your fingertips. Once you access the right data, you’ll be able to create the best emails that are going to lead to higher conversions.

Sending customized messages at the right time and on the right schedule can generate an ROI of up to 3700%, making it the most effective marketing option available.

Conclusion

We hope this helps you understand some of the key marketing choices that will be worth your time and money. You need to approach these in the right way to create the best possible impact.

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Hausman and Associates, the publisher of MKT Maven, is a full-service marketing agency operating at the intersection of marketing and digital media. Check out our full range of services.