Traditional marketing needs digital skills

How to bridge the digital marketing gap

Traditional. Yes, that word. It doesn’t create a buzz of excitement, and it’s not new and shiny, but nonetheless in marketing, it works.  

Just last week, Forbes reported that “direct mail campaigns still deliver the most bang for your buck”. And if Forbes reported it, it’s true, pure and simple. However, the familiar flyer through the letterbox isn’t the end of it. Email is only a little less important. 

The 2022 Global Messaging Engagement Report by customer communications platform Twilio SendGrid found that almost one third (31%) of consumers check their emails two to five times per day, with 77% checking them at least once. This information is dynamite for understanding how to steer your customers to your digital campaigns.  

And here’s how. That pesky pandemic spawned a lot of things, but as far as marketing is concerned, one hidden benefit was people getting their heads around QR codes. They were everywhere. Covid check-ins, restaurant and bar menus, you name it, it required your smartphone. And people learned how to use them double-quick.   

Now marketing has gotten hold of those little black and white creations to bridge direct and digital marketing.  

The way to utilise them most effectively is to integrate your QR codes into your print and emails. This will create the following benefits: 

1. Including it in your direct mail campaign will drive traffic to your website. This is a powerful tool if your website incorporates e-commerce. And don’t forget your social media – it can direct customers straight there. 

2. Businesses can use QR codes to collect new email addresses by directing consumers to a sign-up page. Handily, this also increases your email database for more direct marketing.

3. Use a QR code to manoeuvre customers to a feedback site, which will  have the double effect of harvesting positive reviews, or even better, getting customer comments directly on your social media. 

4. The most successful QR codes lure folks in for a freebie or money-off voucher. So, it’s basically a scan-for-cash or gift. Sounds tempting to us. You can also use this for repeat customers, who could claim something more exclusive.

5. Another innovation is to use QR codes to fast-track customers to contactless payment and online ordering, as well as giving them instant access to detailed product information.

One very handy tip for making your QR code obvious, is to put it where it can’t be ignored. So, the code should be large enough to be noticeable, as well as being colourful – that’s right, they no longer have to be black and white, so can colour coordinate with the rest of your branding. Have fun with it. 

Once you’ve bridged that gap, where are customers being directed to, apart from your website? 

As far as social media is concerned, we could go on and on. But don’t worry, we won’t.  

The first of the two biggies you should be most interested in is Instagram. A 2022 Instagram Engagement Report found that, among the 1.3 billion active users on the platform, the UK came in third place as the country with the most published posts in 2021. The top eight brands focused on sports, travel, space and nature. 

And those top accounts are just huge, over half having over a hundred million followers.  

Biggie number two needs no fanfare. In case you hadn’t guessed, it’s Donald Trump’s nemesi Tik Tok. The hottest news about the naval-gazing teen favourite is that it’s teamed-up with global influencer, marketing and content creation platform, Vamp, and now the official TikTok Marketing Partner. 

Vamp will help brands identify relevant creators, make data-driven decisions based on audience insights, access verified performance metrics and can monitor views, likes, shares, comments and engagement. And that means marketing success. 

Looking at the bigger picture, digital skills are in high demand. Equally true is that they’re in short supply. Businesses need them, and they’re gold dust in the freelance marketplace. And with traditional and digital marketing holding hands, the time has never been better for joining the party.