To answer the question, we asked in the title of this article, you only need to look around you. You are being swamped by a multitude of devices, and the possibility that you are reading this text on your mobile phone or tablet is almost a given.
So being connected to the internet, now at any time, has transformed the way we buy products and learn about what’s happening in the world every day.
This very convenience of being constantly online is one of the main reasons why digital marketing has changed the way businesses promote and market their products and services.
But what is digital marketing?
It is the organized effort of a company to satisfy the needs of its customers by promoting its products through electronic means. Some of the tools it uses are promotion through networking channels (e.g. Facebook), sending promotional e-mails and newsletters to potential customers, as well as search engine marketing campaigns (e.g. Google, Bing).
What makes digital marketing so effective compared to traditional marketing is the breadth of information it provides and the way it reaches customers.
The advantages of course are innumerable. But let’s break down the four main ones: measurability, affordability, speed and loyalty.
- Measurability
Technology has made it possible today to measure the exact result of your customers’ actions at any time. Essentially, in marketing campaigns everything is measurable: from the number of users who have visited your page, the length of time they have browsed it, to the ads they have clicked on.
So by having really useful information and statistics at your fingertips, you can set goals and design a strategy and implementation plan. By applying these, you can measure the results, correct your plan, adjust it if necessary and then re-measure the results again.
- Affordable price
Digital marketing is expanding even to smaller and medium-sized businesses worldwide, putting them on a level playing field with larger companies through its affordability. For example, advertising on Facebook through ad campaign tools costs a fraction of the cost of printing flyers and can target a more niche group of people.
At the same time, with digital marketing there is much greater appeal to a wider audience, at a time when less paper is being wasted. Similarly, online banner ads on websites cost less than ads placed in more traditional shops, daily newspapers or magazines.
With the data generated by these online advertising techniques, you can also draw conclusions about the cost-effectiveness of advertising spending.
- Speed
Compared to the much longer process of producing and distributing printed material, companies can be much more flexible with their messages and get their message across faster – one click is all it takes.
Twitter posts, even, or website updates take just a few minutes, as opposed to a brochure that takes days to place in a newspaper.
- Loyalty
Before the rise of the internet, advertising was straightforward. Billboards, like TV, radio and even print ads, were used to promote a brand and customers didn’t expect much more.
With the rise of the internet and social media, however, customers have developed new expectations. They no longer ask you to “present” your product or service to them. Instead, what they expect is to talk to you and develop relationships with you.
You can therefore invest countless hours and money in digital marketing, but if your content doesn’t really engage your target market, you’re sure to waste your investment.
In today’s world, engagement is the key to effective marketing, as it turns strangers into potential customers, potential customers into clients and clients into brand ambassadors. It is precisely this effective engagement that always starts with a commitment to serve your audience and when your digital marketing is based on this desire, sales will naturally follow.
We note that loyalty can be achieved in other ways as well, including contests, blogs, PR, events and other marketing activities.
Therefore, digital marketing plays a catalytic role in building a successful business, giving you a dynamic advantage in how you can promote your brand in a fast-moving world.
To keep ahead of the competition, then, knowing and cultivating the necessary digital marketing skills is more than important for your business. It is necessary.