Leaner Greener Marketing

Anyone paying attention to business the past few years recognizes the affect Social Networking and the Internet has had on marketing. Traditional methods of marketing such as the phone book, newspapers, direct mail and magazines are things of the past. Can you recall the last time you reached for a phone book to look up the number of a friend or relative? Over 90% of the phone books delivered today end up in land fills, many are thrown away without ever being used.

Old marketing methods relied on 'circulation' numbers to sell advertising.  This means if a newspaper dropped off 1,000 papers in an area the advertisers were charged based on that number even if nobody ever picked up the paper.  This method of marketing was costly, wasteful (every day the newspaper was thrown away while another was delivered the next day) and difficult to track.

Today online marketing, social networking and websites may be tracked down to the number of minutes and seconds visitors spend viewing ads or webpages.  Most online marketing costs a fraction of traditional marketing expenses while reaching a wider audience.  Search Engine Optimization and Social Marketing enable target marketing to specific online users looking for the products or services each company provides.

Every ad placed in a newspaper, magazine or phone book is a contribution to landfills and in polluting the environment.  Most printed ads end up in the trash followed by landfills with an average shelf life of less than 60 days.  When it comes to leaner greener marketing the only way to improve, innovate and save costs is a complete paradigm shift from printed materials to online media.