Love it or hate it, digital marketing is here to stay. The world is quickly moving from analog to digital, and people are consuming their news, information, and entertainment through digital media more every day. From desktops and laptops to smart phones and tablets (and whatever may be coming next), digital is where it’s at. Businesses must adapt to stay alive.
The good news is that while a digital world makes things easier on consumers, it has just as much to offer marketers. Digital marketing is streamlined. It’s fast, nimble and versatile. It enables you to plan strategically by utilizing qualified data to customize your campaigns. In a nutshell, a quality digital marketing strategy means that you get a tailor-made plan that caters to your target audience, boosting your digital channels so that your business can thrive.
So, What Is Digital Marketing, Exactly?
Before we dive into the top reasons you need a digital marketing strategy, let’s take a quick look at the elements.
- Digital Advertising – Any strong online presence has a solid digital ad campaign to back it up. This includes anything from Google pay per click to social media ads, all of which provide targeted, timely and trackable results.
- Content Creation – Content is king in today’s digital marketing world. Fresh and compelling content that is valuable and relevant engages your audience and builds trust in your brand.
- Website + SEO – No matter how amazing your information is – if your audience can’t find it, it’s like you don’t exist. Search engine optimization and a memorable and informative website combined together will become one of your strongest marketing tools.
- Email Marketing – Reach customers where they are and build personal relationships with them by delivering well-timed and relevant information to their inboxes.
- Social Media – One out of every six minutes online is spent on social media. You have to be where your customers are!
Now for the Good Stuff: The top 7 Reasons You Need a Digital Marketing Strategy
1) Digital Marketing Helps You Interact with Your Target Audience
The tools of digital marketing allow you to engage with your target audience in real time. Meeting your customers where they are and interacting with them gets your message to the right people at the right time. And because you are hanging out where your customers are, you get insight into what they want. This is crucial information that can help you figure out your next marketing move, which will give your customers a better experience and help you develop a good relationship with them.
2) Digital Marketing is Trackable & Easily Monitored
Tracking your digital ad spend gives you immediate, measurable and scalable data, which is useful when making marketing decisions. For example, if a Facebook ad isn’t performing, the process is nimble enough that you can change things up midstream and send your dollars where they will have more of an impact. In real time, you can see if your ads are resonating with your audience, gauge whether or not you are using the right platforms, or determine if you’re hitting the right demographics. You can then take that information and use it to benchmark your objectives for future campaigns.
3) Digital Marketing is Cost Effective and Provides Better ROI
With the information you gather from tracking and monitoring your digital campaigns, your results are measured and immediate, leading to better revenues and better branding, which in turn leads to a steady flow of targeted traffic. And because digital marketing is targeted, you don’t waste dollars on people who aren’t in your audience. You can focus your funds on the people who want to buy what you have to sell. It’s a cost effective way to naturally and organically reach your customers and convert leads into sales.
4) Digital Marketing Levels the Playing Field
With digital marketing, small and medium-sized companies now have the chance to compete in the larger markets. The sales and marketing methods that may have previously only been available to big businesses are at everyone’s fingertips online. Digital marketing allows you to engage with your customers, no matter where in the world they are located.
5) Digital Marketing Caters to the Mobile Customer
Smart phones have become a central part of the American way of life and are no longer just a phone. They are quickly becoming the favorite alternative to laptops and personal computers, even to the point of influencing purchasing decisions. All it takes is a swipe or a button clicks to download music, book a flight or order the newest gadget. Digital marketing makes it easy to reach those mobile consumers.
6) Digital Marketing Earns People’s Trust
When you utilize digital marketing elements like content marketing and email marketing, you build a relationship with your customers. You provide them with reliable and relevant information, positioning you as the authority on the subject and building trust in your brand. In addition, as they begin to share information about your brand, their friends pay attention. Social proof like reviews and testimonials from your current customers are reliable signals that let potential customers in your targeted audience know that you and your brand can be trusted.
7) Digital Marketing Prompts People to Take Action
Once you’ve earned their trust (and backed it up with proof that you can keep it), you can use effective strategies that will entice customers to take positive action. The use of a call-to-action button on your website or social media page gives specific direction as to what your customer should do next. If you’ve proven yourself to them, they’re more likely to sign up for your email list, download information or make a purchase. Using tools like innovative forms or positioning stylized buttons or texts in a prominent place on the page encourages them to do something before leaving your page.
If you want to take your digital marketing to the next level, give us a shout. Tell us your business goals, and our team of experienced professionals will help get your strategy on the right track.