Four States Small Business Blog

Many company leaders tend to view a marketing budget as a discretionary item, liable to cuts as needed. However, such a viewpoint is ultimately self-defeating. The reality is that a marketing budget is an investment that can yield rich dividends in the near future and in the long term.

If it seems your marketing job description is changing faster than trending videos on YouTube, you're right.  Every change in consumer behavior (think, for example, of the 900% increase in "near me" searches in Google over the past two years) means you need to adjust your strategy. 

When calculating a brand's value, one of the most important metrics is awareness. While most businesses are concerned about raising brand awareness, not everyone realizes that there are different levels of awareness. The most important distinction is between top of mind (or unaided) vs. aided awareness. In order to identify these differences in awareness, you need to ask certain questions. There can be dramatic differences in the results produced from different types of awareness. In one study of car purchasing behavior, a Nielsen study found that top-of-mind awareness drives 90% of purchasing intent. 

The popularity of Google for search has made Google Ads the default choice of some marketers for digital marketing. According to statcounter.com, Google's share of the search engine market held steady at 92% in 2019. Google has helped drive up the desirability of advertising on its applications through new initiatives like local service ads (LSA), "Google Guaranteed" badges, and Google My Business (GMB) profiles in addition to the original Google AdWords program. But is Google Ads a comprehensive marketing strategy? Even though Google Ads is used by about 35% of all websites, its effectiveness depends on the need of a customer for a product or service. While Google Ads can capture a customer who has an immediate need, it may not be the optimal advertising channel for those who are not actively seeking a solution. In fact, comparing it with radio, social media, and video advertising, and even simple Search Engine Optimization (SEO) indicates that Google Ads is not necessarily the channel with the best ROI.

Do you know how to reliably get traffic? 

Quantifying the success of your marketing campaign is an important part of making sure you efficiently use your marketing budget. This is true even with mediums such as radio advertising.

Most businesses do not believe they get a good ROI from using Facebook lead ads. 62% of businesses using paid ads on Facebook report it didn’t work to their satisfaction.

Your website defines your brand as much, if not more, than your marketing or sales operations. Any business with an undesirable website risks losing all standing among consumers.

This year, for the first time, more money will be spent on digital advertising than traditional ads. As digital ad spends grow, marketers are questioning whether they should stop their traditional advertising and move their budgets to digital.

Radio ads have been a staple of our society for decades. They've been used to tell stories, sell products, and inform the public. With so many great radio ads produced over the years, we get asked for examples a lot. Here is a list of some classics and new ads we love.