Most of us hear digital marketing and feel like we kind of ‘get it’. Yet, just below the surface, it seems to get a little more complex. Am I right?
When thinking about digital marketing, do any of these sound familiar?
My business has a website. What else do I really need?
My business is on several social media platforms, and I keep hearing about others I should be on... How can I keep up?
Digital marketing looks nice, but is it necessary for my business?
Marketing is your strategy to communicate your unique value to your customers and promote sales.
Traditional channels are linear. The main distinction is that it’s only a 1-way conversation (outbound marketing). This would include TV, print, radio, direct mail, and billboard advertising. Traditional channels can still be effective, though digital marketing has several advantages.
Why Is It Important to Be Digital?
We have integrated technology into our lives more than ever before. That’s why digital marketing matters. It is where the attention is. Effective marketing is being part of the conversation, where and when it’s happening and communicating with the customers how they want to be communicated with.
So, What IS Digital Marketing?
Digital marketing uses digital channels, including display, search, mobile, social, and video. This creates a shift from the linear approach of one-way communication to a value exchange that is free-flowing, and one-to-many or one-on-one. These channels include tools such as search engine marketing, social media, blogging, video, email marketing, online pay per clicks advertising, etc.
What Can Digital Marketing Do For Me?
Digital marketing is more cost-efficient, effective, and allows you to measure, monitor, analyze and test at a much faster rate.
More consumers are online and digital marketing is an immediate way to reach them directly. This allows you to share your brand story and promote a valuable business-to-consumer relationship, increasing brand loyalty and driving online sales.
Targeting technology gives marketers the ability to reach more granular segments without compromising scale. This allows you to attract a large target audience in a cost-effective and measurable way and convert more customers. Data can be tracked more easily to help measure success. This includes engagements such as impressions, clicks, website hits, as well as purchases. This makes it easier to track conversion and ROI and make better decisions for optimization.
Both large and small businesses benefit from digital marketing. Larger businesses can humanize their brand and make the company more relatable. Smaller businesses need to bring awareness to their brand to break into a market and compete. Digital marketing helps increase visibility and differentiate your brand in the market.
Make A Digital Marketing Plan & Have the Right Team
You’ll need a solid digital marketing plan based on a detailed analysis of your specific business, competition, and consumer. You’ll want to continually optimize your efforts as you monitor data on what methods convert and give a better return. Be sure to have a team on your side with a mix of creativity and analytical abilities and the knowledge to carry out digital marketing with success.