Digital marketing is having a profound impact on many businesses. Statistics show up to 65% of e-commerce traffic comes from search engines.
51% of shoppers use Google to search for information about products before buying. Mobile optimization is a critical factor for 59% of online users. Over 60% of smartphone users made contact with a business from search results.
Adoption of marketing on the digital platform is no longer an option. Any business that hopes to remain afloat in the modern age must jump onto the bandwagon.
There are so many benefits to the business outcome, which we will explore below.
1. Cost-Saving to the Business
Here are some insights from a leading Milwaukee digital marketing agency. Cost-saving is one main advantage of online marketing. The company has experience in strategy development for small and medium businesses. They have seen the struggle such companies have in competing for advertising space.
The reality is, every business looks for ways to cut costs. Analog marketing was and continues to be very expensive. Using some channels is beyond the reach of many entrepreneurs.
Small and medium-sized companies cannot compete with the financial might of bigger ones. For them, landing on the prime pages or peak spots in electronic media is a dream.
It can swallow up the budget, without them achieving anything. Modern digital marketers are using tools like SEO to get visibility. Even with minimal budgets, they can still achieve a lot.
2. Scalability of Digital Marketing
Let’s go back to the example of analog marketing. There is only so much you can do depending on budget and availability of space in your media of choice.
Online marketing, on the other hand, opens up so many possibilities. The business has access to so many channels or platforms.
The most basic is the website that can grow as big as you wish. Social media platforms are also gaining traction. Marketers get access to a broad audience base. They can set up accounts on as many platforms as they wish.
And, there are no limitations on what you can do. Storytelling, case studies, blogs, and user-generated content can help build brand visibility. Online marketing evens the playing field a little.
That means even that small company that may not have had a chance at brand visibility can now shine.
3. Digital Marketing Allows for Precise Targeting
One of the biggest disadvantages of analog advertising is in targeting. There is no way to determine whether the messaging has reached the target audience.
There is a lot of dependence on luck. Some people will refer to it as the spray and pray method. The marketer can only hope that the people they need to reach are reading or watching the specific media.
But think about the typical behavior of most people. How many times do you pay attention to a newspaper advert? What happens when commercials start running? That is usually the perfect time to take a bathroom break or top up your drink.
Digital marketing is a little more promising in its targeting. Social media platforms, for instance, use algorithms to locate audiences. User preferences provide valuable insight on audiences marketers can target.
Tools like Google Analytics can also help with targeting. You get to know where the audiences are. The analytics also shows the kind of content they interact with the most on your site.
Email Marketing is also a very powerful tool. Personalized messaging increases the likelihood of the target reading the mails.
4. Opportunity to Gain a Competitive Edge
The digital space provides a fantastic way to outdo competitors. But, it is an uphill task that requires strategic thinking and implementation. As we have alluded to above, the online space has evened out the field a little.
That means big and small players are all in one very busy marketplace. There is a lot of clutter and noise, with all the brands shouting messages.
Every company wants a share of voice amongst a very tiny audience pool. This is why the modern customer has so much choice.
A simple Google search on a product will bring up thousands of results. So the good is, the online space is open to anyone daring enough to take advantage of the possibilities.
The bad news is that you must work a little extra to break above the clutter.
Astute marketers must improve their digital marketing skills to maximize such opportunities. These skills will help ensure that marketers can produce quality results for a company. There are many areas that they can use to generate more brand visibility.
These include:
- Content marketing for better brand awareness. They need to learn how to create relevant and engaging content. These should provide solutions to identified customer needs.
- Email marketing for better personalization of communication, resulting in higher click-through rates (CTR).
- Social media marketing for a stronger online presence.
- Marketing automation for higher efficiency in marketing processes.
- Best search engine optimization practices, and so much more.
5. Traversing Global Boundaries with Digital Marketing
Think about businesses that were operating before the explosion of the online space. Their expansion capacity depended on their financial might. Having many stores in different locations was proof of success. It became even harder when opening locations in different countries.
But now all that has changed. A business could have its headquarters in the United States, for example. Yet, they have a presence in five or six other countries in the world.
And, they can do it all without setting up a physical location. Nowadays, all you need is internet connectivity and a smart device.
Take the example of online learning. Some institutions have students who will never visit the physical location.
The ability to reach global audiences with digital marketing is a business boost. Without a doubt, the world is, indeed, a global village.
6. The Business Will See ROI
Go back to the example of analog Media that we used above. How would you truly measure the effectiveness of your advertising campaigns? Yes, the media houses will give some fantastic reports.
You get numbers on viewership, readership, or listenership. But can they prove to you that that was the case? How do they determine who sat through an advertisement, during the commercial break?
The same does not apply to marketing in the digital space. It is easy to see the effectiveness of the campaigns because you can track them. You don’t wait until the end of the marketing period to get results.
Rather it is an ongoing process that allows for improvement if need be. There are tools, including free ones that can give relevant insights. The social media platforms have their own tracking tools.
So does Google and a host of other options. All you need to do is decide on the metrics that will be the benchmark against which to measure the final results. They may for example use engagement such as likes, comments, and shares for social media.
On the website, metrics include bounce rates and content engagement. You also get to know how long they stay on the site. And of course, we cannot leave out the main aim of any marketing campaign, which is leads generation.
The business has full control over the process. So, no hoodwinking with guesswork results. The fact that you can improve upon what is not working is an excellent way to save on budgets.
Final Thoughts
Any marketing campaign should provide value to the business. It’s important to set these goals at the start of every campaign. These goals should progress from one milestone to another so it’s not overwhelming. The same goes for digital marketing. It can be overwhelming at the start but setting small goals can help.
We’ve seen the value of digital marketing in terms of cost savings and measurable ROI. We’ve also discussed how it can give us lots of opportunities for growth in different areas. You get all of these and more with digital marketing.