Not too long ago a business could set up operations in an office space, build a website, take out a Yellow Pages ad and.. BAM..the phone seemingly started ringing. Naturally, that immediate business development also depended on what type of business it was, but nonetheless, that was how most all businesses started.
Needless to say, that doesn’t work anymore. Unfortunately, there are still a very large number of business..mostly B2B…who still take this approach to marketing their product or services.
Digital marketing is still a foreign concept to many businesses who need to make a change in their marketing. Many fight the need to change the direction in marketing and their thinking on not feeling they need to have a presence on the internet.
Businesses do not make the change to digital marketing will quickly find they have fallen far behind their competitors who have made the change.
Why Businesses Balk at Using Digital Marketing
I recently had dinner with four friends who all are business owners in an array of B2B businesses. Our discussion for the evening derived from their intrigue in why, after 32 years of operations management, I bought into being a partner in a video centric digital marketing agency.
“Isn’t that for 20 somethings who have a dozen Twitter accounts?”..was one of the opening question following my answer to their greeting, “What are you up to now days?
As I usually do, I turned the questions they ask around to bring the group together in an open discussion on their business’ operations.
Following are the questions I asked during our dinner. There were some very candid, frank and interesting answers that confirmed there are still a large number of businesses who do not understand the world of marketing has changed.
Are your companies using the internet to market?
“I don’t really know!?”, was the most shocking answer from one. The others stated they were only on the internet “to keep our millennials happy”.
Are you aware consumers are now checking the internet for a business’ presence before they contact the business?
“We don’t see that change being of much concern to us since we deal only with other businesses.”, was the consensus of three. However, this information came as a shock to one, “That would explain why our sales have slowly dropped over the past three years.”
Do you watch videos online?
“Of course, I watch the News clips and, from time to time, watch a “How To” video”. “We watch training videos created by the corporate office.” “I’ll watch an occasional Cat video.” , were a few of the remarks made.
Are you aware that the majority of consumers prefer watching a video explaining a service over reading an ad or being pitched by a salesperson?
“Interesting, wasn’t aware of that.” “Again, another reason why our sales are falling off!!” “Had no idea it was that high of a percentage.” These remarks seemed to have hit a nerve.
When Have to Have Turned to Gotta Have
This discussion when on through desert, which by that time a few of my dinner companions were ready for few shots of Jack Daniels.
I can take it from this dinner that there are in fact a large number of businesses who have to have digital marketing, but have no idea how urgent their need is. Now, they have waited so long they gotta have a digital marketing strategy.
If you are one of these businesses, contact SyncLab Media today to learn more about what a video centric digital marketing strategy is all about.
And, as always, let me know how I can help.
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