Did you know that in the next year more than 64% of businesses plan on putting more money on digital marketing?
If you haven't started planning your digital marketing campaigns for 2019, your business could miss out on some valuable opportunities.
Want to know how important digital marketing is? Keep reading this article.
1. You Will Be Accessible to Customers
When customers want to communicate with a business nowadays, they don't spend countless hours on the phone. Customers go online and expect to find a solution to their problem this way.
They will get on their computers or smartphones and will go on Google looking for a solution to their problems.
When you embrace the importance of digital marketing, you will realize it will help you be more accessible to your customers.
Not only will they be able to find you online more easily, but they will know you're there to answer any questions they might have along the way.
2. Small Businesses Have the Same Opportunities
Most of us have seen huge marketing campaigns launched by big corporations that include billboards, TV commercials, ads on the subway, and so on. What does it mean for small businesses who don't have the same budget to spend on a large marketing campaign? Does it mean they're out?
This is one of the advantages of digital marketing campaigns. It levels the playing field for businesses of every size. With digital marketing, even a small mom and pops business can make it to the top of the rankings.
3. Customers Can Come To You
Want to attract customers without having to go knocking on their doors?
Launching a digital marketing campaign doesn't mean you have to go looking for each customer. In fact, digital marketing puts you on the map so you can let customers come to you.
With digital marketing, you can narrow the scope of your business so you can reach a much wider audience of the people who are looking for those exact same services.
4. Are Your Customers Online?
Many businesses haven't made the transition into digital marketing because they don't think they're ready or simply they don't know how to go about it.
What these businesses haven't considered is that their customers are already online.
Most people already use search engines such as Google to look for products and services. If they don't see a business listed online, they might think it doesn't exist.
The expectation most customers have is that a business will be listed online, have a website, and a social media presence. These are the things all customers expect from a business.
When they don't get it, they will go to the competition.
5. You Can Personalize it
Customers don't like to feel like they're just a number to you. On the contrary, they want to be looked at as individuals who are choosing your products and services because you think about their needs.
Thankfully, digital marketing allows you to personalize your campaigns -- it's called segmentation and personalization.
With segmentation, you will be dividing your target audience into groups of people who share the same interests. After you've completed this process, you can personalize it on an individual level.
An example would be email marketing. You can separate which customers you will include in an email newsletter, these will be ones who have signed up for your newsletter.
Each of those customers will receive a personalized email with products and offers that will interest them. This way you can avoid sending them emails.
6. Your Competitors Are Doing It
What are your competitors doing? If you have not made the transition into digital marketing, it's time you find out what your competitors are doing.
Although most businesses want to beat their competitors, most of them overlook that their competitors also have a lot to teach them.
Start by researching how your competitors are doing digital marketing. Pay attention to their marketing campaigns. Remember, you don't want to copy them, but you do want to learn from them.
Learn about what they're doing and think about ways you can do it better.
How are they communicating with the audience? What type of content are they putting out? What does their website look like?
Think of these and other questions when you research your competitors.
7. Easier to Identify Your Target Audience
Who are the people looking for your products? While you may have an idea of who your target audience is, digital marketing allows you to narrow it down further.
Once you spend more time navigating your digital marketing campaign by using blog posts, surveys, and answering questions an inquiries, you will be able to narrow down who your target audience is.
Think about it, blog posts tend to spark conversations and comments, which will give you a chance to explore which customer values are similar to yours.
You can ask them more detailed questions to get a sense of who they are and what they need.
8. You Can Track the Analytics
How can you track how many people saw an ad in a magazine? Or how many people watched a TV commercial? The truth is you can't.
You might be able to get a rough estimate based on magazine sales or how many times the commercial aired, but this information won't be accurate.
With digital marketing, you are able to get specific data that lets you know how your customers interacted with your content.
You will be able to know the following:
- They left a comment
- They shared it
- They made a purchase
- They shared it with a friend
You can also track how much time they spent on your website and how they spent this time. You will be able to track the conversion rate.
If an ad or campaign doesn't work, with the information you've collected you can make changes in a more economical way.
Ready to Give Digital Marketing a Try?
If you haven't given digital marketing a try, your business could be missing out on many opportunities. Digital marketing allows you to be available for your audience, find your target audience, and track your campaigns.
Want to know which digital marketing tips you have to follow in 2019 if you want to succeed? Check out this article.