Why Every Business Needs To Invest In Digital Marketing
If you’re like us, you probably realize just how important the Internet is for reaching potential customers. Think about it - we’re constantly using search engines to find new information, plugging our location into our smart phones to find nearby businesses, and researching online reviews to decide whether or not to buy a product.
If you’re already spending money on traditional marketing -- such as TV and radio commercials, billboard advertising and print marketing materials -- it’s time to invest in new media marketing or Internet marketing including search engine marketing (SEO/SEM), social media marketing and content marketing. With almost 3 billion people accessing the Internet across the world every day, your business really NEEDS to be investing in digital marketing in order to be successful. Not convinced yet? Consider these 8 reasons why you can’t ignore the power of digital marketing.
- It helps you hit the bulls-eye. Internet marketing gives you more power to reach your target audience according to demographics, behaviors, interactions and other segmentations. For example, if you own a restaurant, you can have your online marketing campaign reach only Facebook or Google users who live in a 15 mile radius from your city and are interested in food and dining. This can be achieved through local search engine optimization (SEO) with Google, Facebook targeted ads, and/or other localized online marketing campaigns.
- It generates smart data. From planning to performance reporting, digital marketing provides intelligent data for business owners and marketers. Tools like Google Analytics and Facebook Insights are able to generate readily available information to measure your brand’s performance, including its generated traffic and earned conversion.
- It’s easier to create, replace and repeat. Digital marketing is easier to create, replace and repeat than traditional marketing or print advertising. For instance, an article published in a blog is easier to edit than an article published in a newspaper. Moreover, online ads like Google AdWords and Facebook Ads can be run, stopped and modified anytime. With those features, you can do multiple tests and experiments until you get the best or the most effective marketing campaign for your investment.
- It works in real-time. Unlike traditional marketing that needs time to research and survey the general public to gather useful market data, new media marketing can provide data and reporting about the status and performance of your campaign anytime, anywhere.
- It’s interactive. Digital marketing is a two-w ay street since you can both talk to and listen to your target audience or customers. Blogging can help your business become a thought leader in your industry, gain valuable feedback and initiate two-way discussions with customers. Your digital content can also be shared on social media channels (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube and Google+), and encourage engagements such as likes, shares and comments that promote your brand and gain new business.
- It can be both traditional and innovative. Digital marketing is considered hi-tech and innovative but it doesn’t forget the fundamentals of marketing, such as thought leadership and the focus on customer satisfaction. Although it utilizes new technology, it still needs to use traditional and millennium-old marketing strategies like motivating your team, making your customers happy, and inspiring the world to make your digital marketing a success.
- It’s cost-efficient. Small business owners don’t need to spend millions to implement an effective digital marketing campaign. You can start blogging, buy Google AdWords or test Facebook Ads even with a limited budget. Furthermore, the content that can be used in digital marketing could include your repurpose content such as your company’s regular articles, videos, pictures and presentations. It’s a win-win!
- Your competitors are probably using it now against you. There’s a great possibility that your business competitors are already blogging engaging content, optimizing their brand to be more visible on search engines, attracting social media fans and followers, earning the trust and confidence of your shared market, and turning your potential customers into their loyal customers. If you’re still hesitant to invest in digital marketing, chances are, your business might be left behind in its competition.
Traditional marketing can still be effective, but to make your overall marketing results more effective and competitive, you have to make digital marketing an integral part of your campaigns. If you’re not yet harnessing the power of digital marketing for your business, you are missing a lot of golden opportunities. Remember that your beloved prospective and existing customers are waiting for you in the digital world.
Is your company ready to start marketing online? Whether you’re just getting started or need advice on your current internet marketing campaign, we look forward to helping you “PROPEL” your marketing results in 2015.
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