Every business is global on the web, and compared to and competing with, every other business.

In 1994 the general public probably had to call you, go to the library, or request a brochure to get information about your product or service. That limited the choices, to your product, and maybe one or two other's product.

Today, 5 minutes at a computer or tablet, gives customers all the infomation they need to trust and purchase from you... or someone else.  

Maybe the competitor down the street looks better online?  Or maybe the competitor in the next town looks better? Or maybe, the competition captures the interest of the customer, gets their name, and proactively contacts them before they ever get to your brochure web site!

Is your advertising or trade show budget delivering top notch ROI?  Can you attribute sales to trade shows that are commensurate to the dollars and time expended? Do you measure it?

My solution and favorite (clears throat) "latest trend" is...

Collaborative sales and marketing strategy, attribution, and measurement. (Inbound Marketing)

What works best for getting your product or service in front of, and sold to, the right people? 

Customer purchase consideration has largely moved to the web and other digital techniques. I would argue that lots of companies still only pay lip service to this. Hey... you've got a Facebook page, right?

There is a marketing revolution going on.

Sales starts... AND TAKES PLACE with leads online.

Why?

It is harder than ever to be cost effective with advertising. And trade shows are extremely expensive as brand and lead generating techniques. 

But everyone, EVERYONE... visits and considers you digitally. In 2010 studies showed that more than a third of US consumers spent over 3.5 hours on-line every day.  That's old news.

What's the lifetime value of a lead?

It's easy to buy visits to your website from people specifically interested in your product or service. Of course that's valuable. But actual value depends on lots of variables that must be measured, to improve. 

AdWords, display, Facebook ads etc., is absolutely awesome. Your small or medium sized business should probably seriously consider them.