Outdated Marketing Strategies You Should Stop Using

There's no doubt that the marketing landscape has changed drastically over the past decade. While some traditional marketing efforts still work in this age and time, there are outdated marketing strategies that you should now stop using if you don't want to waste your time and money.

If you’re still using the same ads that your grandparents used back in the days, then chances are; you’re using outdated marketing strategies.

Advertising and marketing have evolved so much that it’s increasingly challenging to keep up with the pace. But, that’s precisely what you must do; keep up with the pace.

The exciting commercials and flashy brochure that kept businesses afloat ten-twenty years ago no longer have a place today. So, it’s time to evolve – if you haven’t already.

Here are four antiquated marketing tactics you need to drop.

4 Outdated Marketing Strategies You Should Forget

1. Enough With the Yellow Pages Ads

When was the last time anyone looked up anything in a phone book? If ‘you’re over sixty, the answer should be five – maybe six years ago.

Stop wasting time and money on Yellow Pages ad because it just doesn’t pay off anymore. If anyone wishes to look something up now, chances are, they’ll use a search engines’ query box.

Google now processes over 3.5 billion searches per day and 1.2 trillion searches per year. So, why are you not investing in Google Ads?

Alongside access to your target audience, Google Ads also provides other essential data. From the people that clicked on your ads, you’ll know those searching for something related to your business.

2. Stop Printing

Stop killing trees to print brochures, booklets, and flyers. No one reads them anymore.

The point of living in a digital world is that everything is – well, digital. Whether it’s through a smartphone, laptop, or desktop computer, over 4.3 billion people now have access to the internet.

Instead of printing less impactful flyers, invest in email marketing. You can personalize and automate it based on your ‘customer’s behavior.

Most importantly, you can track the metrics.

3. Bye-Bye Billboards

No matter how flashy and creative a billboard is, you can’t track the ROI or any other metrics from that board. You can only assume that it’s generating a lot of high-quality leads. But, your assumption is probably wrong.

When was the last time you called a business phone number that you saw on a billboard?

Social media platforms, on the other hand, is a smart way to create brand awareness. With a current user base of over 3.4 billion, the number of social media users increase by 9 percent every year.

It’s a smarter way of connecting with people. Not only can you post content offers that’ll drive followers to your blog, but you can also engage your audience directly.

Yes, it also offers the advantage of performance metrics. You can review your engagements, and know precisely how to improve your social presence.

4. No To TV Commercial

Thanks to online streaming services like Hulu and Netflix, cable TV is fast becoming redundant. And so are TV commercials.

Most people now spend hours online watching short clips or streams of other videos. That’s why video ads are more important now than ever before.

According to Zenith Reports, consumers across the globe will spend 84 minutes a day watching online videos by 2020. The report also stated that movie streaming service, Netflix, would be the top beneficiary.

So, create an explainer, tutorial, company overview, or resource video. Then, add them to your websites and embed them in your emails. You could even share the videos on your social media page.

Whatever you do, don’t spend another dollar on TV commercials – or any of the other three outdated marketing strategies.

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