How has digital media changed your approach to marketing?

Yes it has definitely changed our approach.
Being a small services companies we couldn't say we had a proper marketing budget, therefore we were focusing on PR efforts (some of which paied well, others less) on a pretty much opportunistic base. All computations made, for a fraction of the previously expensed money we can really support and foster sales through networks and consistently build and maintain brand image, and what's more in coherent way.
Offline activities are still relevant and carefully selected, online activities may sometimes be "not the right ones", but we're in trial and error mode, but that's OK in the online world ;-)

There are 5 ways our marketing model has changed due to digital media.

1) We measure and track our results. Digital media allows us to track our leads through every stage of the marketing funnel and sales pipeline. We track the lifetime value of a customer against the cost to acquire that customer. As a result,we've shifted marketing efforts from less measurable (for example, print and broadcast) into more measurable (email marketing, CPC, SEO/SEM). We measure both to justify our marketing expense and to ensure we are spending on the most effective strategies.

2) We focus more on lead generation and less on brand awareness. The ability of digital media to better target specific demographics has increased the ROI of online lead generation. That's not to say that we don't put energy into brand awareness - just that brand awareness is secondary to lead generation.

3) We use video and multimedia marketing. Of course, our company is all about empowering marketers to use video and multimedia for online marketing. And, as Marge Bieler said, that's because online conversion rates go up by over 40% when video is used. Video engagement is measurable, and can be used for lead generation or as web site content. When used in lead generation campaigns it increases conversion rates, and at the same time drives brand awareness and engagement.

4) We use social media to humanize our company. The most important social medium for us is our blog. It drives SEO, let's us educate our market and expose our company's personality. We use our blog to convert visitors and demonstrate our products in action. We use Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn by encouraging our market to talk about us on their social networks, as opposed to creating a lot of content on them.

5) We are more data-driven. Digital media has made information available to us that informs us about our market. When visitors land on our web site, we know where they are, what platform they're on, their connection speed and lots of other information. As a result, we can choose marketing tactics that better suit our market. There is a wealth of other data that affects how we communicate with our market.

We've certainly been devoting more resources to online marketing. As a software company, we've started to focus on providing more educational content to our prospects as a marketing strategy. Rather than just trying to funnel everyone into a 30-day free trial, we're starting to capture leads by all manner of online educational offerings.

Yes, it has definitely changed my approach. We have a daily radio show that gets far more interaction on facebook versus phone calls into the studio. Our audience is far more concerned about streaming or downloading the show than they are interested in tuning their radio dial.

Our approach now relies heavily on social marketing, both online and in person (networking). Before, we focused on the yellow pages and print advertising. Now, we are radio and social media, almost exclusively - though we are considering billboards and buses. Any thoughts?

I am finding social media as an excellent way to expand my reach to existing and potential clients. It allows me to develope a personal relationship with more people, including many that I would never have had a chance to otherwise. It has opened doors that would have been much harder to otherwise open.

Hi Jessica!

Marge - I really appreciate all your statistics -- that is so helpful to so many who struggle to quantify the actual value. Thanks so much.

Digital marketing has had a positive effect on my business in two primary ways; lead generation and brand equity.

The DIYMarketers.com online publication is a great resource for small business owners and serves as a lead qualifier and lead generation tool. I've found that our presence on LinkedIN, Facebook and Twitter enhances interaction and conversation.

Before digital marketing - I was frustrated because there was no easy way for prospects to "sample" what we had to offer. And with digital media, I find that I can give entrepreneurs an experience of working with our firm, help them in a meaningful way and generate value without spending and wasting time and money on travel or losing half a day in a networking meeting.

When I think about the number of conversations I can have in the "traditional" marketing channel - I've increased the number of those conversations and the quality of those conversations at least 10 fold.

Digital marketing allows us to actually deliver value before the sale is made. I really like that.

well said chiara

I'm spending much more time and effort using online marketing, as are my clients. But I'm also making sure I integrate both online and offline marketing. I drive people to my website and my social media links in all of my print materials, and I encourage people to ask for print materials in my online marketing.

I create a lot of pdf files (e-books, white papers, etc.). I had always thought of them as a hybrid, expecting people to print them and read them. I've been surprised to see, however, that most people are actually reading pdf files, even quite long ones, online.

No question the changes have affected our marketing mix. We sell both hard goods and services in the B to B space and we have refocused our marketing budget to electronic tools almost exclusively. One of the key reasons is the ability to specifically measure our efforts and messaging. Even if we do more traditional marketing, shows, advertising etc. we link the process to our electronic efforts through customized landing pages so we can measure these efforts better as well.

The ability to more quickly adapt our message is also a factor. The electronic media are ideal for hast changing messages.

Finally, we are not as dependent upon what I call "ego driven" (you see your name in lights or the big ad) advertising since we can focus the marketing efforts to specific products or services for specific market segments.

Digital media has provided more channels by which to reach our target audience, but it hasn’t changed the basic principles of marketing, which are to create value for your target audience, let the audience know about the value, get into conversation with them, provide the value, and keep them as long-term customers. Digital media has just provided additional ways in which to do all the above.