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Branding vs. direct marketing: which is more important to an internet company?
The world's largest internet companies (think Google, Twitter, Facebook...) seem to excel at branding and spend very little time on direct marketing. More recently though, companies like Groupon and Zynga seem to have experienced exceptional growth on the back of world class direct marketing tactics. So which is more important?
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3 Answers
I think that the question isn't which is more important, but rather which is more important as pertaining to your business model.
Companies like Google and Facebook sell a brand because in an essence, that is what they are. A business like Groupon not only has to get people to their site and sign up, but also needs to sell offers to those users to be successful. I believe that without direct marketing, their conversion rate would suffer. Same for Zynga, as they need to engage the end user to download a game and play it. The end user experience requires a deeper buy in. Granted, Google has moved beyond the search engine business, but by the time they provided more services, they had built a trusted user base by providing a superior service.
I also believe another factor pushing direct marketing is the current financial atmosphere. Today, companies have to be more aggressive pursuing clients and end users alike.
Lastly, I feel Groupon and Zynga both have more specific demographics to market to, which makes it easier to team up with say, Seven Eleven for game promo codes on soda purchases.
Scott: Great examples. Note that all the brand companies you mentioned built their brand without spending much on brand ads. They had exceptional, unique products.
For a typical company, I would focus on direct marketing and customer satisfaction. At some point I would do a brand campaign focussing on uniqueness of the business after it gets sufficient traction through DM.
I agree that it depends on your target market. The traditional types of marketing are decreasing or are dying and businesses are having to find new avenues to market. If your clients are searching for you on Google -that is where you must be to compete with your competitors. Facebook allows a business owner to target directly to the people they are trying to reach by directing the ads to particular interests, hobbies or demographics.
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