Marketing and its various components will come under the microscope when the Barbados Trust Fund Limited (BTFL) hosts its Let’s Talk Entrepreneurship Talk Series & Online Forum, on Tuesday, May 3, from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Effective Marketing Activities – Traditional Vs Digital Marketing is the topic for discussion. Those on the panel will examine the Pros & Cons of Traditional Marketing vs Digital Marketing; The Impact of Digital Marketing on Small Businesses’ Visibility, and The Role Digital Marketing Personalities Play in Engaging Consumers and Driving Sales (that is, influencers vs brand ambassadors).
The Let’s Talk Entrepreneurship Talk Series & Online Forum will be streamed live via YouTube: Trust Loans Barbados; Instagram@barbadostrustfundltd and Facebook@Trust Loans Barbados.
Persons may share their comments live online with the panel, or WhatsApp their questions to 228-3275.
Business Development Consultant with the BTFL, Nicole Forde, underscored the importance of marketing, and urged the business community to tune in on the discussion, as the information could greatly assist them in determining if traditional or digital is better for the promotion of their products or services.
Ms. Forde continued: “Digital marketing presents a plethora of new opportunities for small businesses to easily communicate with customers and extend their market reach. This type of marketing includes Search Engine Optimisation; Social Media Marketing; Pay Per Click, and Content and Email Marketing – each offering a number of business advantages.”
She said companies would find digital marketing to be cost-effective, versatile, manageable, easy to use, and readily available from the comfort of their home or office.
With regards to it being cost-effective, she explained: “While traditional marketing (newspapers, television, radio, etc.) has often come with a hefty price tag, digital marketing is quite the opposite. In the digital landscape, businesses can identify, target, and capture new customers for pennies on the dollar.
“The impact of traditional campaigns on sales efforts is sometimes difficult to measure. However, the results of digital campaigns are easily tracked with analytics that highlight reach, engagements, audience details and much more; thus providing companies with detailed insight into their customer base, that was never accessible before.”
Ms. Forde noted that Digital Marketing opens the doors to a world of new opportunities, literally extending a business’ geographic reach past the local boundaries set by traditional media.
She proffered the view that small businesses, which offer services such as graphics, web developers, writers, and virtual assistants, could benefit tremendously from the ability to offer services globally at the click of a button.
Ms. Forde pointed out that online promotions could be activated and ads broadcast to the mass market at a moment’s notice, or be quickly removed from sight if changes were needed.
She also stated that access to analytics and other data makes it easy to provide relevant products to clients, tailored towards their specific needs.