Moving Forward with Digital Marketing

Written by Diane M. Calabrese | Published October 2024

To move forward companies promote their products and services.

In fact, the Latin root of the word “promote” means to move forward. As long as people have been exchanging goods and services, promotion has been in the picture. Except now we call it marketing.

Direct promotion still works well in some settings. The chat across a table at a farmers’ market or craft fair closes many deals. But how many opportunities do businesses have for direct chats?

More and more business transactions take place in the digital sphere. As such, businesses must couple opportunities to meet prospective customers in the real world with a vibrant digital presence.

Of course, every business wants the same digital glow. That includes competitors. Thus, in many ways getting noticed in the digital world is more difficult than attracting attention in the real world.

Moreover, every competitor is trying to find a search engine optimization (SEO) strategy that does the same thing: ensures a user’s search engine query returns the company among the top options. Over time, though, companies that provide search engines have found ways to charge for getting in the top tier of returns.

SEO consultant companies work to help a business create strategies to move to the top on search returns. There are also pay per click (PPC) companies that work to enhance the visibility of a business. They charge when an ad is clicked instead of charging an upfront fee.

“We have used several SEO and PPC companies,” says Mike Hilborn, president of RTD Services in St. Paul, MN. “However, even with good experience, it’s very expensive.”

So expensive that putting someone on the regular team can make sense. “We have recently hired an employee to do digital optimization work in-house to reduce the cost,” says Hilborn. “That person also has other responsibilities.”

How does Hilborn characterize the digital marketplace? “SEO and PPC along with banner ads and display ads are still the Wild West,” he says.

Hilborn explains that it’s not a static situation. To be effective at digital marketing, a business must continuously appraise and adapt.

“I have not found display ads or banner ads to be effective,” says Hilborn. “We have not had much success on retargeting.”

And what has delivered as expected? “The only thing that has actually worked for us is pay per click, aka PPC,” says Hilborn. “SEO was expensive, and Google continuously changes the rules, so it is always a moving target. We don’t pursue SEO anymore. We haven’t for several years.”

Reflecting on the return on investment in the present, Hilborn says there is a clear winner for his company. “Pay per click is our biggest source of jobs, both for residential and commercial work. For us, there is nothing more effective.”

That does not mean that PPC is the only marketing tool used. “We also use direct mail, local newspapers, Angi, and radio, along with working with referral partners,” says Hilborn. “Nothing beats PPC.”

As for getting schooled in PPC, Hilborn points to online courses that offer instruction. He uses them.

More On Adapting

Whether tapping the expertise of consultants or hiring team members with expertise in digital marketing—or doing both—businesses focus on reaching prospective customers by keeping pace with change: adapting.

Given the pace of change, a consultant may be useful at any time in the process. “Certainly, given the importance of digital marketing nowadays and the ever-increasing development of web marketing, a consultant can be important,” says Federico Bellotto, the marketing manager for Idrobase Group, which is headquartered in Borgoricco PD, Italy.

“Our company is structured with an in-house marketing department that includes the position/job/role of digital marketing,” explains Bellotto. “In the early days of digital communication, the company used the advice of external professionals, but during the last years the importance of web marketing has been growing; therefore the company decided to increase its marketing department by including the position/job/role of digital marketing in-house.”

Determination of which form of digital marketing—or which combination of forms—brings the greatest return on investment requires diligence. “Over time we have tried numerous forms of web marketing,” says Bellotto.

“As for social media, we have abandoned platforms that have changed or even closed over the years, such as Google+ and Twitter, now X,” says Bellotto. “Other platforms, however, were not considered, even though they were very popular and famous, because they were not in line with the company’s target audience—for example, Pinterest and TikTok.”

When making shifts in focus, a company must often prune in one area of digital marketing as it grows in another. And that’s what Bellotto’s company has done.

“We changed email marketing,” explains Bellotto. “We greatly limited the sending of newsletters, which were mostly focused on advertising communications to the entire database, in favor of targeted email campaigns via mailing lists that included service communications, trade shows, and promotions.”

When evaluating and developing a digital marketing plan, it must be done as part of the whole picture. In 2024 digital marketing is significant, but it is not the whole of promotion.

“All marketing tools—online and offline—are important because they were created with different goals in mind,” says Bellotto. “Right now, however, the importance of social and web marketing is crucial for companies because much of the world of communication has shifted to these forms of advertising and promotion.”

Taking the adage “change is the only constant” to heart is part of any business. And so it is with digital marketing.

The shift to the digital world is too significant to be ignored, explains Bellotto. “For companies that want to keep up with the times, therefore, it is anachronistic not to be present in the world of digital marketing.”

Phases Of Growth

Each company must carve its own path to optimal promotion in the digital world. Following in the footsteps of others can lead to dead ends and wrong turns.

Carol Taylor, director of marketing at StoneAge Inc. in Durango, CO, explains that her company used digital consultants in the past. “Their expertise was invaluable during our early phases.”

How did that outside expertise help? “The insights and strategies they provided helped us navigate the rapidly evolving digital landscape and establish a strong online presence,” explains Taylor. “However, as we’ve grown, so has our in-house marketing team.”

Taylor says that her company relies on a “robust and extremely talented team that consistently drives innovative and effective campaigns,” and internal capabilities and goals are well-aligned. Excellent alignment means that the company does not require external assistance.

The assessment by Taylor does not mean she rules out consultants. “I would certainly recommend using a digital marketing consultant for companies at various stages of their growth,” she says.

Taylor would recommend seeking help when just starting out or when refining strategies. “A consultant can offer specialized knowledge and an objective viewpoint that can be incredibly beneficial.”

It’s a matter of finding a good fit. “We have experimented with various forms of digital marketing, and one approach we have since moved away from is Google Ads,” says Taylor.

The investment in the ads did not bring the return the company had anticipated. But Taylor emphasizes that such ads may be a very good match for other companies.

What works for Taylor’s company? “We discovered channels such as content marketing and social media engagement provided more value and better aligned with our brand’s voice and goals,” explains Taylor. “It’s important to note that marketing effectiveness can vary greatly depending on the industry, target audience, and specific business objectives.”

Exacting evaluation is the approach that Taylor recommends to others. “While Google Ads may not have been the best fit for us, it can still be a highly effective tool for others,” she explains. “We encourage businesses to carefully analyze their performance metrics and be open to experimenting with different strategies to find what works best for them.”

And Taylor summarizes for us what works best for her company at present. “For us, we find that social media across multiple platforms, combined with a detailed SEO strategy and e-blasts, are most effective for our business model. With those three forms of digital communications, we can directly reach our targeted market or markets as well as keep top-of-mind awareness for current and, in some cases, past customers.

“Our main goal is to drive traffic to the company’s website, and combining three strategies allows us to do just that,” continues Taylor. “Additionally we are able to track the effectiveness through data analytics, which allows us to make adjustments as necessary.”

Never forget what the main goal of marketing is: promotion of the products and/or services offered by a company. Success of promotion will be documented by the revenue the investment in the promotion generates.

Nothing substitutes for a monetary return on investment (ROI). In the case of digital marketing, it’s not awards for website design, praise for remarkable videos, or numbers of views.

Promotion is not an end in itself. It’s a means to an end: more sales