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New Post has been published on https://amertoner.com/blog/?p=211

All That Glitters Is Not Gold!

Stampede To Digital Marketing Not Meeting Expectations

The floodgates are open.  Everyone is moving their marketing dollar to digital advertising and marketing, hoping to get a few million likes, a few thousand clicks and a few new customers.  Tried and proven media like newspapers and magazines, direct mail, radio and even television are being replaced by speculative and unproven email blasts, banners, webinars, websites, apps and blogs, like this one, and, most importantly, social media.

Ask yourself a simple question:  Who do you personally know that received a high rate of return from a digital advertising program?

Millions of businesses are spending billions of dollars on digital, guided by companies that did not exist five years ago.  These companies guarantee nothing but promote high expectations and make you feel that if you don’t get involved now, your chances of success will diminish exponentially.  But will it?

A recent Gallop survey found that more than 60% of respondents said that social media has “no influence at all” on their purchasing decision.  Rather, consumers are more likely to participate with a brand’s social media community after they already had personal experience with that brand.  People active on social media are very protective of their personal space and did not want to receive sales pitches they did not request.

So how do you effectively market on social media?  It used to be through keywords but just when people started to figure out keyword strategy, keywords were out and content was in.  Technology is moving so fast that anything connected to it may be obsolete overnight.

In my opinion, digital marketing in general and social media in particular, are unproven and there are too many companies doing the same things in the same places.  Until there is a track record of success that can be understood and followed, I recommend concentrating your marketing budget around direct mail, the most successful form of advertising as measured by return on investment.  I would put some money into SEO, web-site upgrades and email.  I would not spend on social media now.

Digital Marketing and Social Media are not passing fads.  They are here to stay.  Fortunes are being made and will continue to be made.  But, most people who try to tap into LinkedIn or Facebook’s huge audiences and almost unlimited growth potential will have little, if anything, to show for it.

Until Next Time, Richard Blumberg, The Print Maven Richard Blumberg has over 30 years experience as a distributor of Imaging equipment and supplies. He was an owner of Richard Young Products and American Ribbon and Toner and is currently an officer of American Toner and Ink Corporation