Digital marketing is seen by many as the backbone of business success. Just a few decades ago, digital marketing was seen as a unique way to advertise, with a select few businesses taking the time to invest in digital. Now, however, digital marketing is an instrumental part of business, and an essential part of ensuring the success and longevity of any business model.
Digital marketing has massively evolved due to the changing nature of the internet. There are now more ways than ever to promote your business online and build an online presence. Social media, paid advertising, and content marketing are just some of the ways in which you can promote your digital marketing strategy online.
Many businesses may ask ‘Why does my business need digital marketing?’, and we are here to tell you exactly why, and how to get started with digital marketing today.
Digital marketing allows businesses to reach potential customers
Any good digital marketing company will tell you that the main reason companies are continually employing digital marketing strategies into their advertisement plans is that it allows businesses to reach potential clients, wherever they are.
The use of social media platforms has gained growing popularity over the last few years. With people spending the majority of their day online, spending hours endlessly scrolling through social media sites. It’s about time your business starts to invest in these platforms to reach potential customers when they need you most. As such digital marketing through social media, for example, allows businesses to reach their target audience directly through the platforms, increasing leads as well as conversions.
Unlike physical stores, online businesses are available 24 hours a day, meaning that your business can leverage on the all day opening hours through scheduled posting and 24/7 AI helplines. This increased foothold also means that your business can leverage global marketing since search engines provide results to potential customers all over the world, so if you’re looking for more ways to expand your business, digital marketing is the way to go.
It levels the playing field
Just a few years ago, TV, radio and billboard advertising were seen to be the gold standard of marketing. Although many businesses do still use these methods, with no way to track these traditional methods of advertising, how can you and your business be sure that your efforts are delivering a return on investment.
Additionally, TV and radio advertising can be extremely costly to many businesses, leaving smaller businesses behind with no way to possibly afford these lavish advertising techniques. Thus, the emergence of digital advertising has become a breath of fresh air to many small businesses, allowing them to compete with larger companies through online channels.
Many online advertising techniques can be developed either for free, or through a small fee that can be paid monthly for many. This then allows for small businesses to showcase their products and services at a global scale, levelling the advertising playing field.
Digital advertising aligns with current shopping trends
The internet has led to a rise in a new breed of customers. These customers will of course have different needs and priorities to the traditional offline shoppers, such as 24/7 customer service and more frequent stock refreshes needed.
Contrary to customers who will go out to physical shops in search of supplies and services, the online consumer will order a wide variety of products and services from the comfort of their own home. Through adopting digital marketing strategies, you position yourself well to engage with the online customer, expanding your business opportunities.
Online can have a higher return on investment
Digital marketing strategies have a much higher return on investment (ROI) compared to other, more traditional marketing methods. Take the example of email marketing. Email marketing was one of the first methods of digital advertising. Surprisingly, it is still one of the best tactics with the highest ROI. This is because, most of the people on your email marketing list are people who have willingly subscribed and provided their contact details to be contacted about future products, services or content that they may be interested in. When contacting people that have already shown an interest in your products or services, you are much more likely to elicit a positive response from the customer since they are already familiar with who you are.
Additionally, marketing tactics such as social media marketing have shown to deliver a high ROI due to their cost-effective advertising options, allowing you to have complete freedom over your budget.
Improves online visibility
Digital marketing strategies also enable businesses to improve their online visibility. In doing so, businesses can build on their reputation, and in time, establish themselves as authorities in their niche.
The modern customer will always choose to opt for reputable companies, and it is through the adoption of various digital marketing strategies that businesses are able to leverage their online opportunities and ultimately, build a more profitable enterprise.
Digital marketing is highly adaptable
It is all too often that marketing measures are pushed out, only for trends to change meaning that your business has to start from scratch on a new campaign. This no longer has to be the case with digital marketing. With digital marketing showing to be highly receptive to changes in the market, you will be the first to know of alterations that will need to be made to your digital campaigns.
Additionally, anything digital is relatively straightforward to change, meaning that when reviewing your results, you are able to optimise and adjust your campaigns throughout, creating the best possible results for you and your business.
If you are new to the world of digital marketing, or want help from an expert, be sure to contact a professional digital marketing company who can guide you through any digital marketing decisions and offer support on your current digital marketing strategies and practices. Read more on why outsourcing your SEO to a digital marketing agency is a good idea.