Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle LLC for the US Department of Energy
Most folks do not have a grasp on “The Cloud,” so first, let me explain. The cloud, modern-day expression of ultimate globalization, or just a slew of servers somewhere in Arizona? At the time of writing, the term ‘cloud’ typed into TechRadar’s search engine produced 1,293 results in the news section alone; the cloud makes headlines, and it sells products. -Techradar.com
“The cloud is a collection of interconnected IT services and infrastructures that are accessible via a network,” says Dr. M Rajarajan, a reader in information security at City University London.
From a user’s point of view, anything that backs up and syncs data that’s accessible on multiple devices can be said to be a cloud service.
So let me explain in my terms. The cloud is something that, unless you are working in an arena where you need to understand it, you do not need to understand it.
What you do need to understand though, is that Marketing and your advertising DO NOT NEED TO BE ALL DIGITAL.
Yes, more so each day, advertising and marketing strategies take to digital fronts. However, your online presence will skyrocket with the correct amount of traditional media pushing your customers to it.
When advertising first began, it was somewhat simple. The world was not flooded with advertising everywhere you looked, and the messages were all simple and straight forward. Unfortunately, it is not that simple anymore and why it takes a very strategic, fully devoted person or team to keep up with all the advertising changes.
I have had clients tell me recently that they are going strictly “digital/online” with their marketing. Customers who say they don’t have a storefront and all of their sales and revenue is generated from their website are typically my 100% “online” clients. Or so they say.
My advice is not to forget that even if your business is run 100% online, your marketing should not be. See, in the old days, before the internet, advertising consisted of driving people to your brick-and-mortar storefront. Nowadays, you still need to drive people to your brick-and-mortar in the cloud.
While having an online presence and/or a business that is 100% online is excellent, it still requires it’s own advertising. The radio ads, tv commercials, billboards, print ad’s or any of the other primary traditional mediums do not require an advertising medium directing them to listen, see, read, or watch. Your websites and social media, however, do.
It’s like someone giving you directions to your storefront. By simply building a website and a business that runs 100% online does not mean everyone knows how to get to it. You have to use traditional advertising mediums as a map to your brick-and-mortar in the cloud.
Keeping in mind that, although your 100% online business or brick-and-mortar in the cloud is, in fact, 100% online, does not mean that everyone knows about it. You can, in time, create traffic by being social on the web; however, it does take a lot of time. Knowing that a well-constructed marketing campaign having a substantial online presence but utilizing traditional mediums to direct your customers to your website and social media is critical.
Just like your physical storefront, no one will come to your brick-and-mortar in the cloud unless they know about it. While you should certainly put a significant effort into your digital marketing strategy, you shouldn’t neglect the power and efficiency of traditional mediums as well.
Everything in moderation lives in moderation in everything.
Oak Ridge National Laboratory is managed by UT-Battelle LLC for the US Department of Energy
