Many know Digital Marketing is a necessity for most businesses but what exactly is it and why is it so important in this ever-increasing technologically driven era? We set out to highlight just this.
Hubspot defines digital marketing as
“Digital marketing encompasses all marketing efforts that use an electronic device or the internet. Businesses leverage digital channels such as search engines, social media, email, and other websites to connect with current and prospective customers”
Source: Tag Team Manufacturing
There are many arms to Digital Marketing however the following are what we deem to be the most powerful to the field;
- Website/Blog UX (User Experience)
- Social Media (Organic or Paid)
- Pay-per-Click
- Content Marketing
- Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
- Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO)
- Big Data Analysis
- Marketing Automation
- Google AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages)
Digital marketing is such a huge part of a company or a product’s success, because without knowledge on how to advertise and promote the product, how are you going to achieve the sales you want?
Source: codesmithdev.com
So, here are some examples from the guys at Utterly Digital of what digital marketing companies offer that shows what digital marketing consists of and why this matter for your company/product;
- PPC (Google Ads) – this is a brilliant way to increase exposure, especially for more infant companies who are perhaps struggling with SEO. It allows you to bid on particular search terms for your website/advert to appear both in the search engines and on the Google Display Network. This method of advertising if done correctly can be highly targeted and so can offer tremendous results and conversion rates. Be cautious though, if done incorrectly, or your search terms are too broad, you can spend significant amounts of money with no results. Consult someone prior to engaging for the first time, please.
- Web Design – this is crucial, you’ve GOT TO have an identity as a brand and your website has to mirror this identity. Websites in this day and age are also the new shopfront window and so it’s paramount both your sales funnel, UX and landing pages are all planned out correctly and implemented effectively.
- SEO – Atomic SEO Agency defines SEO as a process increasing organic search engine rankings for key search terms that pertain to your business through both on-page and off-page optimization techniques. Around 75% of people do not scroll past the first page so its extremely important to ensure your SEO is on point in order to appear there, rather than forking out thousands in PPC to appear on the first page. SEO is a great cost-effective long-term strategy to gain exposure and subsequent traffic.
Source: onwardclick.com
Contents
Does digital marketing matter to businesses of every size?
Honestly, yes. It’s way cheaper, less time consuming and more permanent than traditional marketing is to any business. Meaning any business would benefit from investing in digital marketing. It is argued however that government-related brands are less likely to need digital marketing because they are contracted, but many contrasting arguments explain that everybody has a phone, that’s where the money is. You see political leaders posting on their socials repetitively, this isn’t for fun, they’re a key part of the public eye, these posts are campaigns, which is fundamentally them using social media to market themselves in order to create a bigger following and promote their ideas for the country. So really, the government are as guilty as any other brand when it comes to the use of digital marketing.
Further Benefits of Digital Marketing
Targeting Audiences
Source: intechnic
Digital marketing allows people to really focus on targeting their audiences, you should offer tailored marketing to each individual’s needs and interests by analysing their online data. This matters because customers have said to prefer more personal, relevant adverts on their media platforms. After looking at the data, digital marketers then respond to and initiate dynamic customer interactions and create customer relationships showing they value their clients. This matters as you then gain consistent, coordinated customer experiences.
Analysis
Source: medium
Digital marketing benefits companies massively by letting you measure and monitor campaign performances, in order to learn what works and what doesn’t work when looking at the response from your audience after you’ve advertised to them. This matters as it helps improve marketing ROI (Return On Investment).
Access
Source: Pinterest
You have more or less unlimited access to people all around the world, this matters as you can have access to your customers wherever, whenever by just posting on social media and letting it reach your desired audience.
Influence
Source: auxiliumtechnology
Gaining a bigger audience will be highly influenced by what others say about your service, and how will they check that? Reviews that you feature on your website that people can post on there or you upload from what customers have sent you. Of course, you can only control this to an extent, as on Facebook you cannot filter what people are going to say about your brand or product so people will be inclined to look on there. These reviews being on your websites will confirm to people that people want to invest time in your company or brand, the influence of the reviews is the form of digital marketing. And how this matters is self-explanatory really, the influence of others is naturally what people are going to trust.
What We’ve Learnt
Source: jbklutse.com
So now we know what digital marketing is and why it matters, hopefully, you see just how key it is to businesses and have some understanding on how it happens. Digital marketing is the new way of marketing, although traditional ways of marketing are still used and available the tech world is taking over, and that’s only natural with the changing society that relies on tech and digital tools for so many things. Digital marketing is everywhere, you’ve probably seen a form of it the last time you looked at your phone. No one realises it’s there, it’s a subtle, incredible way of getting business and sales. People have busy lives; they get annoyed when someone tries to ring them attempting to make a sale on a Friday night when all they want to do is be on the couch and watch Netflix with their dog. So, people are appreciative and more enthusiastic in buying things when it’s not pushed onto them with an invasive phone call. Also, digital marketing isn’t interrupting anyone’s day its just there when you open your phone keeping it more low profile and casual but so much more effective.
