Marketing options in Duluth are plentiful but few are wise.

If you’re searching for Duluth marketing agencies on the web chances are high you’re heading up a small to medium-sized company. You probably don’t have a full-service Duluth marketing firm at your disposal (like some of the large healthcare providers and larger Duluth-based corporations. You want to broadcast a message, you want it to be cutting-edge, engaging and unique. Above all, you want your campaign to be clean and professional and you want to cover a wide range of media.

So what are your options?

1. An expensive marketing agency in Duluth like WestmorelandFlint or HTK.
2. A friend of a friend who knows about one of the smaller Duluth marketing companies like Swim Creative or JPG Group.
3. A personal friend that held a few marketing positions at relatively successful marketing companies.

Duluth Marketing: First Principles

Don’t let all of the marketing options available to you muddy the water. As you evaluate and explore the various Duluth marketing options available you’ll inevitably be bombarded with ideas (many of which are not substantiated by research).

As a business owner I despise being pitched willy-nilly ideas and concepts. I want confidence in those who perform services for me. I want a road map that leads directly to the ultimate goal of marketing success: conversion and profit. Above all I want accountability– reporting, analytics… anything that empowers me to hold marketing consultants or marketing firms responsible for the money I’m spending; not only the marketing service itself, but also the dollars being spent on my behalf.

Before you initiate any marketing campaign it’s important to ask yourself what’s driving the need for the marketing campaign. First principles can mean many things depending on the context of the discipline it’s being applied to. As applied to the discipline from which it originates (philosophy) the official definition is as follows:

“The fundamental assumptions on which a particular theory or procedure is thought to be based.”

We see the fundamental assumptions of a Duluth marketing campaign to be one, if not all of the following:

1. I want my Duluth marketing company to attract new customers.
2. I want my Duluth marketing agency to engage potential customer.
3. I want my Duluth marketing firm to convert potential customers into customers.

The question we’re asking those who are considering traditional newspaper ads, TV & radio commercials and so on is this:

How do you expect your marketing team to measure marketing results?

If you can’t measure results how do you know you’re being effective? Many Duluth marketing professionals and business owners still think in terms of two strategies: Outbound and inbound marketing.

The problem with this view is two fold: Outbound marketing for all intensive purposes is dated and thankfully going away. It’s the go-to tool of massive brands like Coke and Reebok (Nike wisely cut back and invested in their wonderful web-based NikeID campaign).

Inbound marketing on the other hand is a very wise investment for smaller business. Why? It offers an opportunity to engage potential customers and maintain consistent contact with them– not only does this nurture leads but also disqualifies a lot of bad clients.

Yeah, yeah… What’s the bottom line?

A lot of business owners (especially established business owners) are hesitant to spend money on inbound/targeted internet marketing. The problem with this view is that the lines between inbound and outbound marketing are blurring at a rapid pace.

Take twitter for example. Upon registering an account on Twitter the first priority is to earn loyal followers to you twitter account. This is done by performing calculated searches using special search formulas to follow users within your space. In this sense you’re actually broadcasting message to twitter user (outbound marketing). Once you’ve got the followers, however, the use of twitter immediately becomes inbound. You’re effectively killing two birds with one stone. The best thing about using a tool like this for marketing is that your can actually track results via web analytics.

If you’re spending significant marketing dollars with the yellow pages (on or offline) you’re throwing away money unless your target market is the elderly. Google is the new Yellow Pages.

If you’re spending money with the local newspaper your throwing away money (unless your entire marketing budget relates to coupons in which case you could probably find just as many loyal shoppers via online coupons). Even then, by putting coupons in the paper you’re missing out on a real opportunity to capture the email addresses of every coupon user, not to mention analyze their behavior.

If you’re spending money on local radio you’re wasting money. How often do you tune out those annoying commercials for Northsar Ford? Enough said.

The above points should be of special importance if you’re advertising to the young crowd. I can tell you from personal experience that the only station I listen to is NPR. The rest is repetitive smut and can easily be found for free or for a very low price (without ads) on the web.

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