Marketing has always been about connecting with the audience in the right place and at the right time. All marketing initiatives that use the internet or electronic devices to facilitate and automate the skill of meaningfully interacting with clients are included in the category of digital marketing.
Digital marketing is a marquee term for the marketing of products or services using digital technologies, substantially on the internet, but also includes mobile phones, display advertising, website and online branding.
Digital tools enable merchants to inundate potential customers with information while also putting information at the fingertips of buyers. The ability of consumers to discover answers to their problems is therefore becoming more and more important. Just recall your most recent significant buy. You might have changed your office’s paper providers, bought a house, or hired a roofer. Whatever it was, you presumably started by looking online to learn more and discover your best options.
These days, most purchases are made online. So, it goes without saying that you need to have a presence online. In fact, research from McKinsey and Company found thatCOVID-19 has dramatically and suddenly shifted more customer traffic to digital channels. Online sales, increased at a 14 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) over the past four years (Mc Kinsey & Company, 2020).On an average two-thirds of the touchpoints during the evaluation phase of a purchase decision involve internet reviews, social media conversations, and recommendations from family, friends, and online experts. This significant shift in consumer behaviour means that businesses need to think differently about their approach to marketing.
The organization’s website, which serves as the hub of all its online activity, is the most typical example of digital marketing. Smart marketers incorporate email marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, and social media into their plan to increase quality traffic to a website or to encourage repeat visitors and sales.
Is Digital Marketing a Good Business Decision?
You can target a local audience, but also an international one.
Further, you can tailor a campaign to specific audience demographics, such as gender, location, age and interests.
Your audience can choose how they want to receive your content.
While one person likes to read a blog post, another person likes to watch a YouTube video. Online people get the choice to opt in or out of communications and often it is relevant because they were the ones searching for it in the first place
Interaction with your audience is possible
With the use of social media networks, interaction is encouraged. You can encourage your prospects, clients and followers to take action, visit your website, read about your products and services, rate them, buy them and provide feedback which is visible to your market.
Digital marketing is cost-efficient.
Though some invest on paid ads online; however, the cost is still cheaper compared to traditional marketing.
Data and results are easily recorded.
With Google Analytics and the insights tools offered by most social media channels, you can check on your campaigns at any time.
Level playing field.
Any business can compete with any competitor regardless of size with a solid digital marketing strategy. Online, a crisp well thought out site with a smooth customer journey and fantastic service is king – not size.
Real time results.
You can see the numbers of visitors to your site and its subscribers increase, peak trading times, conversion rates and much more at the touch of a button.
Brand Development
A well-maintained website with quality content targeting the needs and adding value to your target audience can provide significant value and lead generation opportunities.
What’s in store for an aspiring digital marketer?
At one time, digital marketing was remarkably simple as all the internet traffic came from a single source – desktop PCS. Today, customers use a variety of platforms to browse shop and engage on the internet. On an average, a typical consumer own about 3.64 connected devices and 80% of this installed base bounces between them(lotame, 2021). As a digital marketer you need to consider where to reach the customer and how to do it best across various platforms and devices and build an accurate profile of them through cross device marketing.
It is true that digital marketing can be confusing and time-consuming. The technology changes constantly and measuring effectiveness can be complicated. However, when done well, digital marketing can also significantly increase recognition, traffic, sales, and customer satisfaction for your business at a reasonable cost.
Reference
lotame, 2021. https://www.lotame.com/. [Online]
Available at: https://www.lotame.com/benefits-cross-device-marketing/
[Accessed 8 11 2022].
Mc Kinsey & Company, 2020. Mc Kinsey & Company. [Online]
Available at: https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-insights/adapting-to-the-next-normal-in-retail-the-customer-experience-imperative
[Accessed 8 11 2022].
