Integration is the key

How do I get the most bang for my advertising dollars?
The answer is no longer as simple as it used to be.
In years past placing an ad in the newspaper or the phone book would be all a business needed to do to ensure that its phone would ring. No longer is that the case.
As consumers have migrated to other vehicles to find the products and services that they want, so to have the savvy marketers. That, however, doesn't mean that marketers should completely abandon products like newspapers. It just means that they should use more of them and that all the efforts should work together.
There are more options and more strategy involved in marketing nowadays. The challenge is to optimize your efforts and your dollars.
Just because somebody tells you they have a new digital marketing idea, doesn't mean that it is necessarily the best thing for your business. You need to ask questions.
How does it fit with your existing and future marketing campaigns?
Can a new marketing platform help an existing one?
Can an existing platform be modified to help a new one?
For example, if you have the bulk of your advertising dollars in newspaper advertising and are considering some digital options, then you have to make sure the print is helping your online and vice versa.
It's more important than ever to make sure any new marketing efforts build on each other. This is how the sum of your dollars will add up to more than just the literal numbers.
The more marketing strategies you take advantage of - the more you need to make sure they are integrated.
That's how we will get the most bang from our advertising dollars.

Marty Valania has been involved in digital marketing for over 10 years. For questions, ideas or suggestions, please email martyvalania@gmail.com.