Allison VanNestDoes your business have a blog yet? What about a Twitter account or a Facebook page? If you’re still not sure whether social media is worth it, consider the costs if don’t bring your marketing efforts into the digital age.
The Numbers
One of the great advantages of blogging and email over printed newsletters and mailers is the huge savings in paper. Environmental group Conservatree calculated that the average tree yields just over 16 reams of paper, or a little more than 8,000 sheets.
According to technology market research group Radicati’s most recent statistics, there are over 2.5 billion email users on the planet sending almost 200 billion emails per day. Those numbers are only going to grow as more people across the globe have access to the Internet. You don’t have to be a math whiz to know that if everyone was sending letters instead of emails, that’d be a whole lot of trees!
The cost to reach these potential customers through physical, printed media isn’t just measured in dollars but also in the environmental impact of producing, printing, and delivering that much paper—not to mention the landfills that most direct mailing pieces end up in. According to popular email management service Mail Chimp, “Email is a green choice because it eliminates the use of paper and fossil fuels used in delivery. Our research shows that marketers save 60% to 80% by switching their paper-based marketing programs to email”
Still not convinced? Here are 4 more ways that digital marketing benefits both your company and the environment!
Effective: Businesses that own and regularly update their blogs generate 4 times more lead than those that do not own a blog, according to this study. Why waste money and resources on print campaigns that don’t work when blogging is virtually free?
Timely: You can pinpoint the most effective time to reach your customers. Unlike printed mailers that rely on local postal delivery times, you can make sure to have your content in front of your audience at the best possible moment. For example, most people read blogs between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. on weekday mornings, so that’s the sweet spot for posting new content.
Flexible: Have you ever conducted a print campaign only to find out that it’s not as effective as you hoped? Even worse, you’ve no doubt heard horror stories about companies who found a major writing error or typo in a marketing piece—after it had already gone to print! With digital media, this costly mistake becomes a simple fix since you can easily edit online text. (That’s no excuse to skip proofreading, though!)
Trendy: We’re not saying that environmentalism is a fad by any means, but going green has never been more popular. When you switch your marketing efforts to paperless media, you can demonstrate your company’s dedication to saving the environment—and hopefully gain a few new fans, too.
Digital marketing isn’t the future of business—it’s the present. If you’re still using printed media to attract customers, then it’s time to bring your company into the 21st century. The good news is that starting a blog, setting up a Facebook page, or creating a Twitter account is a lot easier than you might think!
Don’t worry about getting everything perfect right away; just get started. It’s better for your customers, your company, and the planet!
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