From websites to social media, Google AdWords to pop-ups ads, online marketing is not going away.
In fact, online marketing now accounts for 70 percent of the average company’s marketing budget.
But why? Why digital? There are a thousand reasons why digital is the place to be, but they didn’t all fit on the page… so here are my top seven:
1. Because digital marketing is more cost-effective than traditional marketing
Small, independent businesses have very little in the way of resources. Digital marketing provides them with a better and much more cost-effective marketing channel that delivers results compared to traditional marketing which can be costly, impossible to track, and ineffective.
2. Because digital marketing delivers sales conversion
At the end of the day, at the end of every campaign, I always ask: “But did it make you any money?” Businesses marketing products and services online measure success by the percentage rate of incoming traffic that gets converted into sales. Without conversion, all your traffic would mean nothing and all your marketing efforts will simply go to waste. No other form of marketing or advertising can offer the level of tracking or analytics—you can see immediately what’s working and what isn’t.
3. Because digital marketing helps generate better revenues
Spend less; make more. Digital marketing leaves more money in the bank while reaching a wider, more targeted audience—an audience that is already looking for the services you provide.
4. Because digital marketing allows customers to get to know you
Authenticity is key in the world of the Internet. People have choice, and you have to show them WHY they should choose you above your competitors. And the best way to do that, to reach thousands of people with your message, is to go digital.
5. Because digital marketing is mobile
80 percent of all North Americans live with their phone within arm’s reach. Your phone has become much more than a communication device. It is a friend, a calculator, a timepiece, a GPS, and a decision maker. Combine the power of mobile with the power of Online search, and you can see how businesses that are neglecting the digital side are going to be missing out… and fading away.
6. Because digital marketing earns people’s trust
They have to like you and then trust you before they’ll buy from you. In the automotive world, with the number of myths, misconceptions, and misinformation floating around out there, that phrase has never been more true.
Digital marketing leverages social media signals, social proof and testimonials from actual consumers who have previously used a product or service marketed by a particular brand or business. If your friends have bought from Company A, you might check them out too.
7. Because digital marketing makes you ready for the Internet of Things
The “Internet of Things” is a global ecosystem of interconnected devices—tablets, smartphones, gadgets, appliances and more—that can interact with each other through the Internet. Sounds like something from a Sci-Fi thriller, but this is what the projected 24 billion gadgets by the year 2020 are actually heading towards.
Digital marketing will prepare your business towards this eventuality, an interconnected ecosystem that will permeate through every aspect of people’s lives.
