Rochester businesses, large or small, know that marketing is important. KIMT News 3's He Sananda McCall talks about how marketing and business are evolving with it.
ROCHESTER, Minn.–Med City is home to many businesses, from small to large. They all have a common goal of getting their names out there. Historically, many of these companies relied heavily on print, radio, and news platforms to promote their products, but as society continues to move into the digital age, companies must adjust when it comes to marketing their brands. .
One question: Could these large portraits seen from the road be signs of the past?
Lisa Ross, owner of Elevate Marketing in Rochester, says she doesn't think so. In fact, signage has already begun to evolve as digitalization continues to advance. Signs that a company needs to reach consumers. Many digital billboards have the ability to display at least 10 business advertisements in a 24-hour cycle.
According to Forbes, business owners can spend $1,000 to $5,000 on branding and nearly 15% of their revenue on advertising. To reduce some of these costs, advertising on social media is becoming increasingly popular.
Rochester Women's Magazine is a traditional print publication that has provided a way for companies to expand their reach, but owner Emily Watkins says the magazine needs to adapt to the digital age to continue generating revenue. It was necessary to do so.
Ross and Watkins share how local businesses can continue to get their name out there.
“If you're looking for a younger demographic, they're probably on Tik-tok, Snapchat, even Instagram,” Ross said. “But banner ads and streaming are still targeted at Hulu, Netflix and YouTube. ” he said.
Watkins added, “One of the great things that businesses can do is form partnerships with other businesses. This also applies to nonprofits. Build connections with other organizations to do cross-promotion. That's the thing,” he added.
When it comes to free marketing, two business owners say, “Nothing is truly free.” Planning and budgeting for business brand expansion still takes money and time, and research is ongoing.
Mr. Ross shared that the company's ability to adapt to the needs of its audience is a sign of the company's consumer-first approach.
The good news is that establishing and retaining a target audience has become easier with the new introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) to provide analytics to target consumers.
