Attack of the Zombie Marketing Channels! 4 Declared-Dead Tactics That Are Still Going Strong [Infographic]

ATТАCK OF THE ZOMBIE MARKETING CHANNELS! 4 DECLARED-DEAD TACTICS THAT ARE STILL GOING STRONG As new digital devices and platforms spark fresh ways for brands to engage consumers, many long-time marketing channels have lost their luster. But some of these traditional approaches refuse to rest in peace in the Graveyard of Tactics Past. Like an army of the undead, they remain undeterred and as powerful as ever. What are these fearful zombie marketing channels? Here are four time-tested approaches that remain terrifyingly effective: 1. RADIO Radio has been declared dead since the advent of television, but it refuses to relinquish its grip on consumers. Well into the twenty-first century, the medium continues to be remarkably popular. 271 million Americans ages 6+ listen to radio each week Radio still has the greatest reach of any any channel/device in the United States.. Share of American Adults Reached Each Week 93% Radio 89% Television 83% Smartphones 50% Desktop PCs .and radio's audience continues to grow. Audience Size of Frequent Radio Listeners 125.4 million adults 124.8 million adults 124.7 million adults 2015 2016 2017 Despite ghastly predictions of its demise, radio remains one of the best ways for marketers to reach a large and diverse audience of Americans. 2. EMAIL Email is ultimate survivor among digital marketing approaches. The channel has been around for almost as long as the Internet and it continues to be among the most widely utilized tactics. 89% of B2C marketers use email newsletters to distribute content NEWS 93% of B2B marketers use email newsletters to distribute content This popularity is rooted in a simple truth: email continues to deliver results for brands. Why is email so effective? Because it's both widely used and widely liked by consumers. 91% 88% of marketers say email is essential to their content marketing success of U.S. consumers check their email daily How Consumers Want to Be Contacted by Brands 61% Email 18% Direct Mail 5% ... Text Message 6% Mobile App 4% Phone Call 5% Social Media Moreover, it isn't just popular with older consumers-73% of Millennials prefer to hear from brands via email. This is why marketers will continue to haunt inboxes with messages for years to come. 3. BILLBOARDS AND POSTERS Are billboards and posters-those ghostly historic formats that conjure up sepia-toned childhood visions-resting on their deathbeds? Hardly. These out-of-home (OHH) ads are as potent as ever. OOH advertising is a $29 billion global market and is forecasted to grow by 3%+ per year for the next five years Out-of-home ads continue to succeed largely because they break through the noise... 38% have noticed a poster/billboard in the past week 51% of U.S. consumers have noticed a poster/billboard in the past month These advertisements are especially noticed by younger consumers... 71% of U.S. consumers ages 25-34 recall seeing a poster/billboard in the past month ..and they have high recall/engagement. 50% 47% of consumers who notice billboards/posters look closely at the messages of consumers can recall the message of a specific local billboard/poster Out-of-home advertising is especially effective among traditional channels in spurring consumers to take digital actions. Online Search Activations Sparked by Media Spend Out-of-home 381 actions Radio 159 actions Newspapers/magazines 109 actions Television 54 actions This effectiveness is largely due to consumers seeing most OOH ads while out and about with smartphones. Ironically, this mature medium complements emerging-device behavior perfectly. 4. WORD-OF-MOUTH Word-of-mouth is as old as marketing itself. Of all the approaches, it's the most time-worn and seemingly outdated. Yet, like other traditional tactics, it's thriving in the days of digital. The foundation of this continued effectiveness is trust: 92% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know over direct advertising The power of word-of-mouth can be seen clearly with local marketing: How Small Businesses Rank Tactics for Acquiring Local Customers Word-of-mouth is also especially effective in influencing costly purchases, such as B2B buying.. Direct 4. mailings Word-of-mouth 1. referrals 3. Radio • advertising 2. Newspaper 5. advertising Online 1• advertising B2B Lead Conversion Rate by Marketing Channel Referrals from 1 and employees customers 2 Website leads Social media leads 4 Paid search leads Of course, word-of-mouth marketing is very different today from years ago. For younger consumers in particular, it's now largely web- and social media-based. That trend applies to each of these marketing channels. They've maintained their power not by staying static, but by evolving with the times. That's why they remain effective today and are likely to continue to remain undead long into the future. mdg Sources: 180fusion, Google, Hitwise, HubSpot, Moz, Pew Research Center, Searchmetrics, Search Engine Land, SEMrush. mdgadvertising.com Twitter: @MDGadvertising by y @MDGadvertising 3