What’s All the Buzz About the New Marketing?

Are you somewhat out of step these days with all of the new marketing buzz words? Well, you’re not alone. With all of the social media, blogging, microsites, mobile and the like, how can you keep up with all of the different technologies to market your wares. Well, I’ve put together a glossary that may help you sift through the maze of today’s marketing jargon. Here are a few terms to get you started:

Digital Marketing: According to Wikipedia, digital marketing is the practice of promoting products and services using digital distribution channels to reach consumers in a timely, relevant, personal and cost-effective manner. Whatever that means. Basically it’s just Internet marketing but also includes mobile phones, banner ads and digital outdoor billboards. It basically refers to direct marketing tactics but communicating with the audience using digital formats.

Online Marketing: Really is the same thing as Internet marketing, web marketing or eMarketing. It’s basically marketing your products or services over the Internet. Some of the types of marketing described below fall into this category. It may also include eNewsletters and the like.

Social Media Marketing: This is where “engagement” comes in. In social media, such as Twitter or Facebook, you are carrying on conversations with your customers or prospects. Though most companies have only used social media as a PR function or a Customer Service function, many companies are finding that it is an excellent marketing tool for new product announcements, delivering company information, or announcing seminars, trade show attendance, etc. It is a good way to brand your products or your company. It is a very inexpensive way to get your message to your audience. And, it’s a two-way conversation with your customers.

Content Marketing: It’s exactly what it says … creating and distributing relevant content that is deemed of value to your objective audience. But, it goes one step further. You deliver this content because you want to engage the customer and require s/he to take some sort of action. Whether that be to click on a link, sign up for something, or purchase something. But, don’t think content marketing is just all about sending out a bunch of fodder. The keywords in this equation are “relevant” and “valuable” information.

Inbound Marketing: This is really setting up your website as the center of a wheel and then making sure those spokes are connected to your website via search engines, blogs, and social media sites. Basically, you will be using methods to attract your audience to come to your central site. Proponents of inbound marketing feel that outbound marketing tactics are easily filtered out. And, that is true to a certain extent. So, inbound marketing allows you to pull people to your website. But, while they are there, make sure you have special landing pages, updated information, and ways to convert those inbound leads to sales.

Outbound Marketing: Many advocates of inbound marketing are shunning outbound marketing. This is the traditional type of marketing where you push your message out to the masses. Where most marketers fail is that they just push and don’t pull the audience in to convert those leads to sales. Yes, back in the day, your audience may have filled out a zillion reader service cards or filled out lead forms at a trade show but now everything is electronic and that usually means your website. But, you still can use direct mail, print advertising, and trade shows to get your message out. Just don’t forget to draw them in with inbound marketing tactics as well. I feel that you really need both inbound and outbound marketing tactics. Taking a synergistic approach is the best. One tactic feeds off of another, so to speak.

Search Engine Marketing: Or SEM as it is sometimes called is another form of Internet marketing to help your potential customers to find you more easily in search engine results pages (SERPs) though the use of search engine optimization tactics, or paid placement such as Google Ad Words. Companies spend thousands of dollars annually with SEO consultants who claim they can get your company on page one of any search. But, beware of snake oil salesmen. While there are some very good SEO consultants and I’m a proponent of optimizing your website, you may not be on page 1 for every keyword in your industry.

Article Marketing: Is a great way to advertise your business via short articles related to your respective industry. It is similar to writing feature articles for a trade magazine. But, instead of seeing your article in print in hardcopy, your article is displayed digitally on an ezine website. Many ezine sites such as buzzle.com or ezinearticles.com are easy to access. But, you will most likely want to find ezines related specifically to your industry and that your customers read. It’s a great way to distribute information about your company without being overly promotional. However, these sites usually allow you to include with your article a short bio on the author and contact information. This is a great way to use inbound marketing. Readers can then click on a link to get more information about your company and land at your website. Another advantage is that other authors or bloggers can re-post your article on their website or blog and link back to your website. This is another way for your company to be viral on the WWW and gain more exposure. If you re-publish someone’s article, be sure to get permission and cite the reference.

Mobile Marketing: Now with the numerous hand-held devices available (smart phones) mobile marketing is taking communication to a new level. It’s taking your marketing and placing it on a mobile communication device. It is a very interactive way to communicate with your customers. Static ads or coupons were the only forms of advertising available on mobile phones but with the latest technology, consumers can download videos, access web pages, or read articles online. With the newer location-based services (LBS) it now easy to track the location of your customers and create specialized offerings. Even services such as on-line banking are easier to integrate with most of the new smart phone technology. But, with the openness and access there also is concern about privacy and identity theft. So, beware of what type of information you are requesting from your customers when using mobile applications.

PR Marketing: Sounds like an oxymoron. Is PR really marketing? Yes it is. Now with services like PRWeb and other online PR services such as prnewsonline.com it is so easy to reach millions of people instantly. By sending out Press Releases it also is a great way to increase your website traffic and help out with SEO. Plus you can gain access to thousands of online journalists. But, don’t just send out idle fodder. You must use the same principles of newsworthiness, readability, and valuable content that you would for any traditional press release. Some PR services are free and others are very cost-effective to get your message to RSS subscribers and major social media sites. Many of the online PR services also offer you the ability to attach PDFs, videos, or images to further enhance the reader’s engagement.

Speed Marketing: I just made that one up. But it is akin to speed networking or speed dating, where you have 5 minutes to give your elevator spiel about your product or service. Many Chamber of Commerce organizations are sponsoring these type of events. They started more for individuals who were “in transition” but it also is a good way to find companies that have synergy within your industry. You may find a way to co-market products that are complementary or find future business partnerships. I see this happening in the medical device industry with several industry groups.

So, hopefully, these definitions help clear up the confusion of all this new marketing buzz. Let me know if you come up with any additional words to add to this glossary.