February 2009 Monthly Newsletter :: Anduro Marketing

Weathering the Economic Storm with Online Marketing

Over the past several months, much attention has been paid to the global economic downturn and how it might affect businesses across North America and worldwide. As a result, many businesses are rethinking their marketing strategies to adjust to the current economic environment, downsizing advertising budgets and researching the best methods of remaining connected to consumers. In the midst of all the uncertainty though, according to the Economist, it appears that online marketing will weather the storm.

Continued predictions point to an increase in online marketing spending, as businesses look to shift more of their budget toward more direct methods of reaching potential clients. Conversely, more traditional marketing vehicles, such as print and broadcast, are seeing a decrease in spending. A conservative estimate by Geoff Ramsey with eMarketer suggests a nine per cent increase in online advertising in 2009. This shift in strategies can best be attributed to several factors:

Increasing fiscal and resource efficiency

Restrained by smaller budgets, businesses need to ensure accountability and optimization of their valuable resources. Along with improved cost-efficiency and predictable cost structures, online marketing allows for more precise measurability in tracking key data such as cost-per-lead and cost-per-sale. Additionally, online marketing provides the ability to target specific markets by a range of demo and psychographics.

Next-Generation Web technologies

The spotlight on Web 2.0 has never been stronger, and businesses are becoming preoccupied with exploring the use of popular social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace, and social media utilities like Twitter, Digg, Technorati, YouTube, etc. to reach consumers directly and engage them in the business development process. Facebook, in particular, continues to grow and evolve, not only as a social network, but as an ideal vehicle for pay-per-click advertising targeting specific geographic areas and consumer demographics.

Marketing in a Web 2.0 world, if done properly, facilitates the viral creation of social and business connections, empowering consumers to take greater control of their purchasing decisions and providing valuable references to the products and services they select. The value of social media marketing is about to increase exponentially with the phenomenal rate at which mobile networked devices - such as PDAs, known more commonly now as Smart Phones, (e.g. iPhone and Blackberry) - are adopted.

A recent report by Deloitte predicting technological trends for 2009 states “…mobile phones boast several key attributes. They are personal devices. They offer two-way communications. The mobile network typically knows where its subscribers are.” It goes on to say that “…mobile advertising may be one of the few growth areas in 2009.”

Key business drivers in a Web 2.0 world

According to a recent eMarketer white paper, close to 70 per cent of adults in North America are online, meaning that the Web “has reached the threshold of becoming a mass medium”. Therefore, through strategic use of the online marketing, businesses now have the opportunity to use the medium to their best competitive advantage. There are several key business drivers which are at the forefront of such efforts:

  • optimizing your website and improving natural search engine rankings (SEO)
  • increasing your online marketing & advertising conversion rates
  • exploring the best use of social networks and related utilities
  • initiating linking campaigns, through which linking ads send consumers to specific pages that address your advertising needs
  • being selective in your pay-per-click ad placements
  • sending newsletters, posting articles and white papers, and getting creative with other options (e.g. video)

So, despite the challenges of a recession environment, exploring new marketing options, with the goal of creating more cost-effective strategies beneficial to both business and the consumer, is a valuable means of weathering the economic storm and ultimately fostering long-term success.


For more information on any of the products available from Anduro Marketing, contact us at info@anduro.com or (403) 410-3803.

Back to Newsletter Page