Advertising isn’t Dead

It amazes me when I hear that some marketers think that advertising is dead.  It isn’t.  Like many tools in a toolbox, advertising has a specific function, to get the word out about your brand.  Yes, you can use direct mail, email marketing and other methods to get your brand information out in the marketplace, but it should be used in conjunction with print and online advertising.

What are a marketers main objectives?  

1. Get the company, product or service brand in the marketplace

2. Get customers to try your brand over and over again

3. If you are a really good marketer, you get your customer to make your brand their brand and they help spread the word for you.

4. Repeat 1, 2 and 3.

Advertising helps keep your brand out in the marketplace.  The old saying “out of sight, out of mind” is true.  I worked with a 60+ year old company and when I went to my first trade show as a new employee.  I was amazed at how many people came up to the booth and said “I didn’t know you were still in business.”  The company had not been advertising or marketing much and were hoping that dropping a catalog a couple times a year is all that they needed to do.  They were wrong.  If you don’t keep your brand and message out in the marketplace, customers soon forget.

Advertising becomes critical, especially when you have a name change, acquisition or some other monumental message.  Don’t assume that customers make the connection between old name and new name on their own or by a banner on your website.  You have to tell them over and over and over again.  Print and online advertising along with direct mail, email marketing, press releases, trade shows and events, sales and customer service all working together in a synchronized marketing campaign is the best approach in my opinion.

 

Synchronized Marketing vs Integrated Marketing

With the emergence of social media as a new avenue for marketers to build brand loyalty, awareness, gather voice of the customer feedback and to increase sales, we need to rethink how to use the tools available to us.  For the longest time, integrated marketing was a powerful tool.  You could create a print ad and use the same messaging in banner ads, PPC, landing pages and email marketing.  We need to expand to synchronized marketing.  Courtney Christman wrote an excellent article on the subject titled “IMC to Synchronized Marketing: a pivotal paradigm shift in marketing”.

We, as marketers, have been given all of the instruments in an orchestra.  Each instrument has its own role, but when all of the instruments play together – customer service, website using SEO and PPC, content marketing, print advertising, promotions, social media with numerous channels, events and trade shows, and sales – we can get the brand message out using all of the channels available to us to reinforce the brand and listen to the voice of the customer to continuously improve the brand.

Meet Gregory Palmer

I help companies grow by connecting their brand with their customers through synchronized marketing. With over 20 years of branding, marketing, ecommerce, product management and sales experience, I have learned how to build effective branding programs utilizing a combination of online, print, email, social media, PR, and events to increase awareness, build loyalty and grow sales.

I am actively looking for a marketing or ecommerce leadership position where I can help companies brand their company and products using synchronized marketing and ecommerce.

Check out who I am and what I do:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregorypalmer

http://www.gregoryapalmer.com

https://www.facebook.com/greg.palmer.7503

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I’m looking forward to helping you create and market your brand.

GP