Small Business, Big Challenges: Tips and Tricks for Digital Marketing Success
True Digital Marketing Specialists: Your Shelter In The Storm
There are more and more self-proclaimed digital marketing experts in the United States today than ever before. The marketing industry has fully accepted that digital marketing is the way of the future and now armies of marketing and advertising sales teams are flooding the market of businesses both large and small. In this article we will discuss the dangers of this environment and how to protect your business and win in your marketing efforts long-term.
A Brief History Lesson
When we think of the names Google, Facebook and Amazon today we think of worldwide powerhouses. Mammoth companies that not only return significant profit to shareholders, but also wield a significant amount of raw power in society—evidenced by the many requests made by Congress in recent years for the CEOs of these companies to testify on Capitol Hill about various issues within their purview that affect the public’s interest.
But it wasn’t all that long ago that Google wasn’t even a company, but a college research project for two graduate students. Similarly, Facebook was a mere tool for students at Harvard to rank each other’s facial attractiveness. And Amazon was merely a brainiac Wall Street dropout’s start up idea of trading paperback and hardback books via the internet.
Fast forward to today and Google remains the primary way Americans find what they are looking for online. Amazon has forced Walmart and other major retailers to invest heavily in eCommerce. And Facebook has become many Americans’ primary place to interact with the communities around them.
While these major online companies have evolved over the last 15-20 years, so has the United States advertising and marketing industry. There’s no doubt that companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon have set a blazing pace of change over the last two decades. And advertising and marketing companies have really struggled to keep up.
The big difference that has occurred over the last 5 years is that, while advertising and marketing companies are still struggling to keep up with the technology developments, there are now far more advertising and marketing companies getting into the digital marketing business.
The Challenge for Business Owners
Digital Marketing Struggles? Tips and Tricks for Small Business Owners
When it comes to digital marketing today, the number one challenge facing business owners is finding a competent digital marketing partner. There are two primary reasons why it has become more and more difficult for business owners to find competent digital marketing partners.
REASON #1: RAPIDLY CHANGING TECHNOLOGY
Stop for a moment and consider the fact that as a society we went from horses to trains to cars to the telephone to the personal computer to the cell phone to the smart phone to Alexa. Now ask yourself how long were the gaps between each of the developments listed above? The answer is that with each new development the gaps got shorter and shorter. In other words, technological advancements have been accelerating through time.
And this has certainly been true within the digital marketing industry. For example, each year Google makes thousands of changes to its search algorithms. That’s anywhere from 3-8 changes PER DAY every day of the year! And it’s not just Google. Facebook, Amazon, Apple, YouTube and many other digital technology companies are constantly updating and improving their technologies.
REASON #2: A FLOOD OF DIGITAL MARKETING SALESPEOPLE
When Google, Facebook and Amazon first began to make headlines 15 years ago, there were many skeptics, especially in the marketing and advertising industry. After all, marketing and advertising’s lifeblood was mostly in print media, television and radio. The idea that the internet would start to steal eyes and ears away from traditional advertising was sacrilege. So, for a time between 2000-2010 traditional marketing and advertising firms dragged their feet and were in a state of denial about the reality that lay ahead.
Finally, in the last 10 years, and increasingly for the last 5 years, the full weight and power of traditional advertising and media giants have started throwing all their weight into digital marketing. They have deployed armies of advertising and marketing sales teams to fiercely compete with more modern software-based marketing companies. The current competitive environment for digital marketing has never been fiercer.
THE TOTAL IMPACT
Digital Marketing Struggles? Tips and Tricks for Small Business Owners
The impact of these two challenges has been felt at ground level for businesses of all types and sizes. With all of the constant changes in technology, it is virtually impossible for business owners to stay up to date. With the flood of aggressive marketing and advertising salespeople, business owners often get conflicting recommendations from supposed “experts” and are left unsure of what to believe and what to do.
Finding Shelter in the Storm
So, if you are a business owner today, what do you do? How can you navigate the stormy seas of rapidly changing technology and competing contradictory voices who are out to further their own profit goals?
The answer is that you must find a true digital marketing specialist who has both knowledge AND experience.
Remember we said there are many self-proclaimed digital marketing experts? Many of these supposed experts were just last year still selling direct mail and magazine advertisements. They have now been forced to get into digital marketing to survive.
For other players in the space, they are savvy on digital marketing, but only their own preferred method or technology within digital marketing. In other words, they make their money if you use their digital platform regardless of whether or not it is really the best fit for your business goals.
You really need to find a digital marketing partner you can trust. A partner who has deep knowledge of digital marketing technologies and who stays up to date on all the latest studies, trends and newest tech features and capabilities. However, knowledge is not enough. This partner must also have years and years of experience navigating the stormy waters of the digital marketing world. You want a partner who knows how to overcome the most difficult digital marketing situations and who has the depth of experience to build a custom digital marketing website and system for your business, not a one-size-fits-all marketing plan.
Results Digital Has Both
Here at Results Digital, we have both deep knowledge and deep experience. We have weathered the storms and we know how to bring our clients to the top—not just on Google, but to the top of their total digital marketing game. We were doing digital marketing long before it became “cool” and we are independent, meaning we are not beholden to any one digital marketing technology or platform. Our rich experience, knowledge and objectivity allows us to give our clients guidance they can count on and strategies and campaigns that will give them a true return on their marketing investments, not just a bunch of hot air.
