Let’s face it - commerce in general has gone all out digital, and there’s no turning back from this process by now.
There were those who predicted about two decades ago that the whole concept of buying things on the internet without seeing them first would not catch on - and it’s pretty safe to say by now that they were wrong. Moreover, even those who still preferred brick and mortar shops over the comfort, convenience, speed and price of the internet were forced by COVID-19 to change habits.
With this shift, came inevitably a need to change the way we market and advertise. It’s not that the days of massive sums spent on TV and newspaper campaigns are long gone, but rather that the internet (and all it has to offer) is giving a good fight for the attention and budget of businesses. There are three main reasons why many choose to advertise online instead of in traditional media:
- Speed - you can literally come up with, create, define, and publish a campaign within minutes, and that’s a big plus in a dynamic marketing environment.
- Flexibility - the internet hoards a lot of data, making pinpointed advertising much easier, which means you can choose exactly who you want your message to reach.
- Price - it’s not only that the internet is cheaper, but it also offers an extremely wide pricing range for all kinds of options.
Are you convinced by now that you should be shifting your campaigning activity to the World Wide Web? Before you do, though, you should take time to choose who you work with. True, you could handle your own online marketing without paying anyone else to do it, but in today’s virtual environment it’s much more complex than it sounds. Here are a few factors worth keeping in mind before selecting your future digital partner.
Experience
This seems obvious, doesn’t it? Well, there’s more to it than it sounds. You need not choose an agency that has been operating for a long time, but rather check out the living breathing souls behind the name of that agency. It’s not the brand or the office building, it’s the people sitting by the computers and coming up with the ideas, that matter at the end of the day.
We’d recommend scheduling a meeting with a few agencies before making a choice. Get to know the people who work at these places and inquire about their experience. Google their names afterward, there’s a lot you can learn that way. Ask to see examples of prior successful digital campaigns, don’t be shy about it.
Diversity
A good digital marketing agency is one that can offer a variety of solutions in accordance with your demands and desires. There are a lot of terms in online campaigning that may confuse you, such as SEM, ORM, PPC and so on, but don’t be afraid of scary terminology. What you need is that the agency you choose will not just bring one plan to the table, but rather give you a few options and let you choose between them.
Orel Asformas, the owner of Viking Media and an expert in marketing solutions, told us that in his opinion, while the agency should give you several modus operandi choices, all roads should lead to sales. “It is important for you to be a part of the process and the decision making. This means that every path to success presented should also be clearly explained to you - otherwise you won’t be able to really call the shots.”
Unorthodox thinking
It’s easy to see what works for other people and mimic the same strategy. For that, however, you don’t need to pay a digital agency - you can do that yourself. That’s why you need an online marketer that thinks differently, thinks outside the box. There’s a whole new field in the marketing sector called unorthodox marketing, quickly gaining popularity, and it’s based on the assumption that true successful marketing challenges rules and crosses boundaries.
“Your digital campaign should take all measures necessary in order to get the ‘wow effect’, even if it means some people will shake their heads in disapproval,” told us Orel Asformas. “It needs to be bizarre, extreme and to stir emotions - otherwise you and your product will drown in a sea of other campaigns. If a digital agency is not willing to go as far as possible to achieve that, spare yourself the time with them.”
Let’s face it - commerce in general has gone all out digital, and there’s no turning back from this process by now. There were those who predicted about two decades ago that the whole concept of buying things on the internet without seeing them first would not catch on - and it’s pretty safe to say by now that they were wrong. Moreover, even those who still preferred brick and mortar shops over the comfort, convenience, speed and price of the internet were forced by COVID-19 to change habits.
With this shift, came inevitably a need to change the way we market and advertise. It’s not that the days of massive sums spent on TV and newspaper campaigns are long gone, but rather that the internet (and all it has to offer) is giving a good fight for the attention and budget of businesses. There are three main reasons why many choose to advertise online instead of in traditional media:
- Speed - you can literally come up with, create, define, and publish a campaign within minutes, and that’s a big plus in a dynamic marketing environment.
- Flexibility - the internet hoards a lot of data, making pinpointed advertising much easier, which means you can choose exactly who you want your message to reach.
- Price - it’s not only that the internet is cheaper, but it also offers an extremely wide pricing range for all kinds of options.
Are you convinced by now that you should be shifting your campaigning activity to the World Wide Web? Before you do, though, you should take time to choose who you work with. True, you could handle your own online marketing without paying anyone else to do it, but in today’s virtual environment it’s much more complex than it sounds. Here are a few factors worth keeping in mind before selecting your future digital partner.