Traditional vs. Digital
October 28, 2008 by OA Group · 1 Comment
There has been an ongoing debate for the past decade regarding which marketing medium provided advertisers with the best return on investment: traditional vs. digital. Traditional media buying would include: television, radio, newspaper, et al. Digital marketing includes: search engine marketing, banner ads, rich media and the newcomer streaming media. The truth of the matter is that I’ve seen both mechanism generate great and terrible results, it’s my experience that everything boils down to execution ultimately. However I want to briefly discuss each option.
Traditional Media
Traditional marketing has been around for ages and is thus a well established marketing machine. It has been attacked lately with the advent of TiVo and Satellite radio, however it remains a bastion of brand safe advertising distribution. There is very little fraud in traditional media, which enables a fairly worry free environment for clients. With the positives in mind it is also important to understand the drawbacks:
- Archaic analytic reporting;
- High level of risk;
- Lack of control.
- It is cost prohibitive for small businesses.
Digital Marketing
Digital, or online, advertising has been the fastest growing industry in the past decade and has birthed global corporate giants like Google and Yahoo! It addresses many of the negatives of traditional marketing, such as:
- Full analytics reporting, you know exactly when and where your ads have been displayed.
- With performance based campaigns, there is little to no risk at stake.
- You have full control over the campaign.
- Companies of any size can advertise online, due to little to no minimum advertising buys.
It may sound like I am one sided in this debate, and it is true, I believe very strongly in the power of digital marketing; however it is also paramount to remember that the key to a successful marketing campaign is matching the right message to the right audience. Contact us and we can help create a marketing plan that matches your needs.
What’s Your Marketing Risk IQ?
October 23, 2008 by OA Group · 1 Comment
What's Your Marketing Risk IQ?
Marketing is a risk intensive endeavor, there is a wide ranging risk vs. reward matrix which can bring even the most innovative experts to their knees. So why am I telling you this? It’s because I want to describe the OAG marketing mechanisms and illustrate how they each minimize risk while simultaneously maximizing the reward. Below is a basic walk-through of each service:
1. BlogSpur
The BlogSpur service is a multi-faceted social media marketing service produces long term results with minimal risk. The OAG Social Media and Search Engine Specialists dramatically increase a brand’s online web presence through blog postings and social media syndication. The fees are minimal compared to hiring a blogger and the service produces industry leading results.
2. AdSpur
AdSpur is a performance based marketing service. This means there is little to no risk for you as an advertiser. You only pay when you receive an order, lead or visitor.
If you are looking for your company to receive online or offline press exposure, a strong PR push is required. This does have a higher risk compared to the BlogSpur and AdSpur services since the fees are higher and there are no guaranteed results. However the rewards are potentially exponential. Several companies such as Facebook and YouTube built their businesses purely on a solid public relations and press outreach strategy.
In the current economic condition of the nation, it is key to make every penny of your marketing dollar count, so choose wisely and let us help you create a marketing solution that fits your situation.
RIP-IT Sporting Goods
October 15, 2008 by OA Group · Leave a Comment
OAG created and manages the RIP-IT Sporting Goods blog through the BlogSpur service, this social media marketing tool allows for RIP-IT to dramatically increase their web presence and consumer awareness.
Swingaway
October 15, 2008 by OA Group · Leave a Comment
SwingAway has been utilizing the BlogSpur and AdSpur programs and have seen traffic increases and overall web presence ubiquity.
About SwingAway:
SwingAway is committed to continue to make the very best Baseball/ Softball Hitting Systems and Hitting Accessories in the entire market. We remain proud that we make the only Hitting machine on this planet that actually makes our customer’s better hitters, thus better ball players. Just ask any of our Major League Customers. Guaranteed
When the SwingAway was introduced to Professional Baseball in 1996, there was a tremendous BUZZZ… around the League. This machine was perfected with the guidance of Lou Piniella, Lee Elia and Jay Buhner all with the Seattle Mariners, as the Head Coach, the Head Hitting Coach and as an All Star Player respectively.
Today, more Pro Players use the SwingAway than ever before. It is the Only established, recognized and accepted hitting training machine in the MLB. Today’s players grew up training on the SwingAway. Many of today’s professional players started training on the SwingAway in High School, College, the Minor Leagues and finally in to the Big Leagues. Pro Players now just expect a SwingAway to be available for them to train and practice with at every stadium.
We receive numerous calls each month from former MLB Players; Many of them are Legends of the Game. However the most surprising is the calls former MLB Pitchers who want to purchase a SwingAway System for their children. This re- enforces the fact that our SwingAway really works to make players of all age’s better hitter’s thus better baseball and softball players. We as a company are extremely proud to continue to be successful in doing something Real Good for the Game of Baseball.
Vintage Filings
October 15, 2008 by OA Group · Leave a Comment
PR Newswire’s Vintage Filings division is the fastest growing EDGAR filings agent in the U.S. We provide you with superior customer service, transparent pricing and quick turnaround time. Let us provide you with worry-free filing for ALL of your financial documents.
Find out for yourself why 3,000+ public companies trust Vintage with their filing needs:
• No weekend or overnight fees
• True 24/7 personalized service
• Dedicated account management
• Transparent billing
• Full typesetting & financial printing services
Vintage Filings is utilizing the BlogSpur program with great success. Since launching, Vintage Filings has been increasing their web presence and search engine ranking.
A Time for Performance
October 9, 2008 by OA Group · Leave a Comment
We are witnessing history right now, the past six consecutive days have seen three digit drops in the dow each day. Because of this I’ve received countless emails from friends asking if we’ve seen a decrease in ad buys, and my answer is: yes AND no. We have seen drops in traditional marketing (tv and radio) and traditional display (CPM banners). However our gross revenues and profit are up by over 30%. How is this possible? Companies are starting to migrate their advertising budgets to performance based campaigns. Performance based marketing campaigns consist of:
- Cost per Click
- Cost per Lead
- Cost per Action.
And since these marketing mechanisms are low risk to the advertiser, they are actually getting one of the highest return on their marketing investment in years! Regardless of how poor the economy is, companies still need to make sales and in order to make sales they need to market their product and brand. In an effort to ensure our clients remain profitable with their ad campaigns, we have progressively been moving our clients to performance campaigns. Right now is the time to be smart with your marketing dollars and there are plenty of outlets for you to cost-effectively reach new customers.
Movement Marketing
October 1, 2008 by OA Group · Leave a Comment
I walked with my wife and in-laws this weekend at the Susan G. Komen “Walk for the Cure”. After the walk we were ushered into a parking lot lined up with the walk’s sponsors. Fortune 500 companies such as AT&T and Starbucks along with regional companies. I wanted to talk in this post about the difference between embracing a movement compared to simply throwing money to a cause.
The powerhouse regional gym called BodyWorks had created Breast Cancer giveaways along with providing activities for kids and families. Needless to say, their booth was crowded to overflowing. Compare that with Best Buy who had a very large booth with had nothing that was relevant to the event. It doesn’t take a marketing degree to know that BodyWorks made a strong brand impression on a large percentage of the thousands of attendees. And not only did Best Buy not make a positive impression, they most likely damaged their brand’s perception since anyone walking by their booth would see them as a large impersonal company that is simply attempting to “buy” their way into a non-profit event.
This example has illustrated clearly to me the importance of having a clear regional strategy if you are in the retail industry. Best Buy has been getting extremely negative press lately (coverage), and if this weekend was an accurate depiction of their market plan, it’s clear they need to make some changes.
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