Are you having a hard time attracting customers because they just don't know your business exists? Are you trying to grab the attention of local consumers? Are you trying to get noticed?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, you could probably use some help building a solid brand awareness strategy. Luckily, there is a whole suite of multimedia marketing solutions here to help you.

Radio: We Love You

Let's start with the tried and tested solution — radio. You may think of radio as having been dethroned by TV in conventional advertising, but think about how you might turn to one type of media or another depending on where you are and what you're doing. You might get the news on your phone when you're on a break at work, watch your favorite show at home on your TV, and tune into the radio for local news, traffic and weather when you're in your car.

In this hyperconnected world, integrated marketing plays a greater role than ever before. Today's consumers not only appreciate a smooth, multidimensional brand experience across platforms, they expect it — and, as CMO Digital Forum points out, they're quick to turn on brands that get it wrong. An integrated message across multiple platforms is key, and truly integrated marketing campaigns do more than slap a signature color across their media or use the same tagline. Campaigns today must not only consider what's right for various media, but build upon different channels to increase purchase intent. It's both a challenge and an opportunity.

Businesses in every industry must adhere to certain universal best practices when building a digital presence, but there are differences in how specific companies can effectively deliver certain products online.

For instance, in the automotive industry, consumers often use the Internet to research cars, browse dealership inventories and get more information before making a purchase. To target consumers shopping for cars online, advertisers are refining their strategies and monitoring certain metrics that have a strong correlation to digital advertising success among dealerships and automotive brands.

When building digital campaigns, focus on these automotive advertising trends to uncover the true value of your automotive ad strategy.

Measuring digital campaign performance has come a long way since the days when, as Ad Age notes, nineteenth century merchant John Wanamaker declared, "Half my advertising is wasted; I just don't know which half." These days, digital tools exist to give you the information you need to optimize your campaign performance — if you know where to find them.

Users are exposed to an overwhelming amount of information each day, so they have become very selective about what they'll click on and when. They'll only pay attention to a message if it's intrinsically valuable to them. To determine if your message is reaching the right audience, you'll first need to determine your objectives, then marry them to the right metrics. Here are 10 metrics to help you decide what's working and what needs to be retooled or dropped.

Traditional advertisers have seen their industry change dramatically, as digital channels continue to rework the marketing landscape. Meanwhile, digital marketers and strategists often take an online-only view of their channels and dismiss traditional outlets as outdated strategies. But in fact, using an integrated marketing campaign is the most effective strategy for a variety of reasons. Integrated marketing recognizes the value of both traditional and digital advertising and uses a combination of both to optimize results and capitalize on audience reach. Consumers expect the same experience across screens and it is now more important than ever to make sure your message is consistent across platforms.

Why Integration Trumps a One-Dimensional Approach

There are many advantages and disadvantages to both traditional marketing and digital marketing. For instance, traditional marketing offers value that digital can't supply. It can serve as an effective location-based targeting platform as well as a macro-targeting tool. Traditional campaigns are also highly effective in creating brand awareness through mass marketing.

As a small business owner, you feel like you have to run every aspect of your business by yourself. No one knows it better than you do, right? Therefore, no one else is better prepared to communicate your business' mission and intent. While it's undoubtedly true that you are the expert, it can also be really helpful to have someone on board who knows a lot about marketing a business online. Though you might be hesitant at first, there are many reasons why hiring a digital marketing expert is a must when growing your company.

1. Digital Marketing Is a Full-Time Job

Digital marketing is more than just posting a few updates online. It's a full-time commitment that includes keeping on top of the latest trends, using new linking methods, creating email campaigns, posting social media updates and building relationships with others in your industry. Digital marketing experts wear many hats, and in addition to simply managing content online for existing marketing campaigns, they must be able to create and build new marketing initiatives from the ground up, place your ads in the most strategic locations, track the results of your campaigns and keep your website optimized in order to grow your business in new ways.

When executives and marketing heads are reluctant to talk about mobile optimization, they have good reason. Mobile improvements are an expensive undertaking and time consuming to boot. To fully accommodate mobile devices is no easy task — some websites require a complete overhaul, ripping out the guts and inserting a new foundation for a brand's digital presence. And when the numbers appear positive at first glance, leadership can be reluctant to rock the boat. Why fix something if it isn't broken? But that's the challenge of digital marketing: No campaign is ever truly fixed. Incremental strides and improvements can push marketing strategies toward unprecedented returns on investment and ultimately keep the brand moving forward. Given how mobile has deepened its roots in the daily lives of consumers, mobile optimization isn't merely a way to refine campaign results. In 2015, it's a critical step toward continued relevance with your audience. But that's not the only reason businesses should embrace mobile immediately.

Several years ago, Google launched its Premier SMB Partner program as an opportunity for small and medium sized businesses to gain better online resources through the search engine giant. Becoming a Premier SMB Partner is no easy feat: the company outlines a number of mandatory qualifications each business must meet in order to join the SMB Partner program. At the top of this list is greater transparency, which allows Google to vet each incoming partner and take an inside look at its operations.

Understandably, Google doesn't want to partner with companies that aren't well-run. The company also doesn't want to refer online consumers to businesses where they may have a bad experience. In order to create incentive for those businesses, Google has outlined a number of valuable services brands can enjoy by becoming a member. This reciprocal relationship is why Cox Media Group became a partner in the program back in 2012.

"The Google AdWords Premier SMB Partner program was created to help small- and medium-sized businesses who don't have the time or resources to manage their advertising campaigns," says Ben Wood, head of Google's Americas channel sales partnerships. "Our PSP partners like Cox Media Group offer expertise, experience, and end-to-end customer service so business owners can focus on running their businesses."

With the way digital marketing has exploded online, it's pretty easy to find a professional that calls himself a digital marketing consultant. But in such a young, developing field, there's no question that many so-called consultants lack the background required to do a professional job for their customers. They may have some knowledge of digital strategy and content marketing, but they aren't as skillful at driving reliable returns — or at understanding the best strategy for a particular brand.

Businesses too often invest in the wrong digital consultant, and they come out hurting in the end, after their high-end spending delivers bargain-rate results. The key to avoiding a similar fate, Social Media Today notes, is knowing what to look for when you hire a consultant. Here are five things you should expect from any worthwhile consultant.