The “Web” presents a powerful marketing platform for businesses; however, as rewarding as the Web is for business, many businesses today still rely ‘solely’ on traditional marketing (e.g. radio, television, billboards, flyers, trade shows, etc) for advertising.
In the last 5 years (since we started Darrel Technologies) I have personally heard several arguments that attempt to downplay the effectiveness of the web as a marketing tool. In most cases, the rationale behind these arguments is founded on the logic that access to the Internet in “this part of the world” is low, therefore an advertiser stands a better chance reaching out to their target audience(s) via traditional marketing channels than through the web.
As flawless as this logic may seem, the question remains as to whether or not traditional marketing actually guarantees greater conversions. You see, it’s one thing to simply ‘reach out’ to a target audience, but an entirely different thing altogether to actually “connect” with that target audience.
The consumer perspective …
A major drawback to traditional marketing is that most (if not all) traditional marketing methods/channels rely on disruption. Let’s face it, the average commuter does not set out to work — or wherever it is they are headed each day — with the intention of ‘interacting’ with your bill board; neither does the average TV viewer turn on the television because s/he intends to be bombarded with a plethora of TV commercials. These only end up interrupting the usual course of their daily activities; preventing them from focusing on what it is they were interested in in the first place.
Due to the fast-paced nature of the world today and the economy, today’s consumers operate and respond much differently than audiences from 10 or 20 years ago. They already have their interests/agenda, and more often than not, your marketing efforts conflict with these interests, making you more of a nuisance to them than a ‘need’.
Driving the psyche …
As far as today’s audiences go, traditional marketing methods, in principle, are easily comparable to old fashioned “in your face” marketing methods such as the public address (PA) system type of marketing which all but constitutes a pain to the ears & mind.
Because consumers today already know what they want/need (or at least feel they do), trying to convince them to purchase a product — especially if they do not consider this a need — is simply an exercise in futility. You might as well be trying to force a pill down the throat of a visibly healthy person who simply doesn’t need it at the time.
So, what drives purchasing decisions for target audiences today?
1. Choice & preference
Today’s consumers are literally spoiled for choice; they only buy what they feel best suites their needs, and what matches their (already tight) budgets. People everywhere want to be able to make up their own minds about a product before deciding to buy.
2. Referrals
Today’s consumers prefer to be able to validate/authenticate the usefulness and/or viability of a product for their needs/intents/purposes, before deciding to buy. In most cases, recommendations from friends and colleagues is usually the ultimate decider.
Cost Vs Results
Profit is the bottom line for every business, and the objective of any marketing campaign is ultimately ‘sales’. However, marketing today, as far as today’s audiences go, is no longer just an event, but rather a process; one in which success can only be achieved through building trust and confidence in the minds of the target audience.
As widespread and far-reaching as even the strongest of all traditional or ‘outbound’ marketing methods (e.g. Radio and Television) are, they are hugely lacking in the very basics required for today’s target audiences. Outbound marketing techniques do very little to create the type of interaction that is required for today’s target audiences.
It simply isn’t enough to just ‘cast your net’ out there in the hope that something would ‘latch on’ to it. Simply sending out a marketing message to a myriad of consumers does not necessarily guarantee that you will be connecting with those that are actually interested in what it is you are selling (prospects).
A more calculated approach is required if you are to succeed in effectively connecting and communicating with your target audience; one that requires sufficient time and attention — the likes of which can never be feasible (financially) with outbound techniques.
Welcome Inbound Marketing ….
Inbound marketing offers more “measurable” results at a much reduced costs. Inbound marketing techniques enable you successfully present your business to your customers and prospects as ‘useful’, not a bother, thereby allowing you to properly segment your audience in order to isolate your ‘real’ target audience — those already interested in your products/services — from the rest of the batch.
By combining methods such as blogging, search and social media marketing, you are able to (a) create brand awareness (b) endear your business to prospects by exuding trust and confidence, and (c) identify and (effectively) connect with your ‘real’ target audience.
The Internet has fundamentally changed the way we share and connect with each other. Today, social media sites like Facebook help us share content with huge amounts of people in real time — 70% of Facebook news consumers follow links posted by friends or family, and these sharing habits extend offline. Your business can take advantage of such an organic medium that relies on “Word-of-mouth” advertising — a major influence as far as purchasing decisions go — to build relationships and promote your products / services.
Common sense is often wrong …
Often, there is a temptation not to conduct research because the answer to a question is “common sense.” Unfortunately, common sense is not so common and is often wrong. – Michael G. Aamodt
Industrial-Organizational Psychologist
By April 2010, Ghana had an estimated 2.5 million Internet users — nearly 62% of the total population of Kumasi and Accra put together by the way. With the proliferation of Internet-enabled mobile devices, not to mention the ever reducing cost of Internet access in the country, surely the Internet access-based argument no longer holds water.
In putting this hypothesis to the test, over the last 5 years, Darrel Technologies has sponsored and taken part in a couple of studies that attempted to gauge the effectiveness of both traditional and inbound marketing methods in Ghana (with emphasis on the major cities of Accra and Kumasi). Of the 2,846 respondents sampled to date, it really was not surprising to learn that nearly 65% of TV viewers do not stick around for a commercial break during their favourite TV series — some probably use that opportunity to step out for a glass of water, take a quick dash to the bathroom, or steal away to the kitchen to check on the evening’s meal, so as to ensure that they’d be back on time to catch the ‘next leg’ of the series; while others probably flip through the channels to see what other ‘interesting’ stuff is on.
Under 32% of respondents had followed up on ads they had seen/heard on TV, radio, newspapers, billboards, and banners in the last week; and less than 26% of the same ended up making a purchase afterward. A whopping 87% had made a purchase based on a recommendation from a friend, colleague, or family member. 83% of respondents — who browse the Internet — checked out a product ad/promotion posted by their friends/pages/groups they follow on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter, and nearly 78% said they had ended up purchasing a product based on this.
It makes very little business sense to spend a huge chunk of your marketing budget on advertising channels that are, in most case, restricted to specific geographical areas, when you could easily be spending under 35% of the amount expended on these channels and obtain the same (if not better) results in the long run.
As Internet use in Ghana keeps growing, we can safely and accurately forecast that traditional marketing channels will continue to grow less (and less) effective, while inbound marketing will continue to produce more measurable results for businesses at a far lower costs per lead than traditional/outbound marketing channels.
Author: Rollins Orlu , Founder & CEO D-Tech Ghana
