Revista de Negócios e Gestão Hoteleira

Why Industrial Age Marketing Doesn’t Work in a Digital Age

Peter Booklah

Let me ask you a question. When you want to find out some information or look for detail on a product or service, what’s the first thing you do? I guarantee that 99.9% of all people with access to broadband and a digital device like a phone, tablet or PC, will do their research online. Yet, what totally astounds me, is when I speak to business owners about their digital strategy, they look at me blankly or simply say ‘we have a website’. Just having a website is not a digital strategy; on its own, a website is about as much use as a chocolate fireguard. I’ll give you an example: If you take companies like Self ridges and Harrods, their main marketing space is their shop window. How often do they change their shop window and update their displays? The answer is very frequently. With most businesses, their website IS their shop window. If your only digital strategy is your website - when was the last time you updated it? How frequently do you post content? How relevant is your content? Do you use video? Do you use blogs? How do you rank on Google? How do you rank on YouTube? A lot of business owners don’t have a clue. In fact, how often do you even look at your website stats? If you are not looking at your website stats weekly, let me tell you, your digital strategy sucks. Are you happy with the number of leads you have coming in? If not, what strategies are you using to bring that business in? Are you utilising your website to its optimal potential in order to get yourself known? Probably not. You’re not alone; many business owners wouldn’t know where to even start and that’s why it is so important to learn how to be current. Some business owners don’t believe that they need to have a digital business strategy. To the naysayers, please understand this: As we get older - and by that, I mean 40 plus - our target audience of people that are going to be buying from us, are going to remain younger. For example, if your target audience is in their twenties, that will remain the same, however, over time, how those twenty-year-old buy and do their research will change. You’ve got to ask yourself how younger people shop for products and services. These people were born online; they know Google like they know the back of their hand, they use YouTube frequently, they’re on Facebook, Instagram, Snap chat and whatever else is about to be released. It’s no longer just about your business. Potential clients are also interested in the people within your business; you’d be surprised how much due diligence people do before they actually shop. They’ll go into your website; they’ll see who your key people are then they may go and try to find you on Facebook and LinkedIn. If potential customers were to put your name or your company’s name into Google right now, how easily are you found and more importantly what would they find? Now, I don’t particularly love all things digital, however, I understand that in order for me to grow my business, I need to be searchable on all the relevant channels. I currently have a web page, a YouTube channel, a Facebook page, a Facebook Business page, an Instagram account and a LinkedIn account. I’m on various podcasts channels, I’m on other people’s podcasts, I’m on other people’s websites and I’m in other people’s videos.