So you’re thinking about starting a business or you’re already running a business, but how do you intend to generate leads and sales? 

When small to medium-sized businesses first enter the market, the main goal is to drive customers through the door. This boils down to how effective your marketing strategies are. As you might have known, there are numerous ways to market your brand. These methods include traditional forms of advertising such as print ads on newspapers and magazines, commercials on radio and television, or even advertisements placed on large billboards. 

These forms of traditional marketing are useful only to a certain extent. 

On the contrary, digital marketing is much more effective, accessible, updated, and investment-smart. There are so many reasons why digital marketing is important

Here are 10 reasons why you should invest in digital marketing right away. 

1. You can engage with your audience.

Any business owner relishes in the essence of customer relationships because it eventually leads to returning buyers and brand loyalty. The best way to build such formidable bonds with your customers is by simply interacting with them. 

Digital marketing allows you to do this directly and conveniently.

By being able to connect with your customers and prospects, you get to learn more about their needs and demands. What do they like or dislike? This information is useful for improving your business down the road. 

Make use of social media features such as #Hashtags, Instagram Live Video, and Facebook Group to communicate with your audience. In addition, these online engagements will give your audience an opportunity to understand the ins and outs of your brand.

2. You can keep track of your marketing progress.

What makes digital marketing so desirable is the fact that you can sit back and let technology do your homework. No longer are you required to collect data and key it in manually. You can easily refer back to your digital history to analyze how successful your marketing initiatives are. 

For example, you can make use of Google Analytics to track the performance of your website. If you recently created a landing page after running an advertisement on Google or added a new page to your website, Analytic’s tools will show you how many people visited your site, how long they stayed on the page, and whether or not they engaged with the page.

In addition, most social media channels allow business pages to view their page and post-performance over time. For example, Instagram Insights provides detailed analytics regarding your post’s interactions, discovery, and promotion. 

Apart from the insight function on social media, there are external analytics tools like Hubspot’s Social Media Management Software to keep track of your marketing progress as well. 

3. You can compete against large enterprises.

Before digital marketing, large enterprises always seemed to have a competitive edge, mostly because they can afford higher budget allowances. Large enterprises are also able to fund physical stores and offices. But it does not have to be that way anymore. 

Digital marketing provides a way to help level the playing field. This is a huge plus for small and medium-sized businesses. Digital marketing equips you with the same opportunities that are available to large enterprises to attract customers. 

Think about it, the odds that your post appears right next to an international brand on a customer’s news feed is actually pretty high. So make use of this grand fighting chance.

4. You can promote your products or services.

This seems pretty self-explanatory. Promote your product or services so that people know about what you sell and who you are as a company. But there’s more than meets the eye. 

The significance of digital marketing is that it allows you to promote your product wherever, whenever, and however you want (as long as you follow policy guidelines). You can be as creative as you wish to stand out in your market. Small details such as web page design, illustrations, and your brand voice affect how you promote your product.

As you explore the endless possibilities of promotion, keep in mind that people want to receive original content from you. People want to buy from people. If you’re re-posting an idea from another creator, give them the credit. 

On top of that, word-of-mouth is extremely powerful in the digital world. This is unlike the usual sharing of information that was only achieved if a customer visits a store physically. Digital marketing allows you to develop loyal followers who will be willing to support your brand by promoting it for you. 

You can also take advantage of SERP (search engine results pages) features on Google to reach a wider audience. For instance, Local Packs shows your store location on Google maps. So when people search for “restaurants near me” or “flower boutiques nearby” they will be able to find your store right away. You can learn more about SERP features on our SEO-101 blog. 

5. You can reach mobile consumers.

Look at the people around you, how many of them own a smartphone? A tablet? Most of your target consumers probably have a mobile device. 

Mobile devices play a huge role in our lives. Pew Research Center reported that 91% of adult Americans always have their mobile devices with them. Mobile shopping is an even greater practice nowadays. 59% of shoppers surveyed say that being able to shop on their mobile influences their purchase decisions (Think with Google). 

There’s no better time like the present to reach mobile consumers through digital marketing. Not only do you have the chance to expand your target audience, but consumers will also come to you. 

6. You can build a brand reputation.

Studies have found that people on social media follow brands more than celebrities. Digital marketing is your opportunity to develop transparency and trust with your audience. Positive engagements with your audience also helps build a stronger brand reputation. 

Once you are able to deliver to your first group of consumers, they are most likely going to share their experience with your products and services. These could be in the form of reviews or ratings. Beware, word of mouth travels fast on the internet. So if you are able to guarantee customer satisfaction, your brand reputation will grow even faster. 

7. You can achieve greater results than traditional marketing.

Businesses that are just starting up usually lack resources and capitalization to invest in traditional marketing. Even if you manage to save up for an advertisement slot on TV, you might only see a tiny spurt in conversion rates. 

What if I told you that digital marketing is a cheaper alternative that actually delivers results? Hubspot confirms that digital marketers get better Cost-Per-Lead (CPL) than other marketing efforts. 

Digital marketing allows you to promote your business and reach a wider target audience, even with a minimal budget. So why settle for a taste of success when you can sign up for a full buffet?   

In addition, there are many ways to promote your business through digital marketing. This includes content marketing, social media marketing, videography, photography, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

8. You can direct target-traffic to your website.

The power of digital marketing is that it helps you attract not only more traffic, but your ideal customers. There’s no point in generating high traffic if no one is going to purchase your products. The ability to continuously reach your target audience is what makes your business survive and thrive.

Social media algorithms work in your favour by directing your pages and content to prospective customers. Your audience and followers are most likely already interested in the type of product that you are offering. 

As such, there are many ways that digital marketing helps direct prospective customers to your website. Social media marketing, content marketing, and SEO assist in more comprehensive inbound traffic. Digital marketing specialists ensure that these marketing efforts are utilized to their greatest extent. 

9. You can expand your business.

An online store allows your business to run even after your working hours. Customers can visit your website or social pages at their own conveniences. On a broader scale, customers from around the world would still be able to access your products and services. No longer should your customers be limited by time or distance — how amazing is that!

By establishing a digital presence, your customers are always welcomed for business. 

Furthermore, consumers often want to learn about a brand before making a purchase. When people conduct an online search of your brand, you want to showcase that your brand is reliable and legitimate. If people can’t locate your brand online, they might move on to your competitors instead. 

10.  You can save money. 

Saving the best for last, digital marketing will not hurt your wallet as much as other forms of marketing. 

Sharing your organic content online and creating social media pages is completely free; unless you are interested in investing in social media or search engine advertisements. Paying for advertisements can definitely increase your exposure at a quicker pace. 

Though for the most part the fundamental strategies of digital marketing can be performed without any additional costs. 

If you’re on a tight budget or simply prefer to save money, then digital marketing is your best bet.

Conclusion

It is evident that modern-day digitalization has greatly evolved how consumers shop. Gone are the days when customers have to physically visit a store to buy what they want or need. With products and services made accessible online, many consumers have developed a strong preference for online shopping. If your brand does not have an online presence, it would be difficult to compete within the current marketplace. 

As this article illustrated, there is a bounty of benefits that comes with digital marketing. No matter how small or new your business may be, you should not overlook the importance of digital marketing. 

FAQs

Must I be on social media to achieve digital marketing?

Social media is just one of the many facets of the digital marketing umbrella. There is an abundance of channels that make up digital marketing. This includes SEO (search engine optimization), Content Marketing, Email Marketing and much more. 

You can definitely still run a business without being on social media, but that would mean closing the door on one of the greatest marketing channels. 

Are there any social media marketing tools I can use?

As mentioned in the blog, popular digital marketing tools include Google Analytics and Hubspot’s Social Media Management Software. However, there are other digital marketing tools that serve various purposes. 

Here are some quick examples: TapInfluence caters to influencer marketing on social media. Snaplytics provides a detailed overview of Snapchat and Instagram stories. Keyhole helps you find the most relevant and trending hashtags to expand your reach. ShortStack is meant to ease the process of running social media contests. 

Which digital marketing avenues should I explore first?

So you want to invest in digital marketing, but you’re not sure where to start. You’re not alone! The first step is to familiarize yourself with the various digital marketing avenues. Currently, the top five digital marketing strategies are search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC), content marketing, social media marketing, and email marketing.

While all digital marketing avenues are effective in their own special ways, you may find that one is more suitable than the other depending on your market. 

The key aspect of ensuring a good start though is to provide quality content. This includes engaging multi-media visuals of your product to post on your social pages and your website. Many companies invest in professional photography and corporate video production for this very reason. 

Should I hire a digital marketing specialist?

Managing and executing a digital marketing campaign can be complicated. It is no secret that you would have to devote a lot of time to maintaining your digital marketing efforts, and the reality is, many business owners just don’t have the time to do this on their own. While it can be a great idea to get the ball rolling yourself, to ensure your efforts are fruitful, seeking professional advice from a digital marketing specialist will always be beneficial. 

Once you start working with an experienced digital marketing specialist, you’ll be glad that you invested in your company’s future. 

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