Since One On One ventured into the digital landscape these past couple of years, we’ve had numerous clients ask how they could move their own brands into the space. Inevitably, the question of “is it worth it?” always crops up.
It’s understandable to be wary of something new; after all, we all have businesses to manage and failure is a good motivator to keep things as they are. Lately, there’s been a big push to uncover the ROI of digital marketing. If you read as many blogs as I do, you’ll find daily postings looking for or touting “tried and true” ways to deliver ROI. My question is, are you toiling as much over the ROI of your newspaper campaigns?
It’s All The Same (but Different)
Look, digital marketing is still marketing. Talking to a client on Facebook can be similar to talking to them through a radio spot. The difference? One approach can be more conversational. Note, I said can be, not is. That approach is up to you. The exciting thing is, we have more choice and more ways to engage our audience. It behooves us to try them out.
The Good and the Bad Sides of Measurement
What gets a lot of people excited is how measurable everything can be. Facebook insights, Google analytics, Twitter stats. Each serves to give you a better picture of who you’re interacting with and what these people are doing. But, you can get lost in a sea of measurement and none of it will actually tell you what to do next. That’s where your marketing savvy comes in. And frankly, that’s where the hard work comes in too. Is Twitter perfect for all businesses? Absolutely not. Is Facebook great for some? Without a doubt. Will Search work for you? It depends.
So What About that ROI?
Let me ask you this: what’s the ROI of a golf game with a client? Can you effectively say those 9 or 18 holes resulted in the sale of x-more widgets? How about those newspaper ads? You got your message in front of 2 million potential customers, but did they see the ad? Did they remember it? Did they act? What’s the ROI of that newspaper ad?
I can’t tell you what the ROI of Twitter is but I do know this.
It can work very well.
I’m the Marketing Director for a local, not-for profit cinema—a pro-bono client for One On One—which has no budget for any traditional marketing. Instead, I try everything I can to communicate with our customers–Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, e-News, and a slew of other technologies. Do all of them work? Some better than others. But they all require work, and patience and time.
A few days ago I tweeted what was playing at the cinema that evening—this is just one of the ways we let people know what’s happening. One of our followers replied that she was excited to see a particular documentary. I tweeted back, hoping she enjoy the show and suggesting she bring a friend to this important documentary. She later replied she had “persuaded” a couple of friends to tag along.
How’s that for ROI?
