Traditional vs. Digital Marketing: Why Going Digital Costs Less with Better Results

It’s hard to believe there was a time before the World Wide Web. But here we are, roughly a quarter of a century after its invention, and who can remember a day when we couldn’t just “Google it”?

Not surprisingly, a lot of things have changed since the world was first introduced to the vast “web” of information we now rely on every day. One of the biggest changes has to do with how businesses promote themselves to attract and engage potential customers.

In other words, marketing.

How you choose to market your Montessori school has a significant impact on your overall success.

If you’ve been sticking with traditional marketing methods like print ads and pamphlets because they’re more comfortable or familiar, you could be draining your resources on things that just aren’t working—which means it may be time to reconsider your strategy and go digital.

Chances are your school has a limited marketing budget. With the right digital marketing strategy, you can actually save money by advertising less.

Remember: parents today have fully embraced the digital age, so it makes sense that the most profitable marketing campaigns are those that reach them where they’re most likely to be found: on their mobile phones, tablets, and computers.

Here are two key reasons to consider going digital:

1. Hypertargeting.

Traditional marketing is a lot like fishing: you choose what you think is the best spot, the best bait, and then cast out your line and hope for the best. Who knows if the fish will bite?

Digital marketing is different.

With digital marketing you can take advantage of a technique called hypertargeting to make sure you reach exactly your intended audience.

Rather than leaving it up to chance, hypertargeting utilizes consumer-provided data in order to customize your messaging and target a very specific audience segment. Put another way, you can get more bang for your buck by making sure the very people you want to reach are the ones who will see your ad content.

How can Montessori schools leverage the benefits of hypertargeting?

Both Google AdWords and Facebook Ads Manager have built-in targeting functions that allow you to refine your messaging based on things like geographic location, previous search history, interests, and even household income.

Using the data that people have already provided online, you can pinpoint your target audience and put your ads in front of them at exactly the moment they are searching for you.

In addition to increasing click-through rates, hypertargeting can open the door to new audience segments. For example, people searching for broader terms like “preschool” or “childcare” may not have considered a Montessori school, but seeing your ad is likely to generate interest and help boost enrollment.

2. Tracking.

One major difference between traditional marketing and digital marketing is tracking—the ability to measure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts and see which elements are producing the highest conversion rates (i.e. converting casual visitors into customers).

With tracking, you can stop spending money on the things that aren’t working and focus your budget on the things that are. Ultimately, you will be able to spend less and drive more traffic to your website by creating campaigns that work for your audience.

Let’s talk UTM parameters. UTM parameters are tags that are added to a URL (or web address) to let you know where the online traffic is coming from. They are absolutely critical when building a successful digital marketing campaign because they let you see things like which types of ads were most effective and what keywords or key phrases triggered the most click-throughs.

One of the easiest ways to create UTM parameters for your links is by using the Google Analytics URL Builder.

You can read more about UTM parameters and how they can impact your online marketing here and here.

Not exactly tech-savvy? Nido Marketing can help.

Developing a successful digital marketing campaign can seem like a daunting task, especially when your first priority is overseeing the day-to-day activities of your school.

Schedule a free consultation with Nido Marketing to learn more about how we can help you save time and money by creating a digital marketing strategy tailored to your Montessori school.

And don’t forget to join the free membership community at Nido Marketing to share ideas and see how other Montessorians are using these techniques and others to grow and thrive in the digital age.