What is the most important department of a company? While some might think it’s the Human Resources or Accounting divisions, it’s actually the Marketing team that counts the most. Without a successful marketing strategy, nothing really matters because you won’t be able to generate leads and increase your sales. It’s basically how you promote your brand and get the word out about your services.
That industry has changed over the years with the advent of the internet, and now, businesses leverage the internet as the most important tool in their marketing efforts. Any company that wants to expand and grow needs to create a powerful presence online, because that’s where most people are throughout the day.
Why digital marketing is important
Small companies get to compete with bigger ones
In the past, before the internet became a staple of marketing strategies, a business would need a huge budget to compete. Companies would advertise their products through TV spots and billboards, which cost a lot of money, and that’s why only companies with a significant initial capital could make it. Digital marketing changed all that, and leveled the playing field.
Any company could compete with a website and social media channels, without having to spend a fortune on futile approaches aimed at increasing reach. Online means also made it possible for those smaller businesses to exponentially grow at a much faster rate, because of the massive exposure that comes with doing all the right things through the different digital channels.
Efficiency
Studies show that, in 2019, an average internet user has up to 7 different social media accounts! The majority of people spend hours every day on Google as well as the various social media platforms. This is why digital marketing is quite efficient. It ensures that you get to reach people where they spend most of their time –– when was the last time you didn’t browse Google after waking up?
Digital marketing gives your brand exposure and reach it needs with minimal expenses, which is why it’s the most powerful marketing tool ever created.
Targeted reach and higher conversions
The problem with traditional marketing approaches is the fact that they were random. A TV ad is shown to everyone, and the same goes for billboards. There is no specific targeting, which means that much of your efforts and money is pointlessly spent. With digital marketing, that is not the case. You get to target exactly the right people you want.
Through leveraging search engine optimization strategies, you get to rank higher in search results, and your brand becomes visible to just the right people. As Aaron Knight –– an SEO specialist and web designer –– also explains, optimization drives a lot of targeted traffic to your website, which increases your conversion rates. You don’t just get any leads, but rather ones that will become sales if you do everything right.
Leveraging SEO also means you’ll get to provide your visitors with a much better user experience. When you design your website in an easy, accessible way –– with fast loading pages –– people will enjoy their time on your site, and they’ll come back for more. It’s not just about the design and interface, but also the content. One of the pillars of SEO is creating quality content that will keep your audience engaged and interested, because that’s how you ensure continuous traffic, and in turn higher conversions.
Personalized
Perhaps one of the most powerful advantages of digital marketing is the fact that it’s personalized. You have strategies like email marketing, which allows your brand to send personalized messages to consumers with things that truly might be of interest for them. This also helps you generate more traffic and get better conversions, because people like to feel special. Traditional means are generic and random, which is not the case with digital marketing approaches.
Digital marketing trends to keep an eye on
Artificial intelligence
AI is one of the hottest trends in the digital marketing world, and it’s one expected to even grow in importance in the future. Artificial intelligence is currently leveraged to help marketers do a lot of tasks. For starters, it’s used to do market research and find out about the competition, as well as what’s hot in the markets right now.
The AI is also used in customer service, where a lot of brands are now using it in live chat bots and other channels of customer service –– which is an important part of digital marketing, as having people’s inquiries and concerns addressed as soon as possible is one of the reasons why the internet has helped a lot of businesses grow and expand.
Omnichannel marketing
This is another term that you’ll often come across. Omnichannel marketing pertains to leveraging the different platforms and solutions at your disposal to generate leads and increase sales. It makes it easier for brands to use all available channels that are connected to consumers in order to promote a service or a product. In other words, this approach means using channels like social media, websites, podcasts, live chats, press releases, offline ads, direct mail, email marketing, and several others simultaneously in order to reinforce your marketing strategy and engage consumers on several different fronts, which ensures maximum efficiency.
Video marketing
People are more susceptible to visual ads and approaches in general. This is why video marketing is one of the hottest trends right now, and it will even be more important as time goes by. A lot of businesses are investing a lot of money to create videos that would appeal to their target audience, because creating high quality clips is probably the best way to generate traffic and get you a lot of leads.
Digital marketing has changed the game, and any major business in this day and age is pouring a lot of money into this timeless strategy. The internet has opened a lot of doors, and what’s even more surprising is the fact that new approaches are constantly being developed and there’s no telling what tomorrow holds for the different digital strategies that aim to attract new customers.
__________________________________________________
Interesting related article: “What is Online Marketing?“