Display Advertising and Inbound Marketing: Is it a possible combination?

It's hard for many folks to switch over from display advertising (magazine, billboards, etc.) to inbound marketing (content king). The new can be scary. Here is the secret: it doesn't have to be a switchover. There are reasons to maintaining both approaches without sacrificing efficacy of either. The trick is to make sure that each approach is designed to complement the other. 

At the core, traditional display advertising was intended to make prospects want to call you. Not so true anymore. 78% of Internet users conduct product research online (HubSpot). This means that most of your potential future clients aren't going to see the ad and instantly call you; they're going to research you online first, 78% of them anyway! Once the current intention of traditional display advertising is reset, (to prompt the research into your company) we can move on to a powerful combination.

Here is the tricky part, when your prospect decides your ad is worth it to look you up online, there has to be consistency in branding. This includes colors, messaging, and the overall look and feel. The non-digital and digital have to express a cohesive story. Sometimes this can be challenging since landing pages are almost impossible to display a url on print/tv to digital (since the url is longer). Therefore, it's important to stick the company image when developing the display ad. 

Diving into inbound marketing, isn't it supposed to drive organic traffic? Isn't that the entire purpose? Almost always true! Inbound marketing attracts people to your site, converts them to stay awhile, read more, come back, stay engaged, and eventually contact you. If using display advertising to complement the attract visitors step, then you'll have a powerful nurturing system in place to make sure this target prospect completes the remaining steps through the rest of the cycle. (Related: Win more bids by selling according to the buyers journey).

Imagine traditional display ads without the complementing inbound marketing. You spend thousands, tens of thousands to have the ad work amazingly well - the prospect visited your site (remember that 78% stat, most will not call right way, they will go to your site - and that's an acceptable expectation). They get there - and they're faced with a home services professional company that provides them never ending self promotion (all you wonderful projects, testimonials, and a ton of discounts). Just shouting at them! Gone, they will be gone and you will be forgotten. Visitors want more. They want a connection. 

Sounds hard, a connection, with a stranger to your website - and you're not even talking to them yet? You don't even know who they are yet! It is hard, but very achievable. That's what inbound marketing does - it provides content that allows the visitor to relate to you with material you share that is relevant to them (e.g. a blog post on "keeping the small ones safe in the new outdoor living space"). 

Inbound marketing can easily replace your traditional advertising efforts away and replace it with a fierce, effective, and revenue generating system. If you however find value in the traditional advertising, at least while your inbound marketing is picking up pace, there is absolutely a benefit and ROI! 

We can help walk you through benefits of inbound marketing your home services business. Let's have a quick chat.