The following is a guest post by Jenna Bruce.
Welcome back for part two of this blog series. Hopefully you pick up on the benefits of print, digital and mobile advertising and figure out which channels are best for your next advertising campaign. Continue reading to learn how popcorn tins and glazed ham could give your advertising strategy a much needed boost.
Popcorn Tins
To this day I get way too excited at receiving a holiday popcorn tin shipped to me by a faraway aunt or uncle. What makes these holiday tins so fantastic is the variety of popcorn flavors packed inside. In this way, popcorn tins are a lot like digital advertising.
Digital advertising also offers a variety of flavors and channels to reach your audience like email marketing, banner ads, PPC and organic search. Digital advertising allows you to take full control of the search engines, individual websites and social networks and get your business instantly in front of prospects.
Campaign Results are Easily Measured
Measuring results is crucial in determining whether your campaign is a hit or a flop. Digital advertising allows you to easily collect data like how many hits your page has gotten, the number of times an ad was viewed, and whether the activity resulted in a sale or a subscription.
A popcorn tin also makes it very easy to determine which flavor is the biggest hit in your household: simply take off the lid and look at which wedge of popcorn is lower than the others. Collecting this data lets you surreptitiously mention to your aunt your family’s love of cheddar and kettle corn popcorn but not so much the classic butter. That way she can make a more informed buying decision next year.
Digital Ads are Engaging Ads
Although offline media has its merits, as I’ve mentioned, online advertising offers much more interactivity. Whether you incorporate videos, games or audio messages into your campaign, you have a much better chance of keeping your prospects engaged.
Popcorn is also engaging. You can shove a handful into your mouth at once, or let one single piece melt on your tongue. You can toss a piece up in the air and try and catch it in your mouth, or toss it across the room to see if your dog can catch it in his. Very engaging indeed.
Speed of Delivery
In digital advertising, there is very little time between when a campaign rolls out and when prospects interact with your message. Modifications to your ads can also happen quickly. This speed of delivery is one of the biggest benefits of digital advertising.
When the popcorn tin is opened on Christmas morning, it can instantly be consumed as the popcorn has already been popped for you.
Glazed Ham
In our house we keep things traditional by baking a glazed ham for our family dinner. Now stay with me here because I may blow your mind when I tell you how a glazed ham and mobile advertising are not dissimilar.
Portable Advertising
Mobile phone users are generally never without their mobile phone. In this way they can take 
your advertising campaigns and brand messaging with them wherever they go.
Although you can, technically, take a glazed ham with you wherever you go, it’s easier to make a ham sandwich out of the leftovers and take the sandwich with you wherever you go. Sandwiches are the quintessential mobile food.
Cost-Effective Advertising
In recent years, the cost of launching mobile marketing campaigns has been dramatically reduced. SMS costs have dropped from $0.15 per message just a couple of years ago to about $0.07 today, with lower rates available for larger campaigns.
Ham is also very affordable. Compared to a rack of lamb or prime rib roast, a baked ham is clearly the more affordable choice.
Time-Sensitive Messaging
Because mobile customers usually have their phones turned on, they can receive time-sensitive messages from you about sales and special offers with no delays.
Okay, I’ll admit, I don’t have a ham equivalent to this benefit, except to say that time-sensitive messaging is delicious and so is ham.
This holiday, while you’re spending time with your family, opening presents and spreading good cheer – and hopefully stuffing your face full of decadent goodies – think about the business goals you’d like to reach in the coming year and how print, digital and mobile advertising can help you reach them. Download 'The Smart Marketer's Guide to Local Digital Advertising' as a starting point.
RELATED POSTS:
- Now that Holiday Advertising is Wrapping up, What’s Next?
- Naughty or Nice: Which Holiday Ads Are More Effective?
- 3 Tried-and-True Advertising Strategies
- How to Determine What Type of Publication is Best for Your Ads
Image credit: SodaHead, Honey Ridge Farms
