However, findings from the 2024 Small Business Marketing Report from VistaPrint and Wix unveil a more nuanced narrative, one that proves that traditional marketing still has a seat at the table. 

The comprehensive report, which surveyed 1,000 SBOs and 1,000 consumers in the United States, provides insights into marketing practices and consumer behavior while shedding light on the interplay between digital and traditional marketing channels.

Notably, while digital platforms are integral to discovering small businesses, consumers still value real-life interactions and physical touchpoints alongside digital experiences.

SBOs looking to connect with all types of consumers must strike a balance between digital and traditional marketing approaches. The report tells us why it’s essential for SBOs to integrate both print and digital into their marketing strategies this year.

Making the Most Out of Traditional Marketing 

If you thought traditional print marketing had lost its relevance, VistaPrint and Wix’s report paints a more complex picture.

While online searches and social media platforms continue to serve as primary touchpoints for engagement, offline tactics like physical signage and print advertising still wield significant influence in capturing consumer attention. In fact, 71% of small businesses find value in the tried-and-true traditional marketing tactics to connect with customers. Flyers (34%), direct mail (29%), print advertising (26%), and posters or banners (23%) prove to be the top-ranking print tools that steer consumers toward small businesses.

Something else to consider? Age matters. At least when choosing the right marketing mix for your small business. Though digital marketing is an obvious tactic to target young people, many consumers say they discover new local businesses in traditional ways, like flyers, banners, and other forms of print marketing, so don’t be afraid to deploy these tactics where it makes sense for your business and your audience.

What’s more, these younger cohorts are more willing than ever to shop small. According to the VistaPrint and Wix report, Gen Z shoppers love supporting local small businesses (more than any other age group), but they can sometimes struggle to locate small businesses in their area, so giving them multiple ways to find and engage with you is critical.

Choosing the Right Marketing Mix 

With the power of traditional marketing at the forefront of SBOs’ minds, SBOs must not forget the digital marketing strategies that have been essential for connecting with customers in recent years. In order to maximize brand visibility, a 360-degree approach, inclusive of both print and digital marketing, empowers customers to engage a small business on their own terms while still ensuring no tactic is overlooked.

In search of this balance, data show that SBOs are constantly evolving their techniques to appeal to consumers. In fact, in 2023, 63% of SBOs focused on upskilling to understand marketing better and 78% broadened their horizons by experimenting with new marketing tactics, striving for a fair mix of both digital and traditional marketing.

2023 was a year of exploration for these SBOs as when asked about how they allocated their marketing resources they shared that 40% invested more in digital marketing tactics (and will again in 2024), 32% invested more in traditional marketing tactics (and 30% will be in 2024), 28% invested about 50/50 in both traditional and digital marketing tactics (and 30% will split their investment in 2024).

For SBOs to truly optimize their reach and authentically engage their audience, a holistic marketing approach is essential to strategically integrate the strengths of both digital and print mediums and ensure a cohesive brand presence across various channels. Whether it’s through personalized direct mail campaigns or interactive social media strategies, all channels and platforms are key resources that SBOs can leverage synergistically to create a memorable brand experience for customers.

Review VistaPrint and Wix’s 2024 Small Business Marketing Report survey results in full.

The post Bridging the Gap: New Report Reveals The Power of Print and Digital Marketing for Small Businesses  appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.

Content marketing has evolved into a critical component of any digital marketing campaign for any company operating in the online world. Original content is essential for blogs, and yet many content authors ignore this guideline and continue to plagiarize. Since the internet is crammed full of content, “authors” grab what’s already available rather than generate new ideas.

Writing can be challenging, no doubt about it, especially when the topic is unfamiliar to the author. However, it doesn’t matter whether you’re an experienced writer or a novice. One thing is sure: we all face the task of preserving originality in the material we create.

First and foremost, if you want your content to shine — and trend on Google — you must focus on making it exclusive.

Search engines are scanning for plagiarism-free content.

If you don’t want Google to blacklist your website, publish original content. It’s that simple.

Google recently updated its algorithm to make it easier for them to detect imposters and plagiarizers. If you’re caught plagiarizing, you can count on your website being blocked. Depending on the seriousness of the issue, Google might even push your site down to obscurity on its search engine result pages (SERPs).

All authors and website admins must recognize the significance of plagiarism detection. Failing to underscore the seriousness of plagiarism is an invitation for your brand to take a serious hit in terms of credibility.

Why is it necessary to provide unique content for content marketing?

Plagiarism-free content will attract a wider audience.

The primary goal of marketing is to attract customers to your company and raise revenue. You must create original content if you expect potential customers to prefer you over your competitors. Plagiarized material undermines a website’s reputation and jeopardizes all of your content marketing activities, online or otherwise. If your company can’t be trusted not to plagiarize, what else can it not be trusted for?

It’s always better to post nothing at all than to post something damaging. If your content is being supplied by an outside writer, make sure you run everything through a plagiarism checker before you post. The stakes are too high and you’ll be held accountable even if you were unaware that the material was not original.

Plagiarism-free content gives a serious boost to your SEO efforts.

Content promotion is also essential for a site’s search engine optimization; its pages would not score highly on search engine result pages without it.

If the website’s content is of high quality, it can help to improve its search engine ranking. Originality is a core component of high-quality content, and search engines like blogs with content free of plagiarism.

High-authority sites will be quick to disown plagiarized content.

Backlinks are essential for increasing your search engine exposure because they represent the level of trust that others place in your content. If your company gets dinged for plagiarism, it typically creates a stampede of other sites removing their links to your material.

High-authority course, in particular, will be quick to disown content that is plagiarized and place that website on a blacklist. One of the ways that those sources earned their authority in the first place was by not directing their readers to spurious content.

If you have something of value to offer, offer it in your own words and trust that interested parties will respond by inviting others to see for themselves. As long as you are producing marketing content that is free of plagiarism, those backlinks will stay in place for a long time.

Consistently providing original content builds trust.

Well-executed content creation should aid in the development of a partnership of sorts between the company and its target audience. Great content connects with consumers and answers their questions. When you offer value, without asking much in return, your audience is more likely to trust your advice and recommendations.

Over time, as your messages hit the right spot at the right time for the right audience, you can reasonably expect that the reputation of your brand will grow. Potential customers are far more likely to come away with a favorable impression of any brand offering high-quality material.

Plagiarism-free content helps build a positive social media presence.

Social media networks are one of the most powerful ways to engage with your target audience. Social networking offers your company a venue to post videos, hold meetings, and get real-time feedback. Moreover, social media channels push new leads to your website. They are an effective platform for building genuine partnerships with your client base.

Much of the power of social media networks, however, is fueled by excellent content production. The immediacy of feedback allows you to dive deeper quickly and make adjustments to your message on the fly. You might only hit so many eyeballs with a Tweet or Facebook status update, but if your content is original and engaging, you’ll gain more views through link-sharing.

Publishing original content helps builds your brand.

Content marketing is one of the most effective ways to help you raise brand awareness, and you don’t want to do anything to detract from your efforts. Consistently publishing original content is a marketing approach that achieves more than just a first-page ranking for your blog.

Original content will be more visible to prospective consumers as they search the web for products and services that are of interest to them. This is why it’s so important to find out which questions your potential customers are asking. When you publish something that meets a genuine need, it’s a shot in the arm for sales, yes, but also a boost to the credibility of your brand.

What are some strategies for avoiding the temptation to plagiarize?

1. Modify existing content.

You shouldn’t plagiarize, obviously, but there’s no need to reinvent the wheel, either. Start by searching for content similar to what you are trying to write. If you’ve ever read something online and thought to yourself, “I could do better,” well, now’s your chance.

The hardest part of writing can be coming up with ideas. Reading existing material will help you clarify what it is you are trying to say and can be useful for developing a bulleted outline of the points you wish to address.

Coming up with marketing content that is plagiarism-free is much easier when you write to an outline. Read what others have said, make notes where you have something different to say, and focus on bringing your own unique perspective to the topic at hand.

Write to your own individual context. Don’t try to please everyone — that’s impossible — but do speak to your core constituency in a way that’s winsome and informative. If you can do so without denigrating your competitors in any way (or even mentioning them by name) so much the better.

2. Feel free to use quotes, as long as they are properly attributed.

There are times when any author — experienced or otherwise — can find it difficult to paraphrase a piece of material. This is where knowing how and when to quote comes in handy.

When you quote someone else, make sure you give proper attribution to the original source. You might need to link to another resource to demonstrate its validity. You might even need to provide footnotes if you use several sources in the same post. Whatever you do, make it obvious that you are treating the original source with respect and good intentions.

If someone else has said something perfectly, maybe you shouldn’t try to improve on it with your own paraphrase.

3. Consider using a paraphrasing tool to keep your content free of plagiarism.

If you’re still struggling to say something in your own words — it happens! — check out some of the paraphrasing tools now available. These online tools can be used to paraphrase content to help you create unique, plagiarism-free content for marketing.

Especially if you’re a relatively new writer, you may find this tip for producing original content helpful. Even if you need to tweak results from a paraphrasing tool, it can be much easier to edit something to your liking as opposed to coming up with all-new ideas.

Paraphrasing tools replace plagiarized words with synonyms, creating at least some difference between your writing and the source material. Some paraphrasing tools remove plagiarized content completely and replace it with unique content.

Parting Reminders

Content marketing is critical for companies of all sizes. Customers are using their smartphones to find you (or your competitors). You’ll want to leverage all of the advantages of online content marketing without shooting yourself in the foot by publishing plagiarized content.

Content marketing using original content can help you not only increase exposure but also strengthen partnerships with your leads and clients. Keep your communication efforts focused on originality, even if that means a reduction in your publication schedule.

The post Content Marketing Using Plagiarism Does More Harm Than Good appeared first on SmallBizTechnology.