An On-Demand World

The popularity of fax machines and email communication significantly increased turnaround time expectations among consumers in the 1990’s more than any other behavioral changes I can recall. That is, until the recent explosion of text messaging, on-demand video, and mobile applications raised the bar to a whole new level.

Today your customers have an on-demand expectation. They want what they want, when they want it.  And, when you offer it to them, the offer message better be personalized to them and demonstrate that you know who you are engaging and that you have done your homework to learn their characteristics, preferences and buying history.

It is no longer okay to jettison 20,000 pieces of generic direct mail all at once or 5,000 untargeted emails that are not individually addressed to your customers or prospects and expect a real response.

While the majority of business marketing budgets for many small business owners in this new world continue to be spent on mass media vehicles like newspapers, TV, radio, billboards and yellow pages, all of these choices are showing shrinking returns. Though these advertising options are very effective in building brand recognition, they are not so successful in actually driving new customers through your door. The best prescription to achieve healthier performance in today’s rapidly changing environment is to develop a marketing plan in 2012 that moves at least 20% to 30% of your budget to efforts that are more targeted that can demonstrate more track able, measurable results. In short, test everything you try and measure the return on investment of every dollar you spend.

This is a time when the choices of where to advertise have increased exponentially and selecting the right alternatives can be overwhelming. This new dilemma is what has motivated Steve Emory and me to begin this important dialog.

Steve O’Driscoll

Steve O Marketing

Explore posts in the same categories: DIgital Strategy, Direct Mail, DIrect Marketing Employment, Online Marketing