This was one of the most compelling slides from the entire Inbound 2012 Conference this Summer. If you're a business owner or marketing person reading this, you should ask yourself: "Am I spending my marketing dollars in the right place?"
The slide above was from a presentation by the CMO of SmartBear, Jeanne Hopkins (@JeanneHopkins). It shows where businesses are spending their ad budget and where people are spending their time. As you can see there are still businesses spending a significant amount of their budget on print ads despite people spending less time using those mediums.
Down With Print Ads, Right?
No, that's not what I'm saying. Like I say to every client I work with: "I will never tell you to stop doing something that works". If you're running print ads and they are working, why would you stop them? Often I am introduced to business owners or a marketing team who tells me they need to generate more leads and what they are doing doesn't work. When we look through their current marketing program, it often involves print advertising that isn't targeted. Something I like to call hope based marketing.
If you're developing a marketing plan it's important to understand who your target audience is and where they spend their time. People are spending more time on the Internet and using Social Media than they are reading newspapers and magazines. When you're creating a marketing budget, you should account for that.
Marketing Is Changing, Are You Adapting?
It's not a secret: The way people obtain information is changing. If we took a look at the same image above 10 years ago we would have seen people spending more time with their eyes in magazines and newspapers. Now it's time to adapt. Understand where people are spending their time and how they are interacting so you're business doesn't miss out.
One of the most notable opportunities for business exists in mobile. There is continued growth in the use of mobile devices (especially smartphones) and businesses have not jumped to capture people there. As more people use their mobile devices to connect, it will be important for businesses to adapt to reach their audience.
In order for businesses to have successful marketing campaigns it's important to know where the people are. Pay attention to the change in technology and how people are interacting so you can connect with them. The quicker businesses can adapt, the more successful they will be!
Mike Wolfe is the President of WAM Enterprises LLC, an Inbound Marketing Agency in Westchester.
