ROBO – Research Online, Buy Offline

19. May, 2010 0 Comments

According to Forester Research, 70% of U.S. online consumers already have researched products online and then bought them offline. In an article on Internet Reader the concept of ROBO and Forester recent findings was discussed. By the year 2014 over half of offline purchases will be researched online. It is quickly becoming part of the fabric of our society that to be in business you have to have an online presence. We are witnessing a major shift or transformation for small business owners.

Open for business, you need your sign online as well, not just in your window.

It used to be simple when you first started a business. You needed a sign outside your business and you needed your phone number in the phone book. That all got real complicated when Phone Books were deregulated at the same time Telecom was deregulated. All of a sudden in 1995 there was competition. No longer was there just one phone book. While this did great things to drive down the cost of advertising in the one Bell Co. Phone Book, it created another problem. As a business owner you now had to advertise in multiple phone books to be effective, which drove the advertising cost up.

The internet is replacing the phone books and we are rapidly seeing more local companies abandon advertising in print and are making that leap of faith to advertise online. We will see those businesses that refuse to move either shrink and go away, or stay very small.

As a business owner it is important that you are working with a company that understands the industry. Your company needs to be advertising on several fronts, search engines, social networking sites, and with online video. If you are getting ready to start a business make sure your budget for a proper advertising campaign. If you are in business and feel like you can’t afford it, figure it out. If you are still advertising in the print phone book, stop wasting your money.

Consumers, because of the advent of devices like smart phone, iPads, and WiFi everywhere, are going to be going online first more and more. Now is the time to establish your online presence. It will cost less than advertising in the phone book.

- James Ashford