There are many myths surrounding the process of digital marketing. You must've heard everything from the popular 'digital marketing is way too expensive!' to 'they don't work for regular brick and mortar shops'. The good news here is that they are all far from the truth.
Digital marketing is driving demand for more than 60% of all industries in the world today. Every popular brand has a digital presence online and why wouldn't they?
With billions of people on social media and other online platforms, not being on some digital platform is like leaving money at the table for your competitors to take.
That said, we have come up with really important reasons why digital marketing should be on your business docket if it isn't already
One of the biggest caveats of all businesses has been the ability to reach people across the seas. Traditional marketing methods do very little to alleviate this, and brands have forever been handicapped.
However, the introduction of digital marketing has brought a sea change in this space. It has enabled a business to break geological barriers and have a true 24/7 presence for customers all over the globe.
With digital marketing, you can streamline your online store and ensure that diverse markets can make the best use of it.
No longer do you need to create specific copies of pages for each region, everything is automated including translation.
Digital marketing is powerful in that it can capture the cultural significance of an area and work on amplifying that for better reach.
Something that has to be said about traditional marketing methods is that they've always been expensive.
Broadcast media has been proven to be much less effective per dollar than digital marketing strategies.
Digital marketing can considerably cut down marketing costs and give you better results. Through cost-effective ad strategies like PPC, you only need to pay when a potential lead clicks your ad.
With the addition of automated tools, businesses can make changes in real time to their marketing strategies based on customer reactions.
There are also no costs associated with printing media or renting airtime for channels. But the best part about digital marketing is that you don't need to worry about costs when expanding.
It is easily scalable and modular so you can add more functionality if and when needed.
A standout feature of digital marketing right from the start has always been the ability to measure and track performance.
Sadly, the same can't be said about traditional marketing methods which mostly work on the principle of broadcast. There is no feedback to be had from TV ads, billboards, or newspaper ads.
The same businesses need to create surveys or feedback forms to gauge customer interest.
But this is completely done away with digital marketing, so much so that it almost seems from the Stone Age now!
Since digital media is published on other digital platforms, recipients can always add feedback to them.
A lot of leads are generated through discussions on various branded media. Add to that real-time tracking for every component and you have a truly dynamic marketing process!
Another area where digital has traditional marketing soundly beaten is the ability to generate engagement and feedback.
Traditional marketing is just not able to generate engagement like its digital counterpart.
It was built for a different era when content was consumed through more passive devices like TVs, radio, and newspapers. It falls drastically short when compared to the internet of today.
Digital marketing disseminates marketing content through dynamic channels like social media and other websites.
All of these have built-in features that reward users for interaction. Coupled with that various campaigns like contests and polls on social media, and you have millions if not billions of people engaging with brands.
Digital marketing also transforms traditional email marketing by making it more personalized rather than the classical cold email blasts companies followed earlier.
With increased competition in all markets, the companies with the most brand awareness have the best chance of getting customers.
Traditional marketing methods like static ads and billboards just cannot compare with social media platforms. It is estimated that 68% of people follow branded social media handles.
To put this into perspective, an average billboard is seen by about 70k people and is strictly restricted to local presence. Compare that to a Facebook ad which can reach more than a billion people if marketed correctly - it's not even a contest!
Digital marketing allows brands to have a truly global online presence. Customers can reach a representative regardless of the local time at the headquarters.
Live chats and automated chatbots ensure that all customer queries are handled at all times.
Social media also offers local targeting which can help establish a brand presence regardless of their geographical location.
The biggest advancement in recent times brought by digital marketing is definitely how we approach advertisements.
Back in the day, everyone got to see all the ads regardless of their various preferences and attributes.
Showing 50-year-old person ads for a new doll for Christmas isn't going to get the cash registers ringing! This is how traditional marketing handles ads and why digital marketing is so much better.
The foundation of even the most basic digital marketing campaign is having a powerful targeting process. This allows brands to highlight customers of different demographics and interests and build a repository.
The brand can then use this information and build customer avatars to improve its ad targeting. It also offers retargeting which can help businesses circle back to users who appeared interested in their brand but didn't buy from them.
Generating leads and maximizing conversions is another area where digital marketing offers a much more pronounced advantage compared to traditional marketing.
Broadcast media are not great at generating leads because of many different considerations. Because they aren't targeted or personalized, a huge portion of the audience is just going to ignore it and move to something more interesting.
But the chances of this happening with digital marketing are far less given advanced ad targeting algorithms and high-intent keyword selection.
Digital marketing ensures that the right content/ads are shown to the best possible candidate at all levels. It does this through dynamic landing pages, optimal keyword choice, and engaging CTAs.
Coupled with automated follows through email and phone messaging, digital marketing has all fronts covered and it's only going to get better!
The heart of every marketing funnel is the strategy that is adopted by a business. And the best way to formulate a strategy is to have a lot of data about various marketing parameters.
While traditional marketing has access to a limited data set, the digital process offers a lot more actionable data that marketers can use.
It allows companies to make a data-driven decision towards their marketing process compared to earlier.
Competitor analysis is an area where traditional marketing just does not have the tools to get reliable information. But digital marketing has detailed competitor analysis which allows brands to see the gaps in their campaign and capitalize on them.
Modern methods also offer dynamic strategies like customer journey mapping which can help analyze every part of your marketing funnel to iron out kinks.
Trend surfing back in the day was really difficult. It would be many months or even years before other companies caught on. But today with competitor watchlists, adopting trends has become easier than ever before.
Add to this the power and flexibility of competitor gap analysis, and it becomes a whole lot easier to stay ahead of them and remain competitive.
Digital marketing methods also give businesses the ability to come up with various unique value propositions (UVP).
This is vital to remaining competitive in the market because UVPs can change over time. Digital media also offers dynamic ad content such as interactive video and augmented reality that can draw people in.
The bottom line is that digital marketing is connected and so offers a more real-time view of the marketing landscape. It gives you the leverage to improve your response time to changes in the market.
When it comes to marketing, the adage holds - information is wealth. Traditional marketing was limited in scope when it came to data gathering.
It also didn't have the advantage of being connected which meant real-time information was never available. But things have changed considerably with advances in marketing.
Digital marketing brings with it several innovations that allow marketers to get the most out of their pipelines.
Instant campaign performance and tracking are now available with the push of a button from the dashboard.
Marketers can also access heatmaps and user behavior analysis on each of their websites specifically landing pages. It gives unique insights into how to build and improve ad campaigns.
Marketing campaigns can also draw metrics from other sources like social media platforms and digital analysis tools.
Traditional media channels usually consist of one-way communication platforms like TV, billboards, and radio.
By their very nature, they are limited and this makes them inflexible compared to modern, dynamic marketing methods.
The umbrella of digital marketing is wide and has many different platforms that can be used. And the best part of all these channels is that they can be integrated in meaningful ways.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is one of the most useful innovations in digital marketing and it allows complete transformation of all digital aspects of your website to ensure it reaches the top of the search results.
Social Media Marketing (SMM) leverages popular social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and X to increase brand reputation and reach. Influencer marketing gathers the most popular individuals in a specific community to route branded content through them.
If we had to pick one area where digital marketing completely outperforms traditional methods it has to be ROI. This is important because, at the end of the day, ROI is what decides everything. And this is a pivotal metric when it comes to small and medium-sized businesses, where every penny matters.
Traditional methods were notorious for having inflated costs while offering very little in return. Newspaper ads, billboards, and TV ad airtime costs a lot of money!
But with digital marketing, even the smaller players have quite the impact on the niche. Creative ads and viral content can outperform bigger marketing campaigns and do so regularly.
A great example of David beating Goliath in the marketing space is Dollar Shave Club vs. Gillette. And DSC got this done with about five thousand dollars compared to the millions Gillette has spent! This is compelling evidence that digital marketing done right can be great for your ROI.
Digital marketing sets up businesses for a global presence, through features like dynamic translation and chatbots. It boosts social media presence and improves cultural connections resulting in a more 'local' presence regardless of brand location.
An emphatic yes! Digital marketing offers a much lower cost of entry compared to traditional ad channels like TV and billboards. Smaller businesses can opt for PPC models which do not waste money unless the user interacts with the ad.
With thousands of businesses competing for the same space, standing out becomes a necessity. Personalized ads based on user behavior can offer better results compared to traditional broadcast ads.
Success in digital marketing can be defined in many ways and is usually dependent on campaign goals. Choose from a range of metrics like clicks, conversions, leads, or ROI. It is also possible to A/B test various campaigns to select the best one for your business.
● Implement digital marketing strategies that can truly elevate your business to a global scale.
● Generate more leads with digital marketing methods like keyword research, email automation, and landing pages.
● Track various performance metrics that can give you the complete picture of your marketing campaign.
● Adapt quickly to competition or changes in the market with dynamic digital marketing strategies.
● Test and experiment with various digital marketing strategies to find the one most suited to your brand.
● Invest in intensive digital marketing strategies to keep you ahead of your competition and sustain growth.